Young Scots join ICC batting camps

Former Durham professional Moneeb Iqbal is one of three young Scots heading for Dubai today (25 February) to join the second, batting-focused, part of the ICC Academy programme.

Iqbal is currently in Pakistan and will go to the Emirates city to join up with Richie Berrington and Majid Haq for the two-week development course run by the ICC's High Performance Unit at the Dubai Sports City stadium.

Iqbal made his senior Scotland debut at the age of 16 before joining the Durham County set-up. Since returning to Scotland two years ago, however, the 24-year-old has so far been an irregular member of the Scotland international squad.

Also travelling today to take part in the first week's programme of activities is Scotland head coach Peter Steindl. The coaching team is led by Mudassar Nazar, Dayle Hadley and Rod Marsh.

The first part of the ICC Academy programme was held in Pretoria, South Africa, towards the end of last year, when Berrington, Steindl and Qasim Sheikh were among the participants. Sheikh is unavailable for the Dubai event as he is preparing for his marriage on March 6.

At the same time, three even younger Scots are travelling to India for a 12-day camp under the auspices of ICC Europe.

Matthew Parker, Marc Petrie and Ally Evans will be joining the European Cricket Academy in Pune, where former Australian Test player Geoff Lawson, also a former Pakistan coach, will be in charge of the activities.