THE omens are good for Paul Collingwood and Durham.

The last time England's northern outpost county qualified for the end-of-season showpiece one-day final at Lord's, the Friends Provident Trophy, they had a Scottish batsman racking up the runs at the home of cricket.

"Yeah, I remember watching that," said Calum MacLeod, as he sat in the front row of the pavilion at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. "It was against Hampshire and I remember Kyle [Coetzer] sweep-slogging one into the stands. I remember taking quite a lot of pride from it - watching a fellow Scot, and a guy I get on really well with, doing that on a big stage."

Today, MacLeod will be on the big stage at Lord's, under the Old Father Time weather vane, looking to follow in the stroke-marks of Coetzer, his Scotland team-mate.

Back in 2007, Coetzer and Phil Mustard paved the way for an historic Durham victory - their first in a Lord's cup final - with explosive knocks of 61 and 49. Hampshire, captained by Shane Warne and featuring the batting talent of Kevin Pietersen, finished 125 short of Durham's 312-run tally.

A similar contribution by MacLeod today would help Durham on their way to a fifth piece of silverware in seven years, following their County Championship titles in 2008, 2009 and 2013. It would also go a long way towards confirming the transformation of the 25-year-old north Lanarkshire lad from bowling outcast to batsman of promise and no little clout on the English county scene.

It just so happens that Durham's opposition in the Royal London One-Day Cup final will be provided by Warwickshire. MacLeod spent five years on the books at Edgbaston before he was released in 2010, a year after his bowling action had been reported as suspect by the umpires during Scotland's Intercontinental Cup match against Canada at Aberdeen.

"Warwickshire treated me absolutely wonderfully when I was going through all that," insisted MacLeod. "They gave me as much support and help as they could and it's probably helped me in the long run.

"I think you learn from experiences like that. You learn quite a bit about yourself and also about the game. It helps you understand that hardship is part of the game. There are sacrifices and hard yards to put in if you are to be even moderately successful."

Born in Glasgow, raised in Stepps, and nurtured at Drumpellier and Uddingston cricket clubs, MacLeod returned home from Warwickshire and put in the hard yards that have led to his reinvention as a classic one-day batsman, capable of manoeuvring the ball to all points on the wagon wheel, as he showed with a record knock of 175 for Scotland in the World Cup qualifier against Canada at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch in January, and again with his century in the eight-wicket win against Ireland last week.

It was while Collingwood, the Durham captain, was assisting with coaching duties on Scotland's World Cup qualifying mission that MacLeod earned a second shot at making it in England's county game. Impressed by a skill level he described as "incredible", the former England stalwart arranged for MacLeod to join Durham, initially on loan.

It was not the first time the pair had met. Back in 2009, during his time on the Warwickshire staff, MacLeod got to field for England in the Third Ashes Test at Edgbaston. "I remember sitting in the dressing room listening to him talking about how one of the Pakistan seam bowlers got to swing the ball with a wobbly seam," said the Scot.

"I was probably lucky that it rained, because I could sit and take in all of these little bits. I remember Kevin Pietersen talking to Mushtaq Ahmed, the spin bowling coach, about how he was struggling with his batting and not playing with any confidence.

"You look at these players and think how confident they look. But when you hear someone like Pietersen talking like that, you think, 'You know what, actually I can relate to some of that'.

"Colly was absolutely brilliant when he joined the Scotland coaching team. He took a couple of weeks to assess us all before he said too much. He was very complimentary of not just my skills but the whole skills of the Scotland set-up. But then he questioned the mental side of our game and just tried to tweak that until we went out and played with a lot more confidence and a lot more freedom. I think that helped things to click for me.

"When we were in New Zealand he told me that he wanted to take me to Durham. While it added pressure for the tournament, it also gave me a huge amount of confidence that a guy of Colly's stature in the game had belief in me."

The pair could continue their working association this coming winter. Collingwood is understood to be close to agreeing to a deal to work as Scotland's assistant coach at the World Cup, where they face England in their second group game in Christchurch on February 23.

First, though, comes the big day out at Lord's for the Durham captain and the latest Durham Scot. "I think every cricketer would tell you that the chance to play at Lord's is massive in itself," said MacLeod. "But the chance to play at Lord's in a one-day final, in one of the showpiece events of county cricket, is something that not every cricketer gets to do. It'll be a very, very special day."