Scotland's Gavin Hamilton to make final appearence this weekend after annoucing retirement

Gavin Hamilton, has announced his retirement and will make his final appearances in Scotland colours in the two Clydesdale Bank 40 matches at the Citylets Mannofield ground in Aberdeen this weekend.

The games against Hampshire (Saturday, starting at 1.45pm) and Leicestershire (Sunday, starting at 12 noon) will bring a distinguished representative career for Scotland to a close. He made his senior debut against Essex at Lochside Park, Forfar, in 1993 at the age of 19, after a successful time in the national U16 and U19 squads. With a four-year break after he had played for England, during which he had to requalify for Scotland, Hamilton has in his 130 matches amassed more than 3,500 runs for his country, at an average of 31.25, including five centuries and 21 half-centuries.

Now, having relinquished the Scotland captaincy to Gordon Drummond earlier this summer, Hamilton is preparing to leave the stage at the Aberdeenshire ground on Sunday. Cricket Scotland are running a 2-for-1 offer for tickets for this weekend.

Scotland's selectors today announced the 13-man squad that will feature Hamilton's name for the last time: Gordon Drummond (captain), George Bailey, Richie Berrington, Ryan Flannigan, Gordon Goudie, Gavin Hamilton, Majid Haq, Moneeb Iqbal, Dougie Lockhart, Ross Lyons, Preston Mommsen, Matthew Parker and Fraser Watts.

Roddy Smith, chief executive of Cricket Scotland, paid tribute to the Broxburn-born player, who also played for Yorkshire and Durham during his first-class career. "Gav has been a tremendous servant to Scottish cricket, and we will miss him greatly. He has been, arguably, one of the best-ever Scottish cricketers and everyone was very proud when he played Test cricket for England. Gavin has been the backbone of our batting in recent years, and also steeped into the captaincy last year, and has been instrumental in assisting the team through a transitional period. To play for your country for 17 years is an amazing achievement.

"He has been a remarkable player, who represented his country in four World Cup events and umpteen pressurised situations. Never once has his enthusiasm flagged, and he has been a fantastic ambassador for Scottish cricket. Let's hope he goes out with a bang this weekend."