CRICKET — Greenock Facing Same Opponent Three Times In Five DaysGREENOCK continue their run of matches against Ferguslie at Meikleriggs, Paisley on Saturday in a Premier Division encounter, and then return to Meikleriggs on Sunday to play the Western Union Cup match postponed from last weekend.
The Greenock players might almost have taken up residence in Paisley over the past week as, in an almost unprecedented situation, Greenock have been required to meet their county rivals in T20 midweek cup, Western Union 40 Cup and Premier Division league competition matches all in the space of a week, and all in Paisley.
While Ferguslie will undoubtedly be happy to have had home advantage in all of these fixtures, Greenock must feel the misfortune of having to travel and play each of these matches at their rival’s ground.
Ferguslie are currently flying high in the Premier Division and top the league having completed five out of the seven scheduled fixtures, winning four and losing one. The Paisley side has developed steadily in recent seasons with a group of young, home-grown players and, on their day, are a side strong enough to challenge the best in the country.
Key players include Michael English, whose talents have taken him to the verge of full international recognition, Gregor Preston-Jones, Riyaad Henry and David Stafford. Each of these players is capable of big scores and Greenock will wish to keep their run-scoring in check.
In the Ferguslie bowling attack there are a number of players who have had some success this season. Opening will probably be Jamie Carruthers and Riyaad Henry with change bowlers coming from John Allan, Haroon Tahir, Lucas Farndale, Greg Cameron and Michael English.
2017 Premier Division
Greenock will be short of two of their usual 1st XI side with both Phil McIntosh and Chris Hempsey unavailable for the weekend. However, back into the side come Shailesh Prabhu and Harry Briggs who themselves were unavailable last weekend, but whose absence caused no issue, as both matches were lost to wet weather.
In-form opening batsman Neil Flack will once again be a key player for Greenock. He has accumulated well over 500 runs already this season and his contributions to the team have been hugely important.
Also scoring quite consistently is overseas amateur Kyle Scrimegour. The young Aussie has made a number of 30s and 40s but has, however, failed to translate good starts into really sizeable innings and this is something he will be keen to do in the matches to come. Louis Ware too continues to do well for Greenock and he will be one of the middle order batsmen to whom the Glenparkers will look to make a big total on Saturday.
Greenock’s bowlers have enjoyed regular success in the Premier Division matches and also in the various cup competitions. Kyle Scrimegour is in a rich vein of bowling form having taken 15 wickets in the last five matches. He tops the team’s wicket-taking table with 26 wickets so far, just three ahead of Julian Hulbert.
As Ferguslie can be a high-scoring side, the impact of the Greenock bowling attack could be the key to the outcome.
Greenock’s team for Saturday’s Premier Division match against Ferguslie at Meikleriggs, Paisley which will start at noon, will be from: JPC Hempsey, HJ Briggs, FJ Godsman, ND Flack, JW Hulbert, GJ McDougall, J Nowell, SS Pandher, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, KG Scrimegour, LPJ Ware.
On Sunday, Greenock will attempt to play their second-round match in this season’s Western Union 40 Cup competition against Ferguslie at Meikleriggs in Paisley which was abandoned last Sunday after just four overs because of rain.
Greenock will be keen to win this match to progress to the quarter final of the competition and a home tie against Poloc. Longer term, the team will be aiming to reach the final which will be held at Glenpark in August.
The Western Union 40 Cup match will begin at Meikleriggs at 1pm on Sunday. The Greenock team will be from: JPC Hempsey, HJ Briggs, ND Flack, T Forrest, JW Hulbert, GJ McDougall, J Nowell, SS Pandher, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, KG Scrimegour, LPJ Ware.
Greenock’s 2ndXI (Glenpark XI) have a home fixture on Saturday and play East Kilbride 2nd XI (Torrance House) in the Reserve League First Division. The match will start at Glenpark at noon.
To finish off a busy weekend for Greenock’s senior team cricketers, the Sunday League side (Hillend XI) are at home to a Torrance Village side from the foot of the Campsie Fells. The Torrance Village side is new to the Sunday League and their players are looking forward to their first visit to Glenpark. The match will begin at 1pm on Sunday.
On Friday evening, Greenock’s Under-15 team travel to Glasgow to play Clydesdale at Titwood. On Monday, Greenock’s Under-18 team also play Clydesdale at Titwood, while the Under-13s play Stirling County at Glenpark.
On Sunday morning, Greenock host a Kwik Cricket Festival for Under-10 teams from clubs in the west of Scotland. The cricket festival begins at 10am at Glenpark.
Junior training is held at Glenpark on Wednesday evenings 6 until 7.30pm and new young players are always welcome. Training is provided by a team of qualified and Disclosure-checked coaches.
McCulloch West League Cup
Ferguslie 149 for 6 wickets (20 overs)
Greenock 135 for 8 wickets (20 overs)
The first of three consecutive matches between Greenock and Ferguslie in the space of five days took place on Wednesday night when they met at Meikleriggs in the West League Cup, and it was Ferguslie who emerged winners by 14 runs in a high-scoring match.
This was a match between the top teams in the West Group of the competition and the result should mean that both Ferguslie and Greenock progress to the quarter-final knockout stage. One more round of matches in the group section remains and, if Greenock retain second spot, then they will travel to Prestwick for a quarter-final tie, while Ferguslie will have a home tie against West Of Scotland. Matches are to be played on Wednesday 28 June.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U
