Greenock look forward to a weekend of cricket at Glenpark

After nine successive away fixtures, Greenock 1st XI finally return to Glenpark on Saturday when they host East Kilbride in the WDCU Premier Division.

Wednesday 7 June was the last time that Greenock played a home fixture and the team will be looking forward to playing again in front of their own supporters.

A glance at the league table shows how important Saturday's fixture is for both teams. At the start of the season, Greenock's aim would have been to consolidate their position in the Premier Division after last year's promotion. Last Saturday's win at Uddingston has put Greenock in a position to achieve that aim and victory over East Kilbride would surely cement it.

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table

East Kilbride, for their part, will see this game as a 'must-win' as defeat would make relegation to the First Division almost inevitable. So there is all to play for on Saturday.

When the teams met at Torrance House at the beginning of the season, it was the Lanarkshire team that came out on top, thanks in no small way to an unbeaten 84 from ex-Greenock player, Moneeb Iqbal.

That was the last time that Iqbal played for East Kilbride and his absence, coupled with the departure of Ross Lyons and Hari Singh to Uddingston in the winter, has left them as a shadow of the team that finished runners-up last year. Lyons had a stellar season for East Kilbride in 2016 and his departure was always going to be a blow for them but losing Iqbal and Singh as well has been too much for them to deal with.

Last Saturday they were soundly beaten by Clydesdale, being dismissed for just 70 and losing by 9 wickets. It is not hard to imagine that confidence in the team must be low. Virtually all season, they have shown themselves to be susceptible to slow bowling and Neil Flack should be licking his lips at the prospect of bowling to batsmen who have been struggling to cope with pace off the ball.

Confidence should not be a problem for Greenock. The spirit of the team has been good all season and it will have been raised a notch or two after last Saturday's win over the then league leaders, Uddingston. This was a good solid team performance with everyone contributing. The efforts of the team's two young Aussies, Kyle Scrimegour and Julian Hulbert, were obviously key but there was great backup from the rest of the team.

What made the win even more satisfying is that the team was lacking up to four regulars from the team that played during the first part of the season. That they were able to overcome that handicap speaks volumes about the team spirit.

Having said all of the above, it is imperative that Greenock do not turn up at Glenpark on Saturday and just expect to win. They will have to earn the victory. This season has shown that on the day just about any team in the division can beat their opponents. East Kilbride will be desperate for the win and if Greenock lack concentration and focus, then they will find themselves in trouble. After last week's morale-boosting win, the last thing Greenock want is to lose to a team below them in the table.

Greenock will be able to field a strengthened side on Saturday with Chris Hempsey, Shailesh Prabhu and Sam Sanghera all available for selection after missing last week's game.

The match at Glenpark will start at 12 noon.

The match with East Kilbride is kindly sponsored by WH Malcolm Group

On Sunday, the 1st XI have another fixture at Glenpark when they take on Poloc in the quarter-final of the Western Union 40 Cup. Poloc were promoted to the Premier Division along with Greenock last year and they have performed creditably this year to sit in mid-table at present. Greenock had a fine win in the previous round over Ferguslie and a repeat of that performance will be required if they wish to make it to the semi-final of the competition where Clydesdale await the winners.

The squad for Saturday's game will also be involved in this one as well, although Shailesh Prabhu is unavailable. Rod Mountford will be added to the squad. This match will start at 1pm.

The match with Poloc is kindly sponsored by The Bluebird Cafe

The Glenpark XI have had a run of home fixtures but on Saturday they need to jump in their cars to make the trip up to the south of Glasgow to play Albert Park (Weirs 2nd XI) in the WDCU First Reserve League. In the corresponding fixture at the start of the season, Albert Park racked up an imposing 321 on the way to a big win. The Glenpark bowlers have been warned. This game will start at 12 noon.

*** On Friday evening, Greenock and Helensburgh's Under-15 team are at Glenpark against Ayr Under-15s. On Monday, the Under-13s are away at Helensburgh in an Under-13 League game while at Glenpark the Greenock / Helensburgh Under-18 team take on the East Renfrewshire / Renfrew combined team in the Under-18 league.

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