GREENOCK are away against Hillhead on Saturday for the first of three crucial fixtures.
The trip to the West End of Glasgow puts Greenock up against a side which, like them, is placed in the bottom half of the league table, and a win is a ‘must’.
Greenock team have a much-improved team selection situation compared with last weekend. Opening bowler Fahim Dinarkhiel is available and returns along with all-rounder Chirag Pandher.
Also in to the team comes the experienced Harry Briggs who will likely occupy a position in the top five of the batting order. However, still missing are three important players: Cammy Calder, Nikhil Kadyan and Shailesh Prabhu.
Hillhead occupy joint seventh spot along with Greenock, and, with home advantage, will be keen to gain the win which is important to both sides.
The two wins which the Hillhead side have gained from the six Western Premiership Two matches played, have been against the bottom two teams, East Kilbride and Mearns. The team have lost heavily to Uddingston, Kilmarnock, Stirling County and Helensburgh
Greenock have beaten Stirling County, and play Helensburgh next weekend, followed by bottom side Mearns to round off the first half of the league programme. Wins against Hillhead and the bottom two would put Greenock in to a comfortable league position to begin the second half of the season.
Henry James and Alex Hawley made a couple of good scores in the early matches for Hillhead but have struggled to find form since. Apart from these two, only vice-captain Kesh Soni and Rayyan Butt have shown any sign of batting form with a single good innings each.
The Hillhead bowling attack is perhaps their stronger suit. But while that may be so, out of the six matches played, none of the opposition teams has been bowled out.
The Greenock team to play Hillhead at Hughenden on Saturday with a noon start will be from: A Sanghera (Capt), Ma Ahmadzai, Mu Ahmadzai, HR Briggs, PJ Bryceland, F Dinarkhiel, U Mansoor, TA Matthews, A. McGuirk (Wk), C Pandher, K Thapa.
Greenock’s 2nd XI Glenpark play against Hillhead 2nd XI Hughenden on Saturday. The team will include M Ahmad (C), S Chaudhary, D Sharma, M Mansoor, H Safi ,Y
Hayat, M Zeeshan, A Nair, R Kumar, and R Safi.
In midweek, the Greenock 3rd XI Hillend lost a close match with JP Morgan at Glenpark
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by The Ethos Group
