Pete Steindl has kept us on our toes all season but after all of the experiments, ejections and elevations, he and Gavin Hamilton appear to be left with just one major choice to make ahead of Saturday's England game.

The Scots are unlikely to break up the chalk-and-cheese opening partnership of Gavin Hamilton and Ryan Watson after the newcomers, Josh Davey and Preston Mommsen, failed to state a deafening case on the first day of their novitiates on Wednesday in the Netherlands.

Kyle Coetzer should take his justifiable place at No 3. He might be out of favour with Durham, again, but Coetzer is still good enough to merit faith for reasons more than form.

The five-and-six axis seems locked in, with Richie Berrington in the form of his life and Neil McCallum umibilically attached to the finishing/salvaging duties he has been performing with muscular aplomb for four years now.

With Dougie Lockhart, the Eddie Stobart of Scottish cricket, near-certain to man the stumps and bat at No 7, only one batsman will need selecting - but there are three candidates to line up at No 4.

Omer Hussain was the incumbent and batted there in all five of this year's CB40 games so far, only missing the trip to the Netherlands because he could not get time off work. But this seems to have counted against him now.

He was brought back into the side to provide aggression, and by all accounts he has played primarily with consolidation and wicket preservation on his mind. It's a daunting step up from club cricket, and it will take the Clydesdale left-hander time to work out where he can score his runs at that level.

Will the selectors keep faith in their investment, or enlist a member of the top three from the game at Hazelaarweg, who were all making their ODI debuts? Qasim Sheikh hasn't done enough to demonstrate form, which the selectors insist is the main basis for consideration, so they have to decide whether they fancy Gregor Maiden, Preston Mommsen or Josh Davey above the other two.

It's almost too tight to call between Maiden, the 30-year-old Grange player from Paisley, Mommsen, a naturalised South African who spent his final school year at Gordonstoun, and 19-year-old Middlesex prospect Davey, all of whom contributed to the score without "going big", with Maiden scoring fastest of the trio after coming in at second drop.

Head coach Pete Steindl admitted that their varying assets will make the final choice for Saturday - one of them could even interrupt the established opening partnership - difficult for he and captain Hamilton.

"All three of those players have shown attributes we are looking for over the last two weeks and all add value in a number of different ways," said Steindl. "There are probably a couple of positions up for grabs - one or two within the top four and one depending on how Gordon Goudie pulls up."

If Goudie, who took five wickets in last year's equivalent fixture against Australia, does not play, Matthew Parker will assume his responsibilities and the Scots will have to decide between deploying a second specialist spinner in Ross Lyons or asking Coetzer to contribute at least a share of ten overs.

Mommsen and Maiden also offer auxiliary spin, as does Watson, but Maiden's athletic fielding and knowledge of the ground perhaps bolsters his cause above those of rivals.

Perhaps the most encouraging find of the Dutch trip was Parker, the tall, blond Dundonian 21-year-old who made a debut against Norway two years ago and has been on trial this season at Durham. Not only did the Forfarshire right-armer take wickets in both the four-day and one-day contests, he proved his attacking capabilities with the bat, causing some to question why he did not come in ahead of wicketkeeping No 7 Dougie Lockhart on Wednesday.

Lockhart's pedestrian 31 helped the Scots ensure a competitive total that a full-strength Dutch side chased down with just three balls to spare, but a quicker innings - he didn't register a boundary - might have made the Dutch chase far less comfortable.

This new generation of Scotland players - Richie Berrington has passed 50 five times in eight innings so far this season - are making points of selection increasingly vexing for Steindl, Ian Kennedy and Hamilton. Which is exactly what they wanted.