Greenock face tough match with league leaders Prestwick

League leaders Prestwick are Greenock's opponents this Saturday as the local side battle to stay above the relegation places in the Premier Division. With just three matches remaining, and only a very few percentage points separating the clubs at the lower end of the league table things could not be more tense. A single victory for Greenock from any of these three games would almost certainly ensure another season of Premier Division cricket in 2018.

But to Saturday's match. Greenock will travel to Prestwick for the game at the Henry Thow Oval knowing that they will have to play at their very best as a team to return with a win. The Ayrshire side are having an outstanding season and are unbeaten in the league since the first Saturday in June when they lost to Ayr.

Former Irvine professional Sachin Chaudhary, who transferred to Prestwick during the winter off season, has been the key player in Prestwick's transformation into a side which tops the table and could become this season's Premier Division champions. In recent matches, Chaudhary has scored 81 against Poloc and last Saturday 108 against Ayr.

In the 2017 season Chaudhary has scored almost five hundred league runs and is also the top wicket-taker in the Premier Division with twenty seven wickets.

Chaudhary's influence in the Prestwick team's success this season is therefore very clear to see and so must be Greenock's plan for Saturday. Dismiss Chaudhary early and see out his ten overs without loss of any wickets.

With Chaudhary such a positive influence on the Prestwick side this season, a number of other players have also had some fine individual performances. Opening batsman Fazal Jawad scored a century at Dumfries in early July and last Saturday overseas amateur, Tom Smith, a lower middle order batsman, scored 81 at Ayr.

In the Prestwick bowling attack, former Greenock player Willie Rowan had one of his best games of the season last Saturday at Ayr, returning figures of 3 wickets for 30 runs, which included bowling New Zealand pro and top scorer in the Premier Division, Michael Papps for 0.

Others in the Prestwick bowling line-up who Greenock will watch out for are Gavin Pitt, Ross Patterson and Mitchell Rao.

But it is their own team and individual player performances which Greenock will be placing most importance upon. Within the team there are players who have provided top performances during the season and from whom some more of the same could well see Prestwick being seriously challenged on Saturday.

Greenock's best performances have been against the sides at the top end of the league with wins against Ayr and Uddingston standing out, and also a fine effort against Ferguslie at Meikleriggs.

Neil Flack will reflect on his good early season form which saw him score well with 94 against Dumfries and an excellent century in a cup match at GHK. Greenock will hope that he is able to bat long into the innings.

Australian overseas amateur, Kyle Scrimegour, who is Greenock's top scorer in the Premier Division will also want to do well and target improving on his top score of 66 against Ferguslie.

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table

Back into the side this Saturday is Shailesh Prabhu whose experience will be of importance to the Greenock team at the Henry Thow Oval. He will very likely be asked to open the innings along with teenager Harry Briggs and these two will hope to provide a solid start to the Greenock innings and see off the opening Prestwick bowling attack.

Prabhu accumulates runs steadily and without fuss and Briggs has shown the ability to be a good opening bat, so a solid start from these two would give confidence to the rest of the line-up.

Also back into the team comes Chris Hempsey. His wicket-keeping skills and potential for run-scoring should provide a boost for the Glenpark side as they take on the league leaders, and he, like others in the team, will be keen to get runs on Saturday.

A possible omission from the team to take the field at Prestwick on Saturday is Julien Hulbert. He damaged his right knee during last weekend's league match and will take a late fitness test to determine if he is able to play. Hulbert is one of Greenock's regular opening bowlers and his omission would be a considerable blow to the Glenpark side.

Bowling and fielding have been the team's main strength consistently through the season and all teams have found difficulties with the local attack and Greenock must hope that Prestwick will be similarly challenged.

So, a hugely important match for Greenock. And with just three matches remaining, and so much at stake, the players will need no incentive to be at their best for this match.

Bearing in mind the doubts regarding Hulbert's fitness, Greenock have added Aidan Forrest to the squad for Saturday's game which will start at 12 noon.

The Glenpark XI have a home game against Marress (Irvine's 2nd XI) on Saturday in the WDCU First Reserve League. Having come close to beating league leaders Deanpark last Saturday, they would expect to beat Marress who are currently bottom of the table. The team will be aware that if they do lose, then they will drop to the bottom of the table which ought to be incentive enough to force the win. The match will start at 12 noon.

***As always, Greenock's junior cricketers are busy with matches over the weekend. The Under-11 team play Stenhousemuir Under-11s at Glenpark on Friday evening, while the Under-15 team travels through to Stenhousemuir for their match. On Monday evening the Greenock / Helensburgh Under-18s are away to a joint Drumpellier/Victoria team.

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