MAJID Haq may not have reached the veteran stage, but with 165 international appearances, the 30-year-old is comfortably the most capped player in the Scotland side who will face Pakistan on Friday.

Although the Clydesdale off-spinner and left-handed batsman can already reflect on a distinguished career, he still prefers to look forward. There are many goals yet to be achieved, including helping Scotland beat a Test-playing nation for the first time in an official one-day international. That opportunity will present itself at The Grange, Edinburgh, on Friday and again next Sunday.

"We beat Bangladesh in a T20 international last year so the next step is to get a victory against one of the big nations in the 50-over format," said Haq. "We know we'll be playing against one of the best sides in the world when we face Pakistan, but it's a great chance for us to show we can compete at that level.

"I love challenging myself against the best and it will be great to be on the same pitch as Saeed Ajmal and to have a chat with him afterwards.He is obviously one of the best spinners in the world so it's a chance for me to learn a bit as well."

Haq also has the chance to become Scotland's leading wicket-taker in ODIs, a record he shares with John Blain on 41. That is a landmark which he had a chance to reach during Scotland's World Cup qualifiers with Afghanistan in March, but he took just one wicket in two matches so maybe it was written in the stars for Haq to break the record against the country of his ancestry.

"I'm not too bothered about stats, but if I'm going to beat Blainy's record it would be special for me to do it against Pakistan," he said.

Before facing the mercurial Pakistanis, Haq will be the senior figure in a youthful Saltires side who line up against Essex in their first home YB40 fixture of the season today. By Friday, some of the youngsters will be replaced by county-based players who qualify through the ICC's new parentage rule. Matt Machan, David Murphy, Rob Taylor and Iain Wardlaw, who all made their full international debuts against Afghanistan, may be in action against Pakistan. There could also be a place for Neil Carter, the former Warwickshire all-rounder, who is playing club cricket south of the border.

Another player who may figure is Dewald Nel, who today will make his Saltires return. Such an eventuality looked improbable two years ago when the fast bowler was forced to give up a county career with Kent due to a serious back problem.

However, Nel has fought back to fitness and, following several recent outings for the Scotland Lions, has earned a recall to the senior side.

"It has been a long haul, but I've rested mentally as well as physically and am ready to give it one last go at the top level. The one thing I didn't want was just to fade off the scene and be forgotten about without testing myself once more. I think the back injury was simply my body telling me to take a rest after a spell of almost non-stop cricket for a few years.

"So far things have gone well and I'm just going to try to make the most of being back in the squad."

If he comes through today's match unscathed Nel may be given the opportunity to add to his 110 full international appearances against Pakistan, now caps are no longer awarded for county games.

"Reaching 100 caps was a highlight for me and it would be nice to add a few more," he said.

The return of Nel, who stands seventh in Scotland's all-time wicket-taking stakes with 135 victims, is a timely boost given the absence through injury of Gordon Goudie and Safyaan Sharif. Today, he is likely to share the new ball with Arbroath's Calvin Burnett.

Squad: P Mommsen capt, R Berrington, C Burnett, E Chalmers, F Coleman, M Cross, G Drummond, M Haq, M Iqbal, M Leask, C MacLeod, M Machan, D Nel, P Sadler.