Inverclyde Now Logo CRICKET — Greenock Face League Leaders Ferguslie

7 June, 2018 | Local

PREMIER Division leaders Ferguslie are Greenock’s opponents on Saturday at their Meikleriggs ground.

The Paisley side have a 100 per cent record in the league so far this season, after five matches. The fixture matches top with almost bottom, as Greenock’s win over Uddingston last weekend moved them up a placing to second bottom in the league table.

But Greenock will take heart from their last two Premier Division outings against Clydesdale and Uddingston, both of whom are in the top four. At Clydesdale two weeks ago, Greenock ran the much-fancied Glasgow side very close and in a high-scoring match were just an agonising ten runs short of their opponent’s total at the end of play. Last week at Glenpark, Greenock gained a dramatic, but well-deserved win over Uddingston in a rain- affected match which required the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) scoring system to be used.

Greenock’s form, especially with the bat, has shown encouraging improvement and various players have shown their potential with good individual scores. Team captain Neil Flack hit a sparkling 119 against Clydesdale and has the ability to bat deep into the innings on Saturday and score big once again. Jonathan Hempsey too has been in good form. He is the 1st XI leading run-scorer and, in recent league and cup matches, he has scored more than 200 runs, with 70 at West of Scotland, 40 against Renfrew, 50 not out at Ayr, 44 at Kelburne and another 44 not out against Uddingston.

The club’s two overseas players have been getting used to the west of Scotland weather and wickets during May. Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar is a class player and has made a number of decent scores without having gone on to make a match-winning innings as yet. South African amateur Laurens Smit has also come into good form. In the Last two weeks he has scored a fine 63 in a partnership of 179 with Neil Flack against Clydesdale, 63 not out against Kelburne a week ago and, on Wednesday evening, 45 not out against Renfrew.

The Paisley side have a number of players who are in good form. Opening batsmen Gregor Preston-Jones and Michael English enjoyed a run-fest against Clydesdale last Sunday in a Scottish Cup match which Ferguslie won. Both scored centuries. English in particular has been in excellent form with the bat having scored around 500 runs this season. Fergulsie also has South African Elliot Moses, Scottish-qualified South African Riyaad Henry, former Scottish international Omar Hussain and highly-rated young cricketer Taimoor Ahmad also in their usual top six batsmen.

The side is a good all-round one and bowling will be led by Jamie Carruthers and Henry with Moses, English and Greg Cameron all likely to be called upon to bowl along with the Tahir brothers Hamza and Haroon.

Another Greenock victory on Saturday would likely lift the side further up the table and, with matches against teams in the lower half of the Premier Division coming up, June looks like being an important period for the local team.

Greenock will be without Chris Hempsey, who is unavailable because of work commitments, and Sam Sanghera who is out with a torn muscle injury, while Jonathan Hempsey is struggling to be fit with a back injury.

The team for the match, which starts at noon, will be: ND Flack (Capt), S Bandekar, HR Briggs, S Fischer Keogh, F Godsman, JPC Hempsey, GJ McDougall, RP Mountford, SS Prabhu, L Smit, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor

The Greenock 2nd XI (Glenpark) are at home to GHK Strathclyde. The Glasgow side are currently second top of Division Three with four wins out of five matches played. Saturday’s match will commence at 1pm. The team will be chosen from the following group of players: A Calder, PJ Bryceland, C Calder, S Chaudhary, A Craig, M Farrell, L Fischer Keogh, T Forrest, L McCahill, J Nowell, SS Pandher, P Robertson, A Sanghera, D Sharma.

Greenock Win Cup Match

On Wednesday evening, Greenock travelled to play Renfrew at their Deanpark ground in a sectional match of the McCulloch (West League) Cup. Batting first, Renfrew scored 133 for the loss of 9 wickets from their 20 overs. Saurabh Bandekar took 3 wickets for 18 and Sean Fischer-Keogh also took 3 for 24.

In reply, Greenock scored 137 for 7 with the winning runs being scored in the final over of play. S Bandekar with 43 and L Smit 45 not out were Greenock’s top scorers.

Greenock will likely need to defeat Ferguslie at Glenpark next Wednesday evening in the final sectional match of the competition if progress to the knockout stage is to be achieved. The Glenparkers are currently in second place in the group along with Kelburne. Ferguslie are top and have already qualified. Kelburne play Renfrew at Whitehaugh.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U

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