EDINBURGH'S Doug Walker staked a persuasive claim to the European Cup 200 metres berth when he clocked the fastest legal time by a British athlete this season as he won the event at the Bedfordshire International Games in 20.59sec.

The wind on Saturday was 0.4 metres against the World relay bronze medallist as he recorded a time which surpasses the qualifying mark for the both the European Championships and Scotland's Commonwealth team. Runner-up Tom Comyns was in a different race, with a remote 21.21.

A World semi-finalist in Athens last year over 200m, AAA champion Walker clocked 20.47 to win the Inter-Counties title, also at Bedford, last Monday, despite still recovering from a groin injury, but the wind on that occasion was over the two-metres permitted legal limit.

Yesterday Walker was practising with the UK relay squad for St Petersburg, but he was included last night by team manager John Anderson in the Scotland squad for the Home Countries international on Sunday in Leeds. ''Walker's run, in an unhelpful crosswind, was absolutely majestic,'' said Anderson.

He has chosen Walker for the 100m, which gives Liverpool-based Anglo, Darren Scott, the chance to make his Scotland debut at 29. He was second in the B 200m with 21.46.

European under-23 champion Alison Curbishley will run the women's 200m with Aileen McGillivary doing the 100m.

Two former Commonwealth team members, Geoff Parsons and Ken Campbell, made promising returns after have missed all of last season, and have also been named for Leeds.

Parsons, a medal winner (silver, two bronze) in his three Commonwealth Games, and men's captain four years ago, won the high jump with 2.15m. Competing off a short run-up, because of Achilles tendon pain, he was just five centimetres off the selectors' guideline standard.

Campbell, a former winner of the New Year Sprint, but a 110m hurdles finallist four years ago in Victoria, made a comeback run of 14.32secs, but his target is more distant - 13.90 is the mark required.

Fife-based Pauline Richards, aka Rocket of Gladiators, having reached the Games heptathlon standard a week earlier, ran her fastest legal 200m and 100m hurdles, 24.60 and 14.15secs respectively, but Glasgow's Malgorzata Rostek was disappointing with 24.83 in the former.

Loughborough's Lee McConnell achieved the best win of her career, moving to equal fourth on the Scottish all-time list with 1.83m in the high jump, just two centimetres short of the Games guideline. The British student champion won on countback over two age-group UK internationalist: Julie Crane who also reached 1.83m, and Michelle Dunkley (1.80m).

McConnell has a match in Prague a week today, and misses Leeds, as does Hazel Melvin who is injured, so the Leeds place goes to City of Glasgow rival Gillian Black.

Other Scottish performances of note included: 400m - Carey Easton (54.70) and Lee Vannet (55.63); 400m hurdles - Barry Middleton (52.70); 800m - Stewart Reid (1-54.40).

Janine Whitlock broke her own UK women's pole vault record for the third time in a fortnight, her 26th British best indoors and out, when reaching 4.31m. The 24-year-old then attempted 4.36m, but snapped her pole.

Anderson has arranged for native record holder David Barnetson and two other high jumpers, Tony Gilhooly and Colin McMaster, to compete in Grenada on Wednesday. Also going are Ian Campbell (1500m), Aileen McGillivray (200m), and Katy Sketchley (100m hurdles).

q ADRIAN Passey clung tenaciously to his five-second lead over Andrew Pearson and won a four-mile road race at Bamburgh on Saturday to clinch victory in the Northumberland Castles All-Terrain Marathon - seven races in six days adding up to the 26 miles 385 yards of the classic distance. Pearson, who had won the first three races, could not sustain the effort and finished 20 seconds behind.

The financial rewards from such races will become increasingly important with performance money, rather than appearance fees, being the main reward under new British athletics pay structures. Passey collected more than #5000, with leading Scots Chris Robison (fourth) and Tommy Murray (sixth) doing considerably better than the minimum #1500 which all competitors earned. Details:

1, A Passey (Bromsgrove) 2-10-06; 2, A Pearson (Longwood) 2-10-26; 3, D Burrows (Birchfield) 2-11-42; 4, C Robison (Shettleston) 2-12-55; 6, T Murray (IBM Spango Valley) 2-13-33.

q European 400m champion Du'aine Ladejo is to team up with former World and Olympic champion Daley Thompson as he bids to switch to the decathlon for the 2000 Olympics.

q BRITAIN'S world silver medallist, Denise Lewis, and champion Sabine Braun, both suffered injuries and were forced out of the heptathlon in Goetzis, Austria. Winners:

Decathlon: Erki Nool (Estonia) 8672. Heptathlon: Irina belova (Russia) 6466.

Culter Fell Horseshoe Hill Race (12 miles, 4900 feet, Tweedsmuir). Men: 1, S Booth 1-43.18 (record); 2, J Davies 1-44.03; 3, G Bland (all Borrowdale) 1-45.15. Veteran: M Paterson (Shettleston, eighth, wins British veteran title) 1-48.19. Team: Borrowdale. Women: 1, A Mudge (Carnethy) 1-59.16 (record); 2, A Brand-Barker 2-12.18; 3, L Osborn (both Keswick) 2-19.50. Team: Keswick.

Veterans Cairnpapple Hill Race: 1, B Young (Clydesdale) 36.15; 2, J Norton (Shettleston) 36-51; 3, H Watson (Shettleston) 36-54. Women: 1, A-M Hughes (Shettleston) 42-26; 2, D Monteith (Victoria Park) 44-57; 3, M Turnbull (Livingston) 49-55.

Scolty 5.5 miles/800ft Hill Race: 1, F Clyne (Metro) 31-37; 2, D Whitehead (Cosmic) 31-42; 3, S Smith (Aberdeen) 33-24. Veteran: J Buchan (Cosmic) 34-00. Team: Metro. Women: 1, C Miller (Aberdeen) 38-56; 2, R MacKenzie (Deeside) 40-51; 3, C Mouat 42-02. Veteran: A Thomson 44-02 (both Cosmic). Team: Cosmic.