Mommsen to lead Scotland against Australia A

Preston Mommsen has been named as captain of a youthful Scotland squad to take on Australia A in a first-class, four-day fixture in Edinburgh, starting on Friday. Kyle Coetzer, who took on the Scotland captaincy last month, is unavailable due to his county commitments with Northamptonshire.

The average age of Scotland's 12-man squad is 24, with only two players - Richie Berrington and Gordon Goudie - having played more than ten first-class appearances. Their inexperience is exacerbated by the loss of leading ODI wicket-taker, Majid Haq, who is still recovering from a hamstring injury.

"It will be good to have the opportunity to change our focus from 40-over to four-day cricket against a strong Australia 'A' team," Scotland's coach, Pete Steindl, said. "We are looking forward to welcoming Iain Wardlaw, Josh Davey and Matt Machan back into the squad, and it will present an opportunity for the players to stake their claim for a spot in the Intercontinental Cup squad against Kenya next month."

Australia A, having played a two-day friendly match at Arundel between members of the touring party and Australian scholars at Hampshire's academy, will officially begin their tour in Scotland, before travelling to Ireland for a four-day game and then taking on Gloucestershire over three days.

The Australia A squad features several players also selected for the Ashes, including captain Brad Haddin, Jackson Bird, Ryan Harris, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle.

Haddin said: "There's guys in the squad preparing for an Ashes tour, and young guys involved in their first experience of an Australian A tour and that's exciting, but we're all at different stages at the moment. Once the games start and we walk over the line against Scotland and Ireland it's all about winning games of cricket."