PROUD Preston Mommsen last night revealed his surprise after being named Saltires skipper for tomorrow�s (Sun) clash with Somerset.

The Scots travel to Taunton for their latest CB40 encounter without regular captain Gordon Drummond who has work commitments.

And Mommsen, the South African-born Carlton batsman, will lead the side for the first time.

He said: �I was told on Wednesday and, to be honest, the news came as a shock.

�But it is also a great honour to be given the chance to lead my country and to be seen as a leader of this group of players.

�I�ve been lucky enough to work closely with Drummo and with Fraser (Watts, the Carlton captain) and have learned a lot from them.

�I certainly won�t be re-inventing the wheel.�

Mommsen faces a daunting task on a ground where the Saltires leaked a record 403-3 on their last visit.

However, he added: �I�m looking forward to the challenge. Taunton is always a ground that favours the batting side and we will obviously have plans for how to get at their batsmen.

�But we have to look on this game as an opportunity for our own batsmen to score heavily and we have guys who are capable of doing that.�

South African professional Jan Symes, ineligible for Thursday�s ODI against Canada, returns to the squad while Watsonians batsman Ewan Chalmers replaces Kyle Coetzer who has returned to Northants.

There is also a place for young Arbroath all-rounder Calvin Burnett in the 13-man squad.

The Saltires are bidding for their second win of the campaign.

Squad: P Mommsen capt, C MacLeod, R Flannigan, J Davey, J Symes, R Berrington, J Stander, C Wallace, M Haq, G Goudie, A Evans, E Chalmers, C Burnett.