Sharjah: The UAE will take on Scotland twice this week in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Championship at the Sharjah Cricket Ground.
Scotland sit second and the UAE third in the WCL standings, giving both teams plenty to play for in the 50-over games, which take place tomorrow and Friday.
Scotland were in the UAE only last month to play a four-day first-class ICC Intercontinental Cup fixture.
Two substantial victories this week could see the Scots leapfrog Ireland at the top of the table.
Ireland, captained by William Porterfield, lead after winning one and losing one of the two fixtures they played in Mombasa last month.
Twenty20 warm-up
Scotland field the same side that will compete in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers, to be played in the UAE from March 13. They are viewing these matches as a warm-up for that event.
The UAE will look forward to avenging their side's Intercontinental Cup loss to Scotland last month and can potentially leapfrog their rivals into second place with two good performances.
The hosts, being led by veteran all-rounder Khurram Khan, also boast Arshad Ali, who emerged as best all-rounder in the recent Kerala Premier League, the hard-hitting Swapnil Patil and Shaimon Anwar.
A strong bowling attack will be led by Ahmad Raza, Shadeep Silva and Ali, backed up by Amjad Javed.
The Championship, together with the ongoing global divisions of the World Cricket League, is an important event on the calendar of the ICC Development Programme as it provides a pathway for associate and affiliate nations to qualify for the Cricket World Cup in 2015, to be staged in Australia and New Zealand.
Second chance
The top two teams from the Championship will automatically join the ICC's ten full members in the competition.
The bottom six will receive a second qualifying opportunity when they lock horns for the remaining two places by competing in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier in early 2014.
Teams
UAE (from): Khurram Khan (captain), Mohammad Touqir, Ahmad Raza, Amjad Javed, Palekar Hamid, Shaimon Anwar, Amjad Ali, Rohan Mustafa, Saqib Ali, Vikrant Shetty, Shadeep Silva, Swapnil Patil, Arshad Ali, Asadullah Sharif.
Scotland (from): Gordon Drummond (captain), Ryan Flannigan, Matthew Parker, David Watts, Richard Berrington, Majid Haq, Craig Wallace, Jan Stander, Gordon Goudie, Preston Mommsen, Calum MacLeod, Safayaan Sharif, Kyle Coetzer, Joshua Davey.
