Greenock face Renfrew in another crucial encounter

Greenock follow up their emphatic 170 run win over Irvine last weekend with a home fixture against Renfrew this Saturday afternoon. It is a match which the Glenpark side will hope to win to keep their promotion prospects in place.

Currently lying in second top spot just under two percentage points behind league leaders Poloc, and also around nine percentage points ahead of West of Scotland, this weekend has the opportunity to be a very important one for Greenock. Third placed West of Scotland travel across Glasgow to play leaders Poloc with the knowledge that they really must win to stay in the promotion race and with 'The Loc' needing to win to stay top. Something has to give here. Meanwhile Greenock must win their match at Glenpark to ensure their own position is at least maintained.

WDCU CSL First Division Table (at 30th July)

Greenock go into Saturday's match likely to be missing two of their regular 1st XI side due to injury. Definitely out is Phil McIntosh with a hamstring problem and almost certainly missing will be Sam Sanghera with a back injury. Filling these places will be Harry Briggs, who successfully partnered Neil Flack at the top of the batting order in Greenock's two matches last weekend, and Chirag Pandher who has shown fine form this season when playing in either the 1st XI or 2nd XI.

Neil Flack was in sparkling form against Irvine last weekend and recorded his second senior century for Greenock, scoring 122 out of the 219 total. He is a key player for the side and his experience of playing at Under 19 international level has shone through this season. Not only has he been scoring runs for the team but he has also developed into a very useful left arm slow bowler and is currently the team's leading league wicket-taker with 33 wickets in the competition.

Overseas amateur, Declan White, is also of very significant importance in Greenock's bowling attack, as his pace has proved too much for most teams during the season and last week at Irvine he recorded his second five wicket haul, which also included a magnificent hat-trick.

Bowling and fielding have been key elements within Greenock's fine performances this season but there has also been a big improvement in the team's ability to compile runs. The side bats deep into the order and even when having to chase large totals, players have shown application at the crease and come through with the necessary runs, when in previous years they have been unable to do so.

Saturday's opponents, Renfrew, were relegated from the Premier Division at the end of the 2015 season and have struggled in Division One for a good part of the 2016 season. Currently, the 'ferry men' occupy third bottom position but they will be keen to salvage some pride from the remaining matches and Greenock must beware of any complacency.

In the match played at Renfrew earlier in the season, Greenock were made to work hard for the win which eventually came their way. Chasing the host's 158 total, the Glenparkers were in a bit of bother at 37 for the loss of 4 wickets and were indebted to Sehmat Pandher, who came in at number six and scored a season best 60 runs. Also scoring well that day were Damon Rootes (35) and Declan White (33).

For Renfrew, professional and captain Ahmed Said has shown a consistent ability to score runs over recent matches. Against league leaders Poloc, he made 75 not out and against West of Scotland scored 63. Said is also a more than useful bowler and in June against Greenock bowled 10 overs for just 17 runs and picked up one wicket.

Various other players such as Asad Amir, Adil Muzaffar and Irfan Nawaz have potential to provide problems for Greenock but none has shown the same consistency in their play as Ahmed Said.

The league is now a 'three horse race' and with only four matches remaining, including this weekend's fixtures, none of the top three will wish to slip up. And, after this weekend, next up for Greenock is West of Scotland away at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow. So it is quite likely that the upcoming two weekends will define the outcome of the final league placings.

For Saturday's match, which starts, as usual, at 12 noon, a squad of twelve has been selected with the final choice depending on Sam Sanghera's fitness.

This match is very kindly sponsored by The Petshop Postie

The Glenpark XI travel up river to play Renfrew's reserve team, Deanpark on Saturday in the Reserve League. Their opponents currently sit just above Greenock in the table and will be tough to beat on their own ground. Glenpark for their part will want to erase memories of last week's surprisingly heavy defeat from Marress with a win in this match which will also start at 12 noon.

The Hillend XI should finally get an opportunity to play this Sunday after weeks of inactivity due to weather issues and 1st XI cup ties which have led to the cancellation of their fixtures. Glasgow Accies are their opponents in Glasgow and the match, which starts at 1pm, will provide a chance for some of the younger up and coming players at Glenpark to play alongside some more senior players.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored this season by Cleaning Supplies 4U.