Inverclyde Now Logo CRICKET — Greenock To Face Uddingston

2 August, 2018 | Local

GREENOCK continue their fight to avoid relegation with a visit to Uddingston this Saturday.

Only four matches remain in this season’s Premier Division and the local team is battling at the lower end of the league just above the bottom two, Ayr and Dumfries. The Glenpark side occupies eighth position but just four percent separates all three teams in the relegation battle and points gained from the upcoming matches will be like gold dust for each of the sides.

Greenock’s run-in to the end of the season pits them against Uddingston (away), Ferguslie (home), Stirling County (away) and Poloc (home) and it is likely that maximum points from at least two of these matches, plus bonus points from the other two, will be needed to ensure Premier Division cricket next season at Glenpark.

Uddingston provided Greenock with their first league win of the season back at the end of May and that win was followed up with maximum points against league leaders Ferguslie the following weekend. A repeat of those two wins would almost certainly see Greenock safe, but their opponents will want to ensure that revenge is theirs when the teams meet.

Uddingston occupy a comfortable fourth-top position in the Premier Division with a record of played 12, won six and lost six which indicates some very mixed performances. Greenock will take confidence from the Bothwell side’s stats and see the match as one in which maximum points can be gained.

A key player in their side is former Greenockian Ross Lyons who moved to Glasgow when he was a young teenager. He joined Clydesdale where he gained international recognition at various age group levels. Lyons joined Uddingston in April 2017 following a spell with East Kilbride where he was their Player of the Year in 2016. He is well-known to the Greenock side and his performances with both bat and ball could well have a very important bearing upon the outcome.

Others in the Uddingston side who Greenock will need to keep in check include team captain Bryan Clarke, Gavin Bradley, Mo Awais, Harmanjit ‘Harry’ Singh and South African amateur Jimmy Sholto-Douglas, each of whom is capable of scoring important runs.

For Greenock, Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar has been in good form with the bat, with 56 against Prestwick and 80 against West of Scotland in his last two matches.

Neil Flack has had mixed form with the bat but he is a player capable of staying at the crease and his 56 against Ayr in July and 119 against Clydesdale at the end of May are testament to his ability. Also key to a good Greenock score could be South African amateur Laurens Smit who, with 41 against Ayr and 30 not out against Prestwick in recent weeks, has been an important middle-order batsman for the team.

Returning to the side are Shailesh Prabhu, Jack Griffiths and Jonathan Hempsey all of whom will bolster Greenock’s batting strength. With Bandekar, Flack and Smit, they will make up the top six in the batting line-up and, if each can contribute, then Uddingston will most certainly have a match on their hands.

In the field, Greenock will possibly look to Bandekar and Flack to lead the attack with back-up being provided by Jonathan Hempsey, Laurens Smit, and under-15 Scotland international Sean Fischer-Keogh. Other bowling options will come from Greg McDougall and Sam Sanghera who also have the ability to pick up important wickets.

Missing will be Chris Hempsey and Harry Briggs. Their unavailability means not only the loss of two important batsmen but a wicket-keeping problem. The options for who will fill the position will be something for team captain Neil Flack to consider carefully.

Greenock’s team for the match at Bothwell Policies from noon is likely to be: ND Flack (Capt), S Bandekar, S Fischer-Keogh, F Godsman, J Griffiths, JPC Hempsey, GJ McDougall, RP Mountford, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, L Smit. Scorer: R McGregor

The Greenock 2nd XI (Glenpark) are at home to Helensburgh 2ndXI (Ardencaple) at Glenpark on Saturday at 1pm. The team for this match will be from: A Calder, C Calder, A Caskie, P Caskie, S Chaudhary, L Fischer-Keogh, T Forrest, J Nowell, S Pandher, P Robertson, A Sanghera, D Sharma, E Stewart.

Sunday afternoon cricket at Glenpark this weekend involves a double-header of junior cricket matches versus Helensburgh Junior XI when Greenock’s players of the future will be showing their abilities.

Greenock’s various age group teams which play league cricket at Under-11, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 are having a successful season and junior cricket is very much on the up thanks to the coaching available at Glenpark.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U

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