Greenock look for two wins on key weekend

After last Saturday's washout when no games were even started in the WDCU Premier Division, Greenock's 1st XI are back at Glenpark for what is another crucial game in their league campaign.

Saturday's opponents, Kelburne, are firmly rooted at the bottom of the table, having lost all ten games that they have played this season. In their last two games, they have been dismissed for 49 by Prestwick and 47 by Clydesdale. A team, therefore, that are surely there for the taking.

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table

But if Greenock think that this is the case, then they need only think back to the game earlier in the season against Kelburne when they so nearly lost. Having bowled out the Paisley team for just 68, with Neil Flack and Julian Hulbert both taking 4 for 25, it seemed that Greenock would stroll to victory. That was not the case as they stumbled from 36 for 2 to 50 for 7 and then 67 for 9 before Chris Hempsey hit the winning boundary. Greenock supporters will certainly not want a repeat of that nail-biter!

Kelburne have certainly struggled this season but it should be noted that let alone nearly defeating Greenock, they also came very close to beating high-flying Ferguslie in the Paisley derby. They do have talent in their team, with South African Bradley Joynt, for one, a consistent scorer all season. They also have a lot of experience in their attack through Scott Hamilton, Jamie MacDonald and ex-Greenock slow left-armer, Dougie Wylie. However, it would appear from their last two results, that the continuing run of defeats has finally sapped them of all confidence.

Greenock for their part have had a mixed season, with good wins against Ayr and Uddingston set against defeats to the likes of East Kilbride, whose only wins this season have been against the locals.

While Kelburne have a couple of individuals who have performed well this season, Greenock possess much more strength in depth. Kyle Scrimegour with 289 runs and Neil Flack 220 head the batting aggregates in the league with Shailesh Prabhu, Louis Ware and Julian Hulbert all having scored more than 100 runs.

As regards bowling, Greenock clearly have more firepower. Julian Hulbert has taken 21 league wickets and Kyle Scrimegour 19, the second and third best tallies in the league and Neil Flack has also featured well with 13 victims. It should also be noted that skipper Jonathan Hempsey has now taken over 200 career wickets for the Club, a milestone that slipped through unnoticed a couple of weeks ago.

With Kelburne's clear weakness in batting which has prevailed for virtually the whole season, Greenock's attack should be too much for them, especially if they can dismiss Joynt before he gets established.

A win for Greenock on Saturday is essential if they wish to preserve their place in the Premier Division. The one thing they must guard against is complacency, something which seemed to be in evidence to some extent in their last game against East Kilbride. Provided they guard against this, then they ought to be too strong for Kelburne.

In fairness, Kelburne must surely be targeting at least one win this season and they may see Greenock as their best bet for this, especially given the way the first game went. This is just another reason why Greenock need to be wary. They will not want to be the team that is the first to lose to Kelburne.

Greenock have added the returning Chris Hempsey and Aidan Forrest, who were unavailable last weekend, to the squad for Saturday's match, with Chirag Pandher dropping out.

The match at Glenpark will start at 12 noon.

The match with Kelburne is kindly sponsored by The Petshop Postie

On Sunday, Greenock and Poloc will make another attempt to play their quarter-final Western Union 40 Cup tie at Glenpark after the first game was called off two weeks ago. It seems that matches between these two clubs are always beset with bad weather as both league games have already been cancelled this season.

With the semi-final, against Clydesdale, due next Sunday, a result will be needed although should Sunday again fall foul of the elements, a midweek game might be possible. Even that might be problematic as the two teams are due to meet next Wednesday evening at Shawholm in the semi-final of the West League Cup.

The same squad as for Saturday's match will feature in this game, apart from Aidan Forrest who is unavailable and who is replaced by Rod Mountford. The match will start at 1pm.

The match with Poloc is kindly sponsored by The Bluebird Cafe

The Glenpark XI are away to The Tryst, Stenhousemuir's reserve side, on Saturday. The team has had a very mixed season so far and lost the first game against their opponents by just 3 runs. They should therefore be keen to turn the tables on Saturday. This game will start at 12 noon.

The Hillend XI are also playing on Sunday with an away fixture at Hillhead in the WDCU Sunday League Division 2.

There are only two junior fixtures this weekend, both on Friday, with the Under-11s at home to Ferguslie and the Under-15s, combined with Helensburgh, away to the combined Ferguslie/Kelburne Under-15s.

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