The 1st XI in key derby match at Paisley
This Saturday, the 1st XI are once again on their travels. This time it is to meet Renfrewshire rivals Ferguslie at their Meikleriggs ground opposite the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) in Paisley.
As well as being a Renfrewshire derby match, Saturday's fixture provides another opportunity to gain valuable points in the drive to retain a position in the top cricket league for another season.
Following a poor first half of the season which provided just one win, the side gained a morale-boosting win against Dumfries at Glenpark two weeks ago. Then last weekend at New Cambusdoon the team showed positive form and set the league leaders a challenging score before heavy rain intervened and the match was abandoned.
Now the side must win at least three out of their remaining seven Western Premiership One matches to give themselves a chance of staying up in the top division. It is a significant challenge but one the players feel they can achieve by training hard and focusing on their individual skills as part of the team.
Ferguslie will provide a stern test. Premiership winners and also Scottish Champions of Champions last season in 2022, the Paisley side are a formidable outfit. But this season, the Meikleriggs team have lost three of their ten Premiership matches completed and the 1st XI will seek to add another dent in their 2023 campaign on Saturday.
When the teams met at Glenpark in May, Ferguslie batted first and scored 238 all out and won by the handsome margin of 112 runs.
A 95 run second wicket partnership between opening bat Gregor Preston-Jones (61) and young Afghani player Bahadar Ezakhiel (37) laid a sound platform from which the remaining Ferguslie batsmen were able to go on and achieve a commanding total.
But it was not all plain sailing for the Paisley team as they lost 5 wickets for just 36 runs once Ezakhiel was second wicket to fall on 97. At 133 for 6 Ferguslie could have folded. However their remaining batsmen dug the team out of a difficult position and added a further 105 runs for the last 4 wickets. And the game had slipped away from the 1st XI.
Ezakhiel has continued to be a consistently good performer with the bat and is currently in the top ten run scorers in the Premiership along with South African professional Mo Mayat and team-mate Uzair Ahmad.
And when Gregor Preston-Jones and David Stafford, both with over 200 runs this season, are added to the list, Ferguslie have a group of players who know how to score runs.
The Meikleriggs team also has a strong bowling attack. Daoud and Haroon Tahir each have 19 league wickets to their credit, Qasim Khan 16 and pro Mo Mayat 11.
So the team face a stiff challenge this Saturday. But the players have been encouraged by some good performances in recent weeks. In particular, the win over Dumfries which has re-ignited their season.
The batting performances of professional Rahul Dalal have been a boost to the side. He has scored three Premiership centuries so far this season and his 90 runs against league leaders Ayr was almost his fourth. Dalal is the second highest run scorer in the league with 628 tuns and an average of 89.7.
And last Saturday saw a return to form by opening batsman Tom Polkinghorne who scored 40 runs in a fine third wicket partnership of 112 runs with Dalal. He has scored over 250 runs in the Premiership and is a key player for his team.
If Polkinghorne can get himself in on Saturday and stay out in the middle for an extended period, and Dalal can do the same, then he 1st XI will be well in the game.
Polkinghorne will once again have a change of opening partner for the match as work commitments mean Shailesh Prabhu drops out. However, Harry Briggs is available and returns to the team and, having previously filled the role, may be asked to replace Prabhu at the top of the batting order on Saturday.
Team captain Greg McDougall does have other options for Polkinghorne's opening partner and could turn to Lukas Fischer-Keogh or Nikhil Kadyan, both of whom also have experience at the very top of the order.
Whichever partnership is chosen, a good start to the innings would be a bonus as it has been a problem area for the team this season.
McDougall will also have to carefully consider how to use his bowlers. He has a number of options but only one pace bowler, Gregor Chambers, at his disposal. Getting the right combination at the start of the Ferguslie innings could be important toward making some early breakthroughs.
Saturday's selection shows one further change from the side that played against Ayr with Tom Forrest replacing Ewan Stewart who drops down to the Glenpark XI.
As usual, the match will start at 12 noon.
The Glenpark XI had a comfortable win last Saturday against Galloway's second string but they will face a much sterner test this Saturday at Glenpark when second-placed Anniesland are the team's opponents. At the time of writing a squad of fourteen has been named for the match and whatever final selection is made will have its work cut out to secure the winning points. However skipper Eddie Ahmad leads a much stronger team than was fielded last season and this gives hope for a decent result. The match starts at 12 noon.
The Club is grateful for the continued sponsorship from Cleaning Supplies 4U.