Watts handed Saltires captaincy

Saltires captain Ryan Watson will miss the two ties

Fraser Watts is to captain Scotland in this weekend's Friends Provident Trophy encounters with Derbyshire Phantoms and Lancashire Lightning.

The Carlton batsman stands in because Ryan Watson is unavailable due to the birth of his first child.

The Saltires are coming off a heavy loss to Lancashire last Sunday.

"One of my tasks will be to try to re-instil the sense of self-belief which we need to bounce back from the defeat," Watts said.

Watson's absence is a blow to the Saltires with a greater burden now falling on Australian opener Ed Cowan who was out for a duck in his competitive debut.

Warwickshire batsman Navdeep Poonia, who has failed to secure a First XI place at Edgbaston, has been loaned to the Scots and is likely to replace the absent skipper in the line-up.

Majid Haq is also ruled out due to exams with Glenn Rogers set to take his spinner's berth.