GREENOCK hope to gain their first home league win this Saturday.
The said return to Glenpark having secured their first Western Premiership One victory against West of Scotland at Hamilton Crescent last weekend.
Opponents for round five are Prestwick who were runners-up in the Premier League last season but who have had a faltering start this year.
Prestwick, who pre-season were one of the teams reckoned to be possible title contenders once again, have managed only one win out of their opening four Premiership One matches.
But last Saturday, just like Greenock, the Ayrshire team got their first win, against Clydesdale at their home ground, The Henry Thow Oval.
Although having just one win from four, it is worth recognising that three out of their opening four opponents are considered as being regular top-half-of-the-table teams and Ayr are currently leading the league table.
Also, Prestwick have picked up a total of 15 bonus points from their three losses while Greenock have only gathered in three bonus points.
The key player in their side is team captain and former professional Sachin Chaudhary. With 147 league runs and seven wickets to his name so far, he is a player Greenock need to keep quiet on Saturday.
Rahul Dalal, Greenock’s Indian professional, scored a brilliant unbeaten century against West which will have done his confidence a power of good as he settles into playing cricket in Scottish conditions.
Among others to watch out for are the Ayrshire side’s two South African amateurs, Donovan Du Randt and Matthew van der Mescht, and also top-order bat Euan McBeth.
Greenock too had a disappointing start with no league or cup wins in the opening weeks. But that changed with a first round Rowan Cup victory over East Kilbride followed two days later by the win against fourth-top West of Scotland.
Greenock have yet to get a settled opening batting partnership because of availability issues, and that will continue to be the case against Prestwick.
Harry Briggs is unavailable and so Tom Polkinghorne will likely open with either Lukas Fischer-Keogh or Shailesh Prabhu. Prabhu is an experienced opening bat and may be the player to be given the job by team captain Greg McDougall.
Thereafter, Rahul Dalal, Lukas Fischer-Keogh and Gregor Chambers provide a middle order which can add significant runs.
Greenock make a couple of changes — Shailesh Prabhu and Jamie Nowell are added in place of the unavailable Harry Briggs and Cammy Calder.
The team will be: GJ McDougall, GM Chambers, RR Dalal, T Forrest, LC Fischer-Keogh, J Nowell, CS Pandher, T Polkinghorne, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, EA Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor. The match will start at noon.
Greenock’s 2nd XI gained their third win out of four league matches played in the Championship Division Three last Saturday against Clydesdale 4th XI. This Saturday, the team face a trip to Glasgow to play Woodfarm who have had a good start to the league season. The team against Woodfarm will be: E Ahmad capt, A Afzal, M Ahmadzai, PJ Bryceland, S Chaudhary, A Farooq, J Hutchinson, U Mansoor, N Nagaraju, E Norris, V Yadav.
In midweek, Greenock’s 1st XI and 2nd XI teams were beaten at home by teams from Paisley’s Kelburne Cricket Club. On Tuesday evening the 2nd XI went down by 41 runs chasing 153 and on Wednesday evening the 1st XI lost by the larger margin of 75 runs having been set 173 to win.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U
