Murrays at the double for Davis Cup duty

Captain Leon Smith last month dropped a big hint that Jamie would be back after he and partner John Peers won the title in Brisbane.

And barring a late volt-face, Jamie will join Andy and James Ward in the squad for the March 6-8 World Group first-round tie, with Kyle Edmund, Liam Broady, Colin Fleming and Dom Inglot vying for the fourth and final place in the squad.

Smith is in Dubai, where Andy Murray is due to open his title campaign today against Gilles Muller, and with Ward having qualified for the main draw, and Jamie in doubles action, it is likely to be a happy group.

The return of Jamie has been widely expected thanks to his burgeoning partnership with Peers, an Australian with whom he has won three titles in less than two years, including victory in Brisbane at the start of 2015.

"Jamie's definitely the form player and then you think about who he could play with," Smith explained recently. "Andy and Jamie would be, I think, a good pair to create an upset against the Bryans (Bob and Mike), at home, in Glasgow."

While Murray and Ward, who is now hovering around the top 100 (currently No 108) pick themselves, Smith's one dilemma is who to pick for the fourth and final spot.

With the world No 1-ranked Bryans so strong, it is tempting for Smith to take an extra singles player, just as insurance.

"What I've also got to have in mind is what if something happened to Andy or Wardy on day one," Smith said. "Because we've got a shot (to win the tie).

"I'd hate to be in a situation where we had an injury to Ward or something, we got to two rubbers all and had to put one of the doubles guys out. I have to weigh those options up a little bit."

That may well mean a place for Edmund, the next-ranked singles player at No 151, though Broady has also been pushing hard and got his ranking up to No 181.

Murray is likely to play on all three days, but the presence of an extra singles player would at least gives Smith back-up.

Should the Murrays play together, it would also mean a nice little piece of history for in the history of the World Group, which began in 1982, there has never been a Davis Cup match between two sets of brothers.

Jamie's return is long overdue after a spell in which he was always seen as expendable, playing well at times but overlooked in favour of Fleming, Ross Hutchins and last year, when Britain won in the US, the big-hitting Inglot.

With Hutchins now retired - and Fleming back after the birth of his first child (and reaching a final in Marseille last weekend) - Jamie is the obvious choice.

"It will be a great tie to play the States in Scotland and great to play with Andy in the doubles against the Bryans," he said last month.

"That's a pretty cool thing to experience. I would definitely love to play. I haven't talked to Andy about it at all. Of course if it happens it would be amazing. It would be a pretty unique thing to do. I don't know when that's happened before."

With a temporary hard court having been laid in the Emirates Arena, it's arguable whether Britain will have any home advantage over the US team, to be led by John Isner, in terms of court surface.

But with a capacity of 7,100, it's a fair bet to say that the home crowd will have a major part to play in inspiring the Brits along, especially if Jamie adds to the Scottish contingent.

"There won't be many Americans coming, that's for sure," said Smith. "So we'll definitely have a loud and proud Scottish crowd getting behind us.

"I think Andy is a much better player from this time last year because he's played so much more and he's back to playing well. So that's going to be a big advantage for us."

"And James Ward's a different player from last year. He got an upset (win over Sam Querrey) last year but he can go into both the singles matches with a chance."

"It's going to be a very close match, a tough battle."