CRICKET — Greenock’s Premier League Survival Fight Goes To Final WeekendGREENOCK’S battle to avoid relegation goes to the final match of the 2018 Premier Division season this Saturday afternoon.
The side face Poloc at Glenpark and require three points to ensure survival in the top league. Following last weekend’s near washout of fixtures, when Greenock’s match at Stirling was the only one played, Dumfries were doomed to play in the First Division and the relegation battle became a straightforward tussle between Ayr and Greenock.
Now, on the final weekend, Ayr must win at Dumfries and Greenock must lose to Poloc and gain less than three points for the New Cambusdoon team to survive and for Greenock to go down.
The weeks since the beginning of July have been a good period for Greenock with wins against Ayr, Prestwick, Uddingston and Stirling County. Greenock will be likely to field the same side as defeated Stirling County. Jonathan Hempsey will miss out again because of injury and the team will field Ewan Stewart in his place.
Last weekend, Greenock also had to do without Saurabh Bandekar and Sean Fischer-Keogh in the bowling attack. Both played, but because of upper body injuries, neither was able to bowl and skipper Neil Flack had to rely on a very different attack to what he has been used to. The revised bowling line-up stepped up to the mark against Stirling and did an outstanding job. The same may be required again on Saturday afternoon if Bandekar and Fischer-Keogh once again fail a pre-match test on their fitness to bowl.
However, it is likely to be Greenock’s run-scoring ability which is the main factor in deciding the outcome. Overseas players, Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar and South African amateur Laurens Smit were the match-winners last Saturday at Stirling County with a magnificent 135-run partnership. But Greenock cannot rely solely on these two players. Others in the side must step up and play their part — Shailesh Prabhu, Chris Hempsey and Neil Flack will probably top the batting order.
Greenock will hope to field first as the points system is weighted in favour of the team batting second. Bonus points become available when 60 per cent and more of the first innings runs are achieved. So if Poloc bat first and Greenock achieve 70 per cent of their total, that would be enough for the Glenpark side to stay up.
Visitors Poloc, like Greenock, have had a mixed season — they have completed 13 games,winning five and losing eight. The Shawholm side have relied very heavily on their two overseas players, both from South Africa, professional Jurie Snyman and amateur Coenraad Nel. But it’s understood that Snyman recently returned to South Africa. If this is indeed the case, then the threat from the Poloc team may be significantly reduced as Snyman has been a big player for them especially against Greenock in the last couple of seasons while he has been pro at Poloc.
The scene is set for an exciting afternoon of cricket with supporters also keeping a close check on what is happening 100 miles away in Dumfries, where the two bottom clubs will be meeting, the outcome of which could impact on Greenock’s ability to retain their top league placing.
Greenock’s team for the match which starts at noon is likely to be: ND Flack (Capt), S Bandekar, S Fischer-Keogh, CJK Hempsey, GJ McDougall, RP Mountford, SS Pandher, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, L Smit, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor
The Greenock 2nd XI (Glenpark) are away to East Renfrewshire in Glasgow on Saturday afternoon. The match will commence at 1pm. The team for this match will be from: AS Calder, AMC Calder, CS Calder, S Chaudhary, L Fischer-Keogh, P Hempsey, L. McCahill, E. Norris, CS Pandher, M Robertson, PE Robertson, A Sanghera, N Stanton.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U
