Ryan Robert Watson (born 12 November 1976) is a Zimbabwean-born Scottish cricketer who played limited over internationals and captained Scotland. He currently plays club cricket with Forfarshire CC. Watson is a hard hitting right-handed batsman and is able to bowl both medium-fast and off-break deliveries. He hit the headlines in 2003 when he hit a century off just 43 balls in a game against Somerset at The Grange, Edinburgh. In 2008 he became one of the first three players to be awarded a contract with Cricket Scotland. Early days Watson was previously on the coaching staff of Potchefstroom Boys High in South Africa. He decided at the age of 23 to leave South Africa permanently in an attempt to qualify to play for Scotland under residency rules. His early career in Scotland was at Meigle C.C. where he first played as an overseas professional aged 17. A move to Falkland cricket club in Fife for better terms followed, before later moving to Forfarshire CC. His father Larry played cricket for Rhodesia now Zimbabwe. International career Watson made his ODI debut on 27 June 2006 against Pakistan at Edinburgh and had to step in at the last minute as captain. With Scotland struggling at 4/20, Watson led from the front by scoring 80 off 85 balls on his debut. In that same match he along with Neil McCallum set the world record for the highest ever ODI partnership by two debutants in ODI history for any wicket (they put on a 118 runstand for the 5th wicket. In fact this is the only 100+ partnership in ODI history by 2 debutants in history) In January 2007 he hit a match-winning 117 not out against Canada as they successfully chased 293 in a One Day International at Mombasa. It was the first ever century for Scotland in ODI cricket. He had a largely disappointing Cricket World Cup in 2007 although he had the privilege of captaining his side for their second group match against South Africa. The opposing captain was his ex-school mate Graeme Smith. After the tournament Watson was given the job full-time, replacing Craig Wright as captain. Until 2008, the Scotland cricket team was made up of amateurs, players did not have contracts with the game's governing body in the country, Cricket Scotland, and balanced their sports careers with full-time jobs. Cricket Scotland began professionalising the national team in 2008