SCOTLAND'S cricket team are going ahead with a tour to South Africa in

March even though full financing as not yet been tied up. It will be the

first visit to the republic by a Scottish team in any sport for more

than 20 years, writes Bill McMurtrie.

Chris Carruthers, the Scottish Cricket Union's chairman, said in

Glasgow yesterday that the SCU are looking for grants and sponsorship.

''I think we have

a marketable product,'' he suggested.

Seeking expert guidance, the SCU have appointed the Carnegie

Partnership as marketing and fund-raising advisers, and yesterday the

union and the Edinburgh-based sports management company announced a

two-pronged sponsorship package. The SCU will not only be making the

national team available for sponsorship but the union have also launched

''Player '92'', a scheme which will directly benefit the playing members

of the tour squad.

Income from the scheme will be used specifically to minimise the

players' tour costs. Without financial backing, each of the 14 players

would have to pay about #600 to make the trip.

Applications for grants have gone into the Scottish Sports Council and

the Foundation for Sport and the Arts. The latter are to announce their

second batch of awards on Friday.

In the foundation's first hand-out during the summer, #6m was

disbursed. Not a penny, however, came to sport north of the Border from

the money gleaned from the tax on football pools, and the SCU are

banking on more favourable treatment for Scotland this time.

''The tour will, we believe, be the first by a national cricket side

since cricketing links with South Africa were re-established and the

first visit by a Scottish national team in any sport for over 20

years,'' Carruthers said.

It will also give the Scottish squad a sound platform for next season,

particularly the Benson and Hedges Cup matches. Scotland will play

against Hampshire, Lancashire, Essex, and Northamptonshire in that

competition, and the chairman explained that the Scots need an overseas

tour as preparation when those four fixtures are within the first three

weeks of the domestic season.

Four officials will be going with the 14 players on the tour. Hugh

Stevenson, the SCU's vice-chairman from Drumpellier, will be manager,

and he will be accompanied by Ralph Laing, the union's incoming

president from Perthshire, Jim Roberts, the former Clydesdale and

Scotland bowler who is now a national selector, and Neil Leitch

(scorer). Laing's twin brother, Gavin, who works for a South African

hotel chain, has been helping to organise the tour.

George Reifer, the former Uddingston professional who has now signed

for Ayrshire, is among the 14 players named yesterday for the tour. So

is Bruce Patterson, though he is without a club after two seasons with

Glasgow Academicals. Two other established caps, however, were

unavailable -- Peter Duthie because of business, and Alastair Storie

because of studies at Oxford University.

Omar Henry, the SCU's professional, who is currently at home in South

Africa, also is in the squad, though whether he can join them in

Johannesburg will depend on his commitments in South African cricket,

including the World Cup. Henry has told the SCU that he is on the verge

of the South African team.

No captain has been named. A decision on that honour will be made once

Henry's availability has been clarified.

Scotland will play three two-day matches and four one-day games,

including one under the flooodlights at Centurian Park, Pretoria's new

cricket stadium. The strength of the opposition is not known, though the

chairman expressed his hope that the South Africans would ''look on us

as the equivalent of an English county.'' Tour squad:

M J de G Allingham (Heriot's FP), A Bee (Aberdeenshire), D Cowan

(Freuchie), J Govan (Carlton), D J Haggo (Ayrshire), O Henry (West

Lothian), J D Moir (Aberdeen GS FP), B M W Patterson (unattached), I L

Philip (Stenhousemuir), G Reifer (Ayrshire), A B Russell (Clydesdale), G

Salmond (Arbroath County), K L P Sheridan (Poloc), R G Swan (Carlton).

Tour itinerary: March 20 -- v Jimmy Cook XI (at Rand Afrikaans

University, Johannesburg); 21-22 -- v Transvaal Universities (at RAU);

23 -- Day-night match v Anton Ferreira XI (at Centurian Park, Pretoria);

24 -- v Wilf Isaacs XI (at Johannesburg Country Club); 25 -- v Kent Park

Taverners (venue to be arranged); 26-27 -- v Transvaal under-23 (at

Wanderers, Johannesburg); 28-29 -- v Northern Transvaal League (at Berea

Park, Pretoria).