The Scotland squad to face Sri Lanka in Kent has been named with Stuart Whittingham and Dylan Budge both looking to make their debuts in the two match series against the number six ranked ODI side.
Scotland travel to Kent where they face a Sri Lanka side who are preparing for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in two 50 over matches on Sunday 21st May and Tuesday 23rd May at The County Ground in Beckenham, Kent.
Con de Lange takes over the captaincy of the team for the two games with National Team Captain Kyle Coetzer and wife Sarah taking time out after the birth of their second child.
With injuries forcing out bowlers Safyaan Sharif and Brad Wheal it opens the door to 23 year old Whittingham to join the squad following his strong start with Sussex this season where he is a team mate of Scotland internationalist Matt Machan, who also misses out through injury.
Also added to the squad for the first time is Dylan Budge following his strong start to the season in Scotland’s Regional Pro50 Competition, Budge followed up his half century for the Eastern Knights in their win over the Western Warriors at The Grange with an unbeaten 92 the following day at Forthill in the victory over the Caledonian Highlanders.
National Team Head Coach Grant Bradburn is clearly looking forward to the challenge ahead as his squad take on Sri Lanka ahead of a busy period of International cricket “These two fixtures against Sri Lanka will be valuable game time for our players, as we lead into International series versus Namibia and Zimbabwe through June. Despite not being One Day International fixtures, our players will jump at the chance to play against Sri Lanka who are a quality full member nation.”
Bradburn also commented on the newest members of the squad “We have taken the opportunity to broaden our squad of players to provide International exposure for some new faces. Dylan Budge has earned his place in this team having excelled throughout the winter with our Scottish based performance squad. Dylan has importantly confirmed his potential with some outstanding performances in the first month of the season. Stuart Whittingham earns his first opportunity in the Scotland senior side on the back of recently breaking into the Sussex First team. Stuart is an exciting young quickie who last represented Scotland during the 2014 under 19 World Cup in the UAE.”
With The County Ground at Beckenham offering free entry to all supporters for both matches Bradburn was looking forward to the opportunity to go head to head with Sri Lanka in front of strong support “We are all looking forward to playing in Kent and we hope that many Scots supporters in and around London take a chance to come and see our exciting young dynamic team play.”
Scotland Squad: Con de Lange (Captain), George Munsey, Matthew Cross+, Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Craig Wallace, Michael Leask, Mark Watt, Alasdair Evans, Stuart Whittingham, Gavin Main, Dylan Budge, Chris Sole
Sri Lanka Squad: Angelo Mathews (Captain), Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella,Kusal Janith Perera, Kusal Mendis, Chamara Kapugedera, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Nuwan Kulasekera, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Seekkuge Prasanna
