Ex-Ferguslie favourite Majid earns Bravehearts call-up

Feb 4 2009 by David Rinaldi, Paisley Daily Express

FORMER Ferguslie ace Majid Haq has been named in a 15-strong Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifying tournament in South Africa at the beginning of April.

The Scots will go into battle in the Johannesburg area against 11 other top ICC Member countries as they bid to book their place at the World Cup in 2011.

The top four teams will qualify for the tournament while the top six will have ICC One-Day International status for the next four years.

The squad will leave for South Africa on March 14 for a two-week training camp based at the High Performance Centre at the University of Pretoria. And the very first match in the tournament for the Scots on the schedule is against Ireland on Wednesday, April 1.

Scotland famously won the last World Cup qualifier, the ICC Trophy, in Ireland in 2005, after winning all seven of their games including the televised final against the hosts.

This time, though, they face a total of 10 matches if they are to repeat their triumph, as the 12-team tournament includes minnows Afghanistan and Uganda, who qualified at the weekend from the third division of the ICC’s World Cricket League in Argentina.

The squad is centred mainly around the players that have performed so well for Scotland in ICC events in recent years including Paisley’s Haq.

The team has been training three times a week since January and will have a three-day training camp at the ECB High Performance Centre in Loughborough prior to departure.

Head coach Peter Steindl will have assistant coach Tony Judd and coaching consultant Adrian Birrell supporting him. Euan McIntyre is in charge of all off-field logistics for the side.

David Loudon, the retiring chairman of selectors, said: “It was a very hard task in reducing our 25-man squad down to just 15 players and four reserves for the event. However, we believe we have picked a well-balanced squad capable of defending our ICC Trophy in South Africa.”

Head coach Steindl was delighted with the make-up of his squad, adding: “The players have all worked exceptionally hard over the winter, and it left the selectors with a difficult task in finalising their choices.

“Our squad has a good balance between youth and experience, and has been selected with the conditions we know we will face in South Africa in mind.

“We are expecting the toughest of tests in the qualifiers and are under no illusions as to the challenge ahead of us.”