Cricket: Scotland v Australia friendly abandoned

EDINBURGH - Scotland's international cricket friendly against world champions Australia was called off last night because of rain.

The one-day encounter at The Grange in Edinburgh had been a sell-out. There were long queues outside the ground during the morning as a crowd estimated to be around 4500 began to arrive.

But after rain delayed the start of play in the morning, organisers were forced to call the match off.

Scotland had been hoping to use the match against the world champions as a chance to justify their status as a serious cricket-playing nation.

The Scots have qualified for the 2007 World Cup finals.