Watson's future hangs in the balance

Scotland's new head of selectors, Ian Kennedy, has admitted that the future of captain Ryan Watson is likely to be determined this week, even if the allrounder remains in temporary charge for the initial part of the summer.

Pete Steindl, the coach, is due to present his report on this month's World Cup qualifiers to Cricket Scotland's board, followed by a further intense review involving the selection panel, with both parties set to determine the lessons to be learnt from Scotland's poor performance in South Africa, in which they failed to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, finishing in sixth place.

It is likely that there will be swift moves to put long-term plans in place with an emphasis on qualifying for 2015, as well as optimising Scotland's performance at the annual World Twenty20 competitions which, by default, have now become a central focus of the side's calendar.

Although Watson remained at the helm for Sunday's opening Friends Provident Trophy encounter, against Middlesex at Lord's, his position remains uncertain due to the form that saw him average just seven in South Africa. While there remains a commitment to allow the 32-year-old to play his way back into form - possibly via the Second XI Lions team - the topic of whether his captaincy should be prolonged will be high on this week's agendas.

"Ryan remains the captain and he was deemed to be one of our best players going to South Africa," said Kennedy. "But his position is clearly under examination. There is a discussion to be had with him and Peter and then we'll take it from there next Wednesday. Possibly, they will have to make the decision on whether he continues, if he stays up until the World Twenty 20 in June, or if he remains in the long term.

"However one thing I'm keen to discuss is how we get future captains in place. There seems to be this trend that someone is captain for four or five years, then they go, and there's no-one ready to take their place. We need to look at the Lions team, or some other mechanism, to see who has the potential to come in."

That he made just a single against Middlesex did not help Watson's cause but even with injuries and county call-ups limiting Scotland's pool, there is, Kennedy acknowledges, a case for experimentation in the initial three Friends Provident Trophy fixtures before the Twenty20 squad is finalised ahead of the May 5 deadline. "This season is quite pivotal to all the players. There's a lot of cricket so those who under-performed over there will get a chance to redeem themselves. And those who didn't get to go will have opportunities to claim a place. And it's up to them to take it."