Maynard to help Scotland in Dubai

Matthew Maynard, the recently appointed Somerset director of cricket, will work with Scotland in the build-up to their World Cup campaign.

He will be one of the coaches available to them during a batting camp that will be held at the ICC Academy in Dubai. The nine-day stay in the UAE begins on November 11.

"We're delighted to welcome Matt to the Scotland set-up for the batting camp at the ICC Academy in Dubai," Grant Bradburn, the Scotland coach, said. "With his excellent track record it's a great opportunity for the players to work on different aspects of their batting, furthering the learning process of what we have gained during our current tour to Australia and New Zealand."

Scotland have recently arrived in New Zealand for the second leg of their pre-World Cup tour having played three matches in Australia. Their batting has struggled, passing 200 once in the three matches, and they lost against Tasmania and the Queensland Academy of Sport. Three players have so far hit half-centuries - Matthew Cross, Kyle Coetzer and Freddie Coleman.

However, Scotland have positive memories of playing in New Zealand after secured qualification for the World Cup at last year's qualifiers.

They recorded four of the 10 highest team totals as well as four of the highest individual scores in the tournament and captain Preston Mommsen hopes his team can replicate that form.

"A key to our success during that tournament was how quickly we were able to adapt to the conditions, especially from a batting point of view," he said. "As batters, we were able to trust the wickets we played on and I think that showed in the positive nature of our batting displays. It's our intention to build on what we achieved earlier in the year."

The stand-out fixture for them comes on Wednesday when they face a New Zealand XI at Lincoln - a strong home side even though Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Kane Williamson are rested from the first-choice players. Trent Boult, the left-arm seamer, is also absent.

Scotland are in Pool A for the group stage of the World Cup. Their opening match is against New Zealand, in Dunedin, on February 17 and will face England on February 23 in Christchurch.