Scotland's cricket selectors have chosen a young team to travel to Lord's for their one-day meeting with the MCC on Thursday. The side includes a clutch of promising performers at the outset of their international careers.

Several of Scotland's stalwart players, including Gavin Hamilton, Colin Smith, Craig Wright and Paul Hoffmann, have retired during the last couple of years, which precipitated a slide in their country's fortunes.

But there were signs of improvement last summer in the form of such stars as Richie Berrington, Matthew Parker and Majid Haq, all of whom will be journeying to the game's spiritual home later this week, in the company of gifted youngsters, such as Grange's Oliver Hairs and the Watsonians duo, Ewan Chalmers and Ryan Flannigan. They will be joined by Scotland's new overseas professional, Tasmania's Luke Butterworth.

The visitors are captained by the experienced Gordon Drummond, but they will be up against two of their most seasoned compatriots in Gavin Hamilton and Ryan Watson, who both feature in the MCC line-up.

Hamilton, one of the few cricketers to represent both Scotland and England, skippers the Lord's personnel, while Watson will be keen to demonstrate his exposive firepower at the top of the order.

The MCC team also features the likes of England all-rounder, Jamie Dalrymple, Darren Bicknell, Mark Alleyne, and the Afghanistan pace bowler, Hamid Hassan, who led his country to Intercontinental Cup glory last year. 

It could be a stern test of the new generation of Scots. But Hairs has already demonstrated outstanding attacking potential. so much so that former Scotland all-rounder, Paul Hoffmann, believes he can become an international star of the future. "Oli has all the shots and he is exactly the kind of player who can shine in ODIs and Twenty20," said Hoffmann. "Richie [Berrington] is another with all the skills and I have big hopes for him as well."

The match will be a tough induction for the Scots, who are playing catch-up on the English counties, whose season began a few weeks ago. But they look well equipped to make a decent impression in London.

SCOTLAND: Gordon Drummond (Captain), Gregor Maiden (Wkt-Kpr), Richie Berrington, Luke Butterworth, Ewan Chalmers, Ryan Flannigan, Gordon Goudie, Oliver Hairs, Majid Haq, Preston Mommsen, Matthew Parker. 12th man: Calvin Burnett.