Cricket: England new boy Gavin Hamilton is raring to go as he sets off on the winter tour of South Africa tomorrow.

But surprisingly in these days of team bonding he will only be meeting his new team-mates for the first time.

He has practiced hard with Yorkshire colleagues Darren Gough and Michael Vaughan, who are also heading for South Africa, but he jokes; "I'm still waiting to meet my new skipper.

"What do they call him, Neil Hussain?" grinned Hamilton who is certain to be the life and soul of the party over the next few months whatever happens on the field of play.

Most eyes will be on the talented all rounder's performances after his exploits for Scotland in the World Cup.

"This is my first attachment to an England squad of any sort and I am now really glad that I was able to gain some valuable international experience through playing for Scotland in the World Cup," said Hamilton who has played Bradford League cricket for Pudsey Congs.

"At least I now know what if feels like to play against some of the top cricketing countries in the world and I am certainly not overawed at the thought of taking on the South Africans.

"I have done a lot of training at Headingley over the past few weeks and have stepped up my indoor net practises with Darren and Michael.

"But it is only possible to do so much in indoor nets and I am looking forward to four days practising outdoors before the first game.

"I will be trying very hard to get into the team for the opening few matches because it is important I make a good impression before the first Test in Johannesburg which is only a month away.

"I appreciate I am new to the England scene but I have no intentions of going out there just to be a squad player and to sit back and let things happen. I hope to have a couple of good games early on which will earn me a Test place and I would like to think that would be the start of a long England career.

"Things have really moved at an astonishing pace for me over the past couple of years and to play for Scotland in the World Cup and then be preparing to tour South Africa with England all in the space of a few months is quite unbelievable.

"To be truthful, I was a bit nervous about it all for a while but now I am really excited and I just cannot wait to get involved and to start playing matches."

Although Hamilton is determined to make his mark early on, he appreciates that he will be up against tough opposition for an England place - and that one of his biggest rivals will be Lancashire's giant all-rounder Andy Flintoff who is also one of his closest friends.

"I had dinner with Andy last week and we were ribbing each other about making it into the Test side at the other's expense," said Hamilton. "It was all in good fun, however, because we are the best of mates, but neither of us will be doing the other any favours when it comes to getting selected for England."

Hamilton may be one of the raw recruits of the England party, but his splendid personal success in the World Cup means that he is still idolised by the sporting public in Scotland where he has a bigger following of fans than most of his England team-mates enjoy here.

"The interest in the World Cup in Scotland was incredible and even when we went off the boil the crowds continued to flock in to watch us," said Hamilton.

"Cricket is now a really big sport in Scotland and when I went back home to Broxburn for a couple of weeks' holiday recently I was amazed how many people knew and recognised me."

The surge in interest in cricket in Scotland means there is plenty of all-the-year-round work to do for the country's director of cricket, Jim Love, the former Yorkshire batsman.

"I had intended doing some work for Jim this winter in helping to coach the Scotland team and going around the schools teaching cricket, but that plan fell through when I got a place on the England tour," said Hamilton, who is also a part of England's squad for the one-day internationals in South Africa and Zimbabwe once the Test series is over.

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