'Explosive' Hairs among three back in Scots squad

Oli Hairs is one of three returning to the Scotland squad

Bradley Currie, Oli Hairs and Charlie Tear have been included in Scotland's squad for next month's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier.

Doug Watson's side will face Guernsey, hosts the Netherlands, Italy and Jersey. There are two available spots at next year's finals in India and Sri Lanka.

"He's a great explosive option at the top of the order," said Watson of Hairs.

"Charlie Tear did really well in the CWCL2 matches in Dundee and has continued to play well back at Sussex.

"Brad Currie has been excellent for Sussex and he's been a constant performer for us over the last couple of years. We're lucky to have his experience and his fielding ability and movement is also excellent so that's a big boost."

Watsonian's Hairs equalled Scotland's highest T20 score with 127 not out in the July 2023 win over Italy. Earlier this month, Tear scored a triple hundred for Sussex's second XI.

Last month, Scotland picked up two wins in their tri-series with Nepal and the Dutch.

"The tri-series in Glasgow was great preparation for us, but we feel the players haven't quite peaked yet," added Watson.

"The last game [against Nepal] was probably as close to our blueprint as we'd like with one player batting most of the way through the innings, and then executing better with the ball after that, but we are still keen to be more precise in all three departments of the game.

"We'll face some good opposition: we know a lot about the Netherlands now, and we are learning about Italy – they've played a lot of good cricket and they'll be up for it as they want to qualify for a World Cup. Guernsey and Jersey will both be ready to cause a surprise, but we feel we are prepared.

"We are battle hardened for this Qualifier. We've had a number of high quality games over the last couple of months, so we are ready to go."

Scotland squad

Richie Berrington (captain), Matthew Cross, Bradley Currie, Jasper Davidson, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Leask, Chris McBride, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt.