CRICKET — Beleaguered Greenock Again Affected By Player Availability

30 July, 2021 | Sport

GREENOCK welcome third-placed Prestwick to Glenpark on Saturday afternoon for their first home match in the second half of the Premier Division season.

Having managed just a single league win so far, the Glenparkers will be seeking to improve on their results in the remaining eight fixtures.

Availability of key players because of work commitments and injury has been an issue for Greenock in recent weeks and is again a problem for captain Greg McDougall.

Three top order batsmen, Neil Flack, Jamie Nowell and Harry Briggs, will all be missing from the line-up, and also still unavailable are the injured Sam Sanghera and Harry Weld-Forester plus Sehmet Pandher and Jonathan Hempsey.

Fortunately Chris Hempsey and Shailesh Prabhu are both back after missing last Saturday’s match at Uddingston. But there will once again be a need to bring in a number of players from the club’s 2nd XI.

Prestwick are riding high in third place in the Premier Division, having won five matches out of the seven which they have completed. Only the top two teams, Clydesdale and Ferguslie, have beaten the Ayrshire side.

The side has been bolstered by the arrival of a number of new players. Former Scottish international Majid Haq transferred from Edinburgh side Corstorphine, opening batsman Inderjit Singh moved across from Irvine, frontline bowler Azeem Akbar arrived from Weirs and another top order batsman Jacob Stafford joined from Edinburgh club Grange.

A crucial factor in Prestwick’s good form has been the consistency of availability of players. For almost all the matches in the first half of the league programme this season, their top seven batsmen have been in the team.

The Premier Division has numerous teams with top players in their sides who are playing at international or regional level, and, despite currently having a squad which is comparatively less experienced, a feature of the Greenock side this season has been their determination to be competitive.

In almost all matches played, the Glenparkers have made their opponents work hard for the wins which they have achieved. In only three matches out of the eight played, has the Greenock team failed to score at least 150 runs. It is bowling sides out for low enough scores which has been the team’s weakness.

Fortunately, once again, the Glenpark side does have its opening bowling duo of Sean Fischer-Keogh and Gregor Chambers to lead its attack. The pace bowling partnership has picked up 29 wickets in the Premier Division this season, including five last Saturday at Uddingston.

Fischer-Keogh and Chambers will be key to Greenock making some early breakthroughs into the Prestwick top batting order. Thereafter, the bowling options will be teenager Usman Mansoor and Ewan Stewart, both into the side from the 2nd XI, Chirag Pandher and captain McDougall.

Shailesh Prabhu will almost certainly be asked to be one of the opening batsmen although who will join him remains a question for McDougall to ponder.

Chirag Pandher and Ewan Stewart could find themselves in the middle order with the task of batting through overs and adding important runs. Plus, the Fischer-Keogh brothers, Sean and Lukas, who are both growing in experience and confidence with the bat, could well assist with important partnerships.

Prestwick will undoubtedly present a big challenge for Greenock, but being back at Glenpark after two weeks ‘on the road’ will be a plus for the team. The willingness to work hard in the field, and also to show determination and perseverance while batting, will make this match one which the spectators should be able to enjoy.

Greenock’s team for Saturday’s Premier Division match against Prestwick at Glenpark, which will start at noon, is likely to be: GJ McDougall (capt), C Calder, GM Chambers, LC Fischer-Keogh, SK Fischer-Keogh, CJK Hempsey, U Mansoor, C Pandher, SS Prabhu, A Sanghera, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor.

This weekend the Greenock 2ndXI (Glenpark) has no league fixture.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U

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