Greenock meet Poloc in decisive final match of the season

Greenock's final match of the 2018 Premier Division season takes place this Saturday afternoon when Poloc are the visitors to Glenpark. And it could not be a more important match for the Greenock side as they require three points to ensure that relegation will be avoided and Premier League cricket will once again be played at Glenpark in 2019.

Following last weekend's near washout of the top league fixtures when Greenock's match at Stirling was the only one which was played, and from which Greenock gained maximum points, Dumfries were doomed to play in the First Division and the relegation battle became a straightforward tussle between Ayr and Greenock for survival in the Premier Division.

Now, on the final weekend of fixtures, Ayr must win at Dumfries and Greenock lose to Poloc and gain less than three points for the New Cambusdoon team to survive and for Greenock to go down. It is that simple.

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table (as at 18 August)

The weeks since the beginning of July have been a good period for Greenock with wins against Ayr, Prestwick, Uddingston and Stirling County. And these fine performances have taken Greenock to the brink of survival in the top division.

This Saturday, Greenock will be likely to field the same side as defeated Stirling County. That means that Jonathan Hempsey will miss out once again due to injury and the team will field Ewan Stewart in his place.

Last weekend, as well as Jonathan Hempsey, Greenock had to do without their opening pace bowler Saurabh Bandekar and also Sean Fischer-Keogh in the team's bowling attack. Both played, but due to upper body injuries, neither was able to bowl and skipper Neil Flack had to rely on a very different bowling attack to what he has been used to.

The revised bowling line-up stepped up to the mark against Stirling and did an outstanding job. The same may be required again on Saturday afternoon if Bandekar and Fischer-Keogh once again fail a pre-match test on their fitness to bowl.

However, it is likely to be Greenock's run-scoring ability which is the main factor in deciding the outcome of Saturday's encounter with Poloc.

Overseas players, Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar and South African amateur Laurens Smit were the matchwinners last Saturday at Stirling County with a magnificent 135 run partnership. Another of the same would do just perfectly this Saturday.

But Greenock cannot rely solely on these two players. Others in the side must step up and play their part.

Shailesh Prabhu, Chris Hempsey and Neil Flack will probably top the batting order and a sound start to the innings would allow Bandekar, Smit and others in the middle and lower order to build a big score if batting first and chase down whatever total Poloc score if Greenock field first.

Needing just three points to secure their Premier Division status, Greenock will hope to field first as the points system is weighted in favour of the team batting second. Bonus points are difficult to come by when batting first but batting second, they become available when 60% and more of the first innings runs are achieved. So 70% of Poloc's total, if the Glasgow side bat first, would give Greenock the points they need.

Visitors Poloc, like Greenock, have had a mixed season to date in this season's Premier Division matches but are safe from relegation. The Glasgow southsiders have completed thirteen games and have won five and lost eight.

The Shawholm side have relied very heavily on their two overseas players, both from South Africa, professional Jurie Snyman and amateur Coenraad Nel. But information is that Snyman recently returned to South Africa. If this is indeed the case, then the threat from the Poloc team may be significantly reduced as Snyman has been a big player for them especially against Greenock in the last couple of seasons while he has been pro at Poloc.

So all is set for an exciting afternoon of cricket at Glenpark on Saturday with supporters also keeping a close check on what is happening a hundred miles away in Dumfries, where the two bottom clubs will be meeting and the outcome of which could impact on Greenock's ability to retain their top league placing.

The Glenpark XI play their final league game of the season in Glasgow when they play East Renfrewshire at Springburn Park. They do so knowing that defeat coupled with Ardencaple achieving at least 9 points from their game with Cavaliers will mean relegation to the Fourth Division of the WDCU. The second half of the season has been a dismal affair for the team with just one win in eight games and heavy defeats in the last five matches when not a single point has been collected. Skipper Ally Calder will make a final selection from a squad of thirteen and hope that those picked can turn things around and secure the team's place in the Third Division. The match starts at 1pm.

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