Proud Richard Coughtrie will end a seven-year wait when he finally pulls on a Saltires shirt.

The Gloucestershire wicketkeeper/batsman is one of four English-born players who will tour South Africa with the Scots next month. But the 24 year-old first set his sights on representing the country while coming through Durham Academy with Kyle Coetzer and Moneeb Iqbal.

Coughtrie said: �Kyle and Moneeb were already involved in the Scottish system when we were at Durham. I immediately wanted to join them because I have a Scottish dad and thought I would qualify.�

Coughtrie�s hopes were quickly dashed when he learned there was no parentage rule in cricket.

However, when the ICC relaxed their regulations earlier this summer, Coughtrie was quickly in touch with Cricket Scotland to state his claims.

He added: �I was all over it when I learned they had brought in the parentage rule and now I�m being given a chance to fulfil a long-held ambition.

�I�m very, very proud to be given this opportunity. I always went with my dad to support Scotland playing rugby and now I can�t wait to play cricket for them. I absolutely know I will have to prove myself but my aim is to establish myself and help Scotland win cricket matches.�

Coughtrie will be joined by David Murphy (Northants), Matt Machin (Sussex) and Rob Taylor (Leicestershire) as the four county recruits on the month-long trip to South Africa.