Home comforts for Saltires in double-header with counties

THE Saltires made the brightest of starts to the new Clydesdale Bank 40 competition last weekend, defeating Leicestershire by four wickets in what was hailed as one of their best ever victories over an English county. With good weather forecast for the weekend, could they also enjoy the brightest of beginnings to their home fixtures in the tournament?

Certainly, the win at Grace Road and the prospect of sunshine should swell the crowd at the Citylets Grange for today's game against Kent Spitfires and tomorrow's against Nottinghamshire Outlaws. No-one in the Scotland set-up is getting carried away by the result in Leicester, but it does at the very least provide fresh hope for the new season.

Unsurprisingly, Saltires coach Peter Steindl is set to stick with the squad which won that opening match, and 14th man Ross Lyons has been released to play club cricket for Carlton. Despite having only played one match in Group C compared to four or five for their competitors, the Scots have already achieved mid-table respectability, as they lie fourth out of seven with two points. If they win today and tomorrow they could rise to second, but they are well aware that they will have to be at their absolute best to do so.

Kent, the first visitors to the Edinburgh ground, are desperate to get off the mark in the competition, having lost two of their four matches to date with the other two having been rained off. They have been deprived of former Saltire Dewald Nel because of a back injury, but have England spinner James Tredwell back in their squad after an eight-game absence on international duty, and the 28-year-old is desperate to get back into action after watching from the sidelines in the Caribbean as his team won the Twenty20 World Cup.

"I cannot wait to get going again," Tredwell said. "It was difficult not playing at the Twenty20 World Cup, but I've been working hard on my game and am ready to go.

"I practised hard with England, worked on my fitness and I'm feeling in reasonable touch. After the disappointments of last year, hopefully we can get a full game in against Scotland."

The Saltires won this fixture by nine wickets a year ago, and Spitfires coach Paul Farbrace does not expect an easy match. "It'll be a tough game," he said.

"They will know we haven't won in this competition and will fancy their chances of beating us. They have nothing to lose to a certain extent and obviously the pressure is all on us to perform.

"We will go there confident because we should be a better team than them and we should beat them, but you just never know in this game and to be fair Scotland did beat Kent in this competition last year."

If Kent do snatch a win, Farbrace believes that Tredwell could be their most influential performer. "He's made himself into a very steady performer in county cricket," the coach continued.

"He's scored valuable runs, bowled really well and is a brilliant slip catcher. He's also got a good cricket brain and we've definitely missed him.

"It's nice having a front-line spinner to give us a bit of balance, and I think Treddy's one-day record is outstanding, so he's a key player for us. I think he will have taken a lot of confidence from the fact he was in that England squad and will have learnt a lot in that period. I'm sure he will be champing at the bit to get playing again."

The Outlaws, third in the table after two wins, a defeat and a no result from their four matches, are on paper a tougher side than Kent. Opening bowler Charlie Shreck will provide a stern test for the Saltires batsmen, and Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and captain Chris Read have an enviable depth of experience.

But star South African batsman Hashim Amla has ended his stint with the county, and Australian international David Hussey has yet to arrive. In other words, this could be the best time for the Saltires to welcome Notts north of the Border.