Curling: 'Soul-searching' Scots drop McMillan

The Scotland skip Hammy McMillan has been dropped from the side after the disappointment of the Winter Olympics. McMillan, who took the team to World and European Championship glory, could not follow the example of the gold medal-winning Great Britain ladies' team.

Great Britain's men failed miserably in Utah despite being one of the favourites and McMillan dropped himself through the competition. Now he has paid a further price after being dropped from the Scottish side which will compete in the Scottish Championships at Braehead Arena next week. A team statement said: "Following a good deal of soul-searching and discussion, the team have decided to change the line-up. Accordingly, for the Scottish Championships, the team will be skipped by Warwick Smith, with Norman Brown, Ewan MacDonald and Peter Loudon.

"We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the enormous contribution made to the team by Hammy McMillan. He is a fine player and our decision to part company should, in no way, be taken as a criticism of his skills."