Scotland's cricketers head to Namibia to embark on a new season today but their hopes of getting some warm-weather training under their belts could be thwarted by a familiar foe.

Tens of thousands in the north of the southern African country have been displaced by floods, and the forecast for the capital Windhoek, where the Scots will spend almost a fortnight, is for intermittent rain on a daily basis.

With new head coach Pete Steindl in charge on tour for the first time, the Scots face a week of outdoor training at the Wanderers ground and a one-day match against an invitational XI before the Intercontinental Cup meeting with Namibia from 4-7 April.

"After three months of indoor training you always get a bit keen to get outside, and the boys are very excited to get out there because they're all hitting the ball well in the nets and bowling well," said captain Ryan Watson.

"The weather hasn't been great and it might affect our practice match, which was originally a two-day game. But I have been hearing good things about the likes of Sean Weeraratna, who has been getting people out at first grade level in Australia. If there is a bit of rain you never know, it might work in his favour."

With Paul Hoffmann retired and Dougie Brown on the verge of bowing out as he struggles to shake off injuries, 22-year-old Weeraratna could be poised to join John Blain, Dewald Nel and Craig Wright in the Scots' seam attack if he can prove he has put erratic performances of the past behind him.

Another man likely to feature in the attack, Majid Haq, has been asked to report back in May for a second trial with Warwickshire after spending four days with the county last week. The off-spinner/batsman was given a stern physical assessment by Edgbaston director of cricket Ashley Giles, including a sequence of 36 70-metre sprints. Haq's fitness has been questionable in the past but he is still in there battling for a professional deal.

"Ashley Giles said he couldn't make a decision on indor training so they are going to have another look at me in May, probably in some Second XI games," said the Paisley student, 25. "It was pleasing to hear that, and I can now focus on playing for Scotland in the next two weeks, which is the most important thing.

"Warwickshire need a spinner so I was a little disappointed not to get a firm decision, but I suppose it's fair enough. I finish my university course in May so the timing might work out quite well."

Fellow spinner Glenn Rogers will join up with the squad a week late due to work commitments, with Wright and Gordon Drummond flying in from South Africa.

Steindl's first priority for the tour - "to get some sun on our backs" - might prove to be on the sunny side of optimistic, but he agreed that the players who have been wintering down under - Weeraratna, Qasim Sheikh (New Zealand) and Richie Berrington would be as ready as they will ever be for national duty.

"One of the main priorities for this trip is to train for a week with the sun on our backs before we take on Namibia. So it's a great benefit to us that people like Sean and Sheikhy have a full season under their belts already," he said.

"We have had 12 or 13 indoor sessions now which have been intense, and the boys are buzzing. Now we are ready to get outside and get the sun on our backs. Namibia are flying quite high in this competition with some good results but we will be looking for a good performance."

Steindl has resisted any temptation to apply a new broom to the squad since taking over and said Yorkshire-based Gavin Hamilton had been 'working extremely hard' in training on both sides of the border over the winter.

Scotland: R Watson (c), R Berrington, J Blain, G Drummond, G Hamilton, M Haq, O Hussain, D Lockhart, N McCallum, D Nel, G Rogers, Q Sheikh, S Smith (wk), F Watts, S Weeraratna, C Wright.