Greenock looking to double up against Ferguslie

 

Ferguslie, the Premier Division leaders and champions elect, are Greenock's opponents this Saturday afternoon at Glenpark. The Paisley club have had an excellent season, winning all but one of their league matches, the 'one' being when Greenock beat the bookies and gained an unexpected, but excellent victory, at Meikleriggs back in June. They will be deserved winners of their first Premier Division title not only for their fine form this season but also for the fact that they were runners up to Prestwick last season.

Greenock have had a quite different season. Having languished at the foot of the Premier League table without a win during the month of May, the team gained their first win against Uddingston on the first Saturday of June and followed that up with the win over Ferguslie the following weekend. Since then, Greenock have made a considerable improvement in their play and now it is in their own hands as the team seek to remain in the top league once again for the 2019 season.

Three wins out of the last four matches which have been played, have allowed a significant gap to have opened up between the Glenparkers and the bottom two clubs Ayr and Dumfries. And with just three Saturdays remaining in the Premier Division programme, including this weekend's match, Greenock need just one more win to make survival a real possibility.

 

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table (as at 4 August)

 
Played
Won
Lost
Tied
Points
Net Run Rate
%
Ferguslie
12  
11
1
0
280
1.54
  93.34
Clydesdale
13  
8
5
0
228
-0.01
  70.16
Stirling County
12  
7
4
1
196
0.14
  65.34
Prestwick
13  
7
6
0
197
-0.02
  60.62
West of Scotland
12  
6
6
0
175
-0.24 
  58.34
Uddingston
13  
6
7
0
187
0.13
  57.54
Poloc
12  
5
7
0
158
0.50
  52.67
Greenock
12  
5
7
0
138
-1.01
  46.00
Ayr
13  
3
10
0
114
-0.58 
  35.08
Dumfries
10  
2
7
1
  84
-0.75 
  33.60

 

However, league leaders Ferguslie will come to Glenpark looking to avenge the defeat handed out to them by Greenock on their home patch. And, with it being their only loss throughout their 2018 Premier Division campaign, that defeat back in June will almost certainly wrankle that bit more.

Ferguslie have a side which includes a number of players who have been with the club all the way through their junior ranks and are now experienced senior cricketers. Michael English, Gregor Preston-Jones, David Stafford, Jamie Carruthers and Greg Cameron are all of a similar age and have been the core of the side which has developed into the top team in the west of Scotland this season.

Michael English has been enjoying a brilliant season with the bat with two centuries to his name in the Premier Division (both against Clydesdale) plus 90 last Saturday against Dumfries, and a total to date of 650 runs in the league from the twelve matches played. His will be the big wicket for Greenock on Saturday, but there are numerous others in the Paisley side such as opening bat Gregor Preston-Jones, Riyaad Henry and South African amateur Elliot Moses who have also been scoring well.

Greenock's form In the last month, with the exception of a an under par batting performance against West Of Scotland, Greenock has shown the side's true potential with good wins against Ayr, Prestwick and Uddingston. Professional Saurabh Bandekar has come good with both bat and ball and has been a important contributor in the team's good run. And so too has team captain Neil Flack.

Last Saturday at Uddingston, Bandekar and Flack each had a four wicket haul as The Lanarkshire side were bowled out for 144 and then they had an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 92 runs which took Greenock to a well deserved win after opening batsmen Shailesh Prabhu and Chris Hempsey had got the innings off to a fine start with a first wicket stand of over fifty runs. And in the previous match at Prestwick, Bandekar with 56 runs and Chris Hempsey 61 shared a century partnership which was key to the win against the 2017 Premier Division champions.

Another good all round team performance will be required from Greenock at the weekend if they are to get a result against Ferguslie. Accurate, tight bowling backed up by good fielding and catching plus concentration and care from all batsmen when out in the middle will be essential. Much may depend on the runs which Greenock can accumulate and good innings from the top and middle order could make the Glenparkers' challenge to the champions elect an interesting and testing one.

This Saturday, the Greenock selection will be without Chris Hempsey who is unavailable due to work commitments but Harry Briggs returns and will keep wicket. Ewan Stewart returns to play in the Glenpark XI and Fraser Godsman is brought back into the team.

The Ferguslie team will be very much as it was in June when the teams met at Meikleriggs. And on that occasion, Greenock played one of their best matches of the season. Batting first the Glenparkers scored 214 for the loss of 7 wickets and then proceeded to bowl out the Paisley side for 179. Neil Flack scoring 76 and Saurabh Bandekar taking a hat-trick in a bowling spell of 4 for 40, were highlights of the match.

So the scene is set for an compelling encounter at Glenpark on Saturday with Greenock keen to get another win to ensure survival in the Premier Division and Ferguslie looking to confirm themselves as Premier Division champions.

The Glenpark XI are away in Glasgow on Saturday to play GHK Strathclyde and will be keen to improve their form from last week's exceptionally disappointing performance against Ardencaple. Skipper Ally Calder is looking to make a final and hopefully winning selection from a squad of fourteen. The match starts at 1pm.

 

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