FORMER Dunfermline Cricket Club professional Shahid Aslam was back in Scotland at the weekend with the Pakastani one-day international side.

Aslam was pro at McKane Park between 2002 and 2005 and his contribution made the team very competitive in the National League Second Division.

He spent the best part of a decade in the Scottish game but in recent years he has been concentrating on coaching back home.

The former fast bowler is currently assistant manager of the Pakastani side which is in the UK for the Champions Trophy competition which goes ahead in June and their warm-up programme included two games with Scotland and a couple of matches in Ireland.

Aslam (42) loved his time at McKane Park and while in Scotland he has been looking up some of the people he made friends with during his time with Dunfermline.

"I really enjoyed my spell with Dunfermline and we had some good players who produced excellent performances from time to time, although maybe we lacked a bit of consistency," he said.

"Over recent years I have been working hard on the coaching side of things and I was very pleased to be given the assistant manager's job of the national one-day side under head coach Dav Whatmore.

"We are in a rebuilding phase and have a very young side, which has some real prospects in it and Dav and myself have been helping them gain in confidence.

"The Champions Trophy is a big tournament for us and we want to make an impact so the games with Scotland and Ireland are important parts of the jigsaw." Aslam had hoped to get across to McKane Park before heading for Ireland but the tight schedule would not allow it.

But he added, "I hope the club has a good season and can maybe mount a promotion challenge in the weeks ahead."