Crucial final league weekend for Greenock

Greenock go into the last weekend of league cricket with their destiny still unknown. A win against PSL Team Sports Clydesdale on Saturday could be enough to beat the drop, but ultimately it may be up to fellow relegation contenders Stirling County to lose at least once over the weekend in their double header fixtures against Uddingston.

Weather, as always this season, is likely to play a significant role in the final outcome and forecasts are as uncertain as the match results. Yet again it is likely that groundsmen will be fighting water to get matches on........but perhaps only if their own club think that it is in their interests to do so. Here again it is out of Greenock’s hands as the local side is away from home at Titwood but at least Clydesdale know that they must play and win to have any chance of winning the title.

CSL Western Premier Division 2012

Standings: 

Tunnock’s Uddingston, Stirling County’s opponents on both Saturday and Sunday, are still in the relegation mix .....but only if they lose both games to Stirling and Greenock beat Clydesdale.

The relegation battle may still have some twists and turns left therefore, but Greenock are without doubt in the least good situation of the three teams fighting for survival.

The team to travel up the M8 to Glasgow is the same as for last Saturday’s match which was eventually abandoned without a ball being bowled at Stirling, but without all rounder Jonathan Hempsey who is unavailable.

Richie Berrington, Greenock’s international player could play a major part in the game as he has the ability to turn the match with either bat or ball. He has threatened to get a big score on a number of occasions for Greenock this season and against PSL Team Sports Clydesdale on Saturday, with concentration and determination, Richie could easily come good with a major innings which both he and the Greenock supporters would be delighted to see.

South African pro Mpho Sekhoto is another accomplished player but he has yet to achieve the sizeable innings which both he and and his teammates would like to have seen happen during the course of this summer. If he can survive the first ten overs after he gets to the middle, then it must be hoped that he will get into gear and build a significant innings.

Greenock will almost certainly require a large innings total when the team plays at Titwood on Saturday whether batting first or chasing the Clydesdale’s total and the first four in the Glenpark team’s line-up will be crucial to achieving that goal. With a good base established, then the likes of 1st XI captain Ryan Begley, Chris Hempsey, Greg McDougall and Waleed Jamal can push on and a total well in excess of 200 runs can be posted.

In the field, Greenock must seek to tighten up their bowling, as too often this season far too many extras have been gifted to the opposition through ‘wides’ in particular. Richie Berrington and Waleed Jamal will lead the attack and will seek to gain some early breakthroughs. If such a good start can be achieved, and Greenock’s bowlers do well, then Clydesdale may well struggle. Their batting, this season, has depended upon a very few players doing well and has been shown to be very brittle on a number of occasions

PSL Team Sports Clydesdale have only managed to play six out of thirteen league fixtures to date due to the wet weather this season which, along with Drumpellier, is the fewest of any of the teams in the CSL Western Premier Division. Of these, the team from Titwood have won four and lost two.

Clydesdale captain, Zeeshan Bashir, wicketkeeper/batsman Kasim Farid and the very talented Scottish Saltires regular, Majid Haq, are the key players for the Titwood team. Each is a danger man, and for Greenock to entertain success on Saturday, each must be kept in check when they come to the middle. Haq, of course, is also a hugely talented bowler and he has impressed not just for his club, for whom he takes regular wickets, but also for the Scottish Saltires against English county and major international opposition such as England and Australia.

Captain Ryan Begley and 1st team coach Richie Berrington know that Greenock have a side capable of winning against PSL Team Sports Clydesdale. The determination not to give up and seek out a win, which was shown two weeks ago in the very closely contested match against McCrea West of Scotland, should still be fresh in the players’ minds, and such a positive attitude is important for the Glenparkers to take into this final match of the season.

The Glenpark XI are at home on Saturday to take on the Titwood XI in their last game of the season in the CSL Reserve League. A squad of twelve has been selected for the match which features a good mixture of the young and old. No captain has been picked as yet, it could be a toss of the coin to determine who wins that prize! This match is scheduled to start at 1pm.

On Sunday, the Hillend XI take on Vale of Leven in a friendly at Glenpark. The game will start at 1pm and be 40 overs per side.