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GAVIN Hamilton's place in the Scottish squad for the forthcoming World Cup was confirmed yesterday following the announcement of England's final 15-man squad.

The Yorkshire all-rounder became available after he was omitted from the England squad and the SCU received assurances that his name would not be included among the four nominated English reserves.

The news provides another boost for Scotland's first World Cup campaign, although Hamilton will not, in the event, join the Scottish squad in Sharjah next month for training.

Having spent the winter playing grade cricket in Australia, he will instead link up his Yorkshire colleagues for a pre-season tour to South Africa, where the English county will play a number of first-class games.

The SCU's Director of Cricket Jim Love is happy with the arrangement. ``Gavin is already match-fit and will probably derive more from Yorkshire's South African tour than he would from a training camp,'' he said.

Love expressed his own delight at Hamilton's presence in the squad. ``In Gavin we have someone capable of performing with both bat and ball at the highest level. He is a popular player who certainly has the respect of the rest of the Scottish squad,'' he added.

Hamilton's last-minute inclusion means disappointment for West of Scotland's Craig Wright who was the Yorkshire player's likely deputy had he been called up for England.

Nasser Hussain has been left out of England's World Cup squad to allow Graham Thorpe to return. Angus Fraser and Ian Austin are also included, as is Austin's Lancashire team-mate and former England captain Michael Atherton.