K Graham: Scotland count on reserve strength (24 Jun 1998)

24 June 1998

Scotland count on reserve strength

By Keith Graham

WITH seven players unavailable through work commitments or injury, Scotland's selectors have had to dig into their reserves for today's NatWest Trophy meeting with Worcestershire at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh.

Kevin Thomson and Andy Tennant have joined Steve Crawley, Mike Smith, James Brinkley and Nick Dyer on the list of those who must work while Douglas Lockhart sustained a back injury while playing for Oxford University.

Coach Jim Love has called in Prestwick's young left-handed batsman Drew Parsons, Keith Sheridan, the experienced left-arm spinner from Poloc, and Grange's Pete Steindl into his 12.

Worcestershire, on the other hand, have a clean bill of health and the in-form Graeme Hick will relish facing the Scots again, having scored an unbeaten 50 against them in the B & H Cup earlier in the season.

Holland's chances of success against Somerset today may be remote but they have been greatly improved by their shrewd choice of overseas player this season.

Colin Miller, the Queensland seam bowler who took the Australian circuit by storm last winter, is a cut above previous Holland signings Chris Pringle and Murray Goodwin. In addition, the return of a refreshed and eager Roland LeFebvre, the former Somerset all-rounder revisiting old haunts at Taunton, has added a note of optimism.

Surprise results in the 60-overs competition are depressingly rare. Counties have been upset by minor opposition only seven times in 35 seasons, excluding Hertfordshire's bowl-out victory over Derbyshire in 1991.

The five current minor counties to have beaten first-class opposition are Lincolnshire, Hertfordshire, Shropshire, Buckinghamshire and Cheshire. Only twice have professionals been beaten at home - at Swansea and Derby - and until the ECB guarantee home draws for all the minor teams, as they should, half the first round ties will have little more than academic interest.

Neil Burns has felt the embarrassment of an upset as a member of the Somerset side beaten by Buckinghamshire in 1987. Today he plays in the Buckinghamshire side who face a daunting task at the Oval.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)