GREENOCK travel to Irvine on Saturday buoyed by the confidence gained from winning both of their opening league matches.
Irvine, on the other hand, have made a poor start losing very heavily to both Stenhousemuir and Drumpellier.
Against Stenhousemuir in the opening match, Irvine could score only 59 all-out in reply to Stenhousemuir’s 242 for 8.
And last Saturday, the Ayrshire side’s batting struggled to 79 all-out from 30 overs which was easily overtaken by Drumpellier who scored 80 for the loss of just 2 wickets in 23 overs.
Greenock will be keen to put Irvine’s batters under early pressure. Gregor Chambers and Sam Sanghera provided a fine opening bowling attack last weekend and have the ability to pick up wickets in the first few overs.
There is real added strength in the Greenock bowling line-up this season. Aussie amateurs Tom Nicholson and Ryan Walker, both spin bowlers, have picked up significant numbers of wickets.
Greenock have also been in good run-scoring form. Much of the credit for the sizeable totals must go to Tom Nicholson.
The right-handed opening batsman scored 42 against East Kilbride and then last Saturday against Poloc batted through the full 50 overs to amass a magnificent 156 not out.
Nicholson has been supported by various others in the side who have ‘chipped in’ with useful run-scoring contributions. Ryan Walker (44) and Lukas Fischer-Keogh (27) were the main support at East Kilbride while against Poloc there were several players who provided useful runs.
Nine players from last Saturday’s match retain their positions. But Shailesh Prabhu is unavailable because of work commitments and young Usman Mansoor drops down to the Glenpark XI. Into the side in their places come PJ Bryceland and Cammy Calder.
There is a good mixture of experience and youth in the side for the trip down the coast. Combined with the talent of the overseas amateurs, Greenock is looking stronger than has been the case in recent seasons.
Greenock’s team will be: GJ McDougall, HR Briggs, PJ Bryceland, C Calder, GM Chambers, LC Fischer-Keogh, CJK Hempsey, TJ Nicholson, JM Nowell, SS Sanghera, RA Walker. Scorer: R McGregor
The match will start at noon
Greenock’s 2nd XI (Glenpark) meet their local rivals Inverclyde CC in a Fourth Division match at Glenpark on Saturday afternoon.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U
