The British curling team management will not name its professional squad for the coming season until later this month but one potent team has already been assembled with the skips who represented Scotland at both the European and World Championships last season joining forces.

To the discomfort of administrators David Murdoch's Olympic silver medallists were denied places at both competitions because they were beaten in the final of the Euro play-downs in Perth by Dave Edwards' rink and then, a few months later, at the same venue and stage by Ewan MacDonald's in the national championships, the winners of which represent Scotland at the world event.

The prospect of them working together almost has the look of mischief-making, then, but MacDonald explained that for both it is simply about finding the best way to remain competitive while seeking to compensate for the disadvantage of not being able to devote themselves to curling in the way the full-timers can.

"It really is about trying to maximise the resources that are there and working with somebody that's hungry to win a Scottish title as well. That's where the start of that conversation came from," he explained.

The word on the domestic curling circuit towards the end of last season had been that Edwards was contemplating at the very least taking time out of top flight competition, but his shrewd former rival sensed that he might be persuaded otherwise.

"I'd heard on the grapevine that he was calling it a day and thought maybe his circumstances are similar to mine and maybe our schedule would sit nicely with him, so probably our model works quite well for him," MacDonald continued.

In both there is also a sense of there being unfinished business, last season's domestic successes having been followed by poor performances at international level.

"I've said that I would like to win more Scottish titles but I don't want to go back to the World Championships and experience what I have the last two times, that's not where we are and that's not where I want to be, so I suppose it's then just trying to go to the Worlds and do better," said MacDonald.

"I think Davie felt disappointed after the Europeans the same as I have after the Worlds... but I think it's great that he now feels the way he does about. "

A three time former Olympian who still harbours aspirations of returning to that arena MacDonald admits to having been surprised at how overall standards have risen across the sport since he was part of the GB programme as recently as five years ago, but he believes his rinks made improvements in the course of successive World Championship campaigns and in joining forces with Edwards that they can be even more of a force next season.

He is aware, of course, that at a time when there continues to be a debate in the sport over the value of curlers being funded to train full-time that their collaboration may cause those running the official programme some problems but quite rightly notes that it is not an issue he needs to address.

"I don't play in the Scottish Championships to try to create issues or get in the road or annoy people, it's just my own aspirations to try to perform at a good level, win national titles, then represent my country. There's nothing better than representing your country, that's why we all do it," he said.

"That's what my driver is, trying to achieve that, but the last two years have been so, so disappointing.

"I vowed after Beijing (World Champs 2014) I didn't want it to happen again, but we didn't play well enough in Halifax either, it's as simple as that.

"We were close. Where we ended in the table didn't look good but three or four other games could easily have gone our way. The margins are very, very slim but the fact is that you've got to be playing more consistently and better to finish those games off."

Along with his lead, Euan Byers, MacDonald is a former Olympic team-mate of Dave Murdoch who skips the best remunerated of the full-time men's squads, but for all that they remain good friends his message is relatively blunt.

"At the end of the day it comes down to the athletes that are funded full-time having to be better as far as I'm concerned," he said.

"They need to be turning up as we did when we were full-time and dominating.

"I think we can turn up and can play well as we've proven over the past couple of years, but with everything we're dealing with in our lives they should still definitely have the edge on us, no matter what day of the week it is."

It did not work out that way last season, but while MacDonald and Edwards attend to their business over the rest of the summer it would seem that Murdoch and his men would be well advised to be doing the same.