Davey recalled and Coetzer back as captain ahead of England tie
JOSH DAVEY had two reasons to celebrate last night after he secured a contract with Somerset and earned a Scotland recall.
The Aberdeen-born all-rounder was in the doldrums in the autumn after being released by Middlesex and losing his place in the national side, but now, having signed a contract with Somerset, he is in line to return to the Scotland side when they face England in his home town on Friday.
Davey comes into the squad in place of Richie Berrington who has failed to recover from ankle ligament damage.
Andy Tennant, Cricket Scotland’s director of cricket, said: “Josh has worked really hard over the winter to One-Day International Scotland v England, Mannofield, Aberdeen, Friday Scotland K Coetzer (capt), M Cross, C MacLeod, M Machan, P Mommsen, F Coleman, J Davey, R Taylor, M Haq, S Sharif, I Wardlaw, A Evans, M Leask England A Cook (capt), M Ali, J Anderson, G Ballance, I Bell, R Bopara, J Buttler. H Gurney, C Jordan, E Morgan, J Root, J Tredwell, C Woakes get his career back on track. He has signed a summer contract with Somerset which is good news for him and for us as it keeps him playing at a high level. With his batting and bowling skills he was the obvious choice to replace Richie.”
Elsewhere, the selectors have, for the most part, stood by the players who won the World Cup qualifying tournament in New Zealand during the winter, though the former Derbyshire pace bowler Ali Evans returns at the expense of Gordon Goudie.
Kyle Coetzer, who missed the closing stages of that competition through injury, returns to lead the team in his native Aberdeen while his understudy Preston Mommsen has recovered from a pelvic problem and is included.
Craig Wright, who will coach the side until Grant Bradburn takes the reins in July, said: “The match against England is a wonderful opportunity for us to continue the progress which the team made in New Zealand earlier this year.
“The challenge for us, regardless of the opposition, is to continue to display the strong, positive mentality which was the cornerstone of our recent success.
“With the World Cup to look forward to in under a year, this game will be a great chance for us to test ourselves at the type of level we want to be successful at. I hope the occasion is a memorable one for Scottish cricket.”