Greenock need one more win for safety

Just two more weekends of cricket remain in this summer's Premier Division and Greenock's goal of retaining their place in the top league is still in the balance. This Saturday, the Glenpark side travel through to New Williamfield in Stirling to play Stirling County knowing that one win from their last two matches will seal their place for another season.

Last weekend, the full league programme was washed out due to the unseasonal wet weather which swept across the country. It was the second time in the space of three weeks that wet weather caused the full Premier Division programme of matches to be lost, and the third time that it has occurred during the season so far.

Weather has disrupted quite a number of weekends of cricket but Greenock has fared better than most other clubs with only four matches cancelled, while some others, including Stirling County have had as many as seven matches lost to poor weather. It's been a frustrating summer for many players.

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table

Player availability has been an issue for Greenock for much of the season as injury and work commitments, in particular, have prevented any consistency of selection. And player availability is an issue once again this Saturday with several first team regulars unavailable for the trip to Stirling.

So the task of gaining the win which will secure Premier Division cricket for a further season will rest with those who are able to take the field on Saturday. Pro Saurabh Bandekar will lead the team and his contributions with both bat and ball are likely to be very important to the outcome of Saturday's match against Stirling.

Bandekar currently tops the Premier Division run-scoring and averages tables with 604 runs at an average of 60.4 which is almost two hundred runs more than West of Scotland's Rory Kleinveldt who is in second place. The Indian professional is also second in the bowling stats for most wickets taken with 29 wickets, just two behind Prestwick's Sachin Chaudhary.

Scotland Under-17 pace bowler Sean Fischer-Keogh is another who could have a big say in the match. The youngster gained his first senior hat-trick a couple of weeks ago when he ripped through league leaders Uddingston's batting line-up and finished with four wickets. Another such performance would be very welcome for the Glenpark side.

And Fischer-Keogh, who is Greenock's latest internationalist, is likely to play alongside Greenock legend and former senior Scottish internationalist, Tom Black, who has made himself available to play in the last couple of matches after a number of seasons in retirement. Black has played for Greenock 1st XI in each decade since the 1970s and has a remarkable playing record. He has taken 932 wickets and scored 19182 runs in 979 matches played for the Club, a record for an all-rounder unlikely ever to be beaten.

Black's presence will be a boost for the team. He will almost certainly be asked to bat in the middle order where his experience and run-scoring record will hopefully provide a bit of strength to the batting line-up.

The former internationalist is unlikely to be called upon to bowl as Greenock have competed well in this area of the game for most of the season. Bandekar and Fischer-Keogh will provide a testing bowling attack for County's top order and they will be backed up by Sam Sanghera, Chirag Pandher, Greg McDougall and Sehmat Pandher.

County have had a very mixed season, much like Greenock, but have managed to gain four wins from the nine matches which they have completed. Twice they have beaten Poloc and just a few weeks ago they defeated Ferguslie at Meikleriggs. The other win was against Greenock in a weather affected match at Glenpark in mid-June, when the local side scored 123 for 6 but just failed by six runs to reach the DLS target of 129 from 26 overs when County had scored 144 all out from 28.5 overs.

The Ferguslie match apart, when County amassed 253 for 9, they have had only two other innings with more than 150 runs scored. No one batsman stands out as a consistent good scorer and this Saturday, Amir Shahzad, who scored 50 against Greenock at Glenpark, is unavailable.

County are perhaps more dangerous in their bowling attack with Akram Shakoor, Tom Bradburn, Rukman Hewage and Tom Jones likely to be their main bowlers.

Stirling have no pressure going into Saturday's match as they are in mid-table, safe from relegation and with no involvement in the title race. Greenock, on the other hand, have their Premier Division status at stake and will be focused on gaining the all important win which will ensure that they remain in the top league in 2020 .

Greenock's team for the match, which will start at 12noon, will be along the same lines as the one selected to play against Ferguslie the previous week with Shailesh Prabhu replacing the unavailable Rod Mountford.

The Glenpark XI are at home this Saturday when they welcome Hamilton Crescent (West of Scotland's 3rd XI) to Glenpark. Like their big brothers, availability is an issue for the team and the selection at present is very much a provisional one. The match is scheduled to start at 1pm.

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