A classic English bits-and-pieces player - except he was born in Scotland. Hamilton is a free-hitting middle-order batsman and in his earlier days was a springy, if inconsistent, swing bowler who is at home on the Headingley greentops but struggled on flatter wickets. He made the news with a series of top-drawer all-round performances for Yorkshire at the end of the 1998 season, and was Scotland's batting lynchpin during the 1999 World Cup. This earned him a place on England's tour of South Africa the following winter, but he scored a pair and failed to take a wicket in what will remain his only Test, at Johannesburg, and was ruthlessly dumped. After a mandatory four-year wait, he was again picked for Scotland in the squad for the 2004 ECC European Championship and helped them qualify for the 2007 World Cup in West Indies. Following a county move from Yorkshire to Durham he suffered a bout of the yips, from which he never properly recovered his bowling. He ended his professional career in 2005 but continues to bring vital experience to the Scotland team. A long overdue maiden one-day international came against Ireland in the summer of 2008, and he was a surprise successor to Ryan Watson as Scotland's captain after their side's poor show in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers the following year.