Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Cricket: Scotland head coach keen for young players to stake claim for starts on Namibia tour

Durham wicket-keeper Tom Mackintosh has been called up to the senior Scotland cricket squad. Image: MI News/NurPhoto/Shutterstock (12866320x)
Durham wicket-keeper Tom Mackintosh has been called up to the senior Scotland cricket squad. Image: MI News/NurPhoto/Shutterstock (12866320x)

Scotland cricket head coach Shane Burger hopes the new faces in his squad can step up in their crucial World Cricket League fixtures.

Teenage wicket-keeper Tom Mackintosh and all-rounder Chris McBride have been added to the setup for the trip to Namibia.

There is also another opportunity for Brandon McMullen to impress, after he was named in the 15 for the T20 World Cup in Australia but did not see any action.

Nineteen-year-old Mackintosh made his breakthrough into the first-team at Durham this season, playing in both the County Championship and Royal London Cup for the north-east side. He has already represented Scotland at under-19 level.

McBride made his senior debut for Scotland earlier this year and played in the one-day international fixtures in Aberdeen in August.

South African-born McMullen impressed for Stirling during the 2022 campaign, averaging 53 with the bat and taking 22 wickets at an average of just under 24 runs with the ball.

Scotland flew out to Namibia this week and will face the hosts and Nepal in a tri-series. A positive run of results could see them advance to the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe next year.

Scotland cricket head coach Shane Burger. Image: SNS
Scotland cricket head coach Shane Burger. Image: SNS

For Burger it is a chance to see how some of the younger faces fare when thrust onto the international stage.

“What they bring is a real freshness,” he said. “Tom has played quite a lot of cricket for the first-team at Durham this last season.

“I’ve seen him take his game to another level and he’s really confident and mature. That’s great to see.

“He’s doing all the right things at the moment. He’s got two under-19 World Cups under his belt, he’s dabbled in a bit of leadership and got himself a professional contract at Durham.

“He’s had to deal with a lot of tough challenges at the under-19 World Cups and he’ll have come away from it a far better player. We’re excited for Tom’s future and he’s going to no doubt do fantastic things for Scotland moving forward.

“For Chris, it’s great to see the hard work he’s put in over the last few months. He’s had a few opportunities recently and he might not have done as well as he would have wanted to, but there’s a chance on this trip for him to set the record straight.

“There’s a ‘no-fear’ mentality with those sorts of players, which is great.”

There could be an opportunity for all three players to stake their claim for a place in the middle-order, following the retirement of long-serving batter Calum Macleod.

Calum Macleod has retired from international cricket. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson
Calum Macleod has retired from international cricket. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson

“For them and the rest of the squad, it’s an opportunity to put their hand up and say ‘I want to go to the qualifier’,” said Burger.

“The exciting bit for me is there’ll be competition for places and the squad understand their roles at the moment. There’s a real motivation to do well and make sure we finish top of the group, where we set our sights three years ago.”

McMullen’s potential excites Burger and having seen him around the squad already, knows what he can bring to the table.

“He’s a very professional character,” he said. “He’s got a quite confidence about him and a great skill-set, where he can bring it with the bat, ball and in the field.

“He’s got a lot of respect already in the group with the way he goes about his business, even though he hasn’t made his debut yet.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do on this trip and when you throw him in with Tom Mackintosh and Chris McBride, they are most definitely the future of Scottish cricket.”

Scotland play their first game against Namibia on December 1 in Windhoek.