1st XI welcome old foes Uddingston on Saturday

The 1st XI are at home to league leaders Uddingston on Saturday and the match will provide them with their first home game of the season. It will be a tough test, as Uddingston will be keen to continue their unbeaten 100% record from their opening three games.

The Lanarkshire side are seeking to make a quick return to the Western Premiership One division from which they were unexpectedly relegated at the end of last season. But the 1st XI, with wins against East Kilbride last weekend and against Renfrew in a McCulloch Cup fixture in midweek, will be in confident mood against the top of the table side.

The team has been given a very challenging start to the league programme, having been set against the three top sides in the league in the first four matches. While it has been a tough start, the players have very quickly had to focus on their playing skills and the two most recent matches, which have both been won, have boosted confidence.

Uddingston, on the other hand, have had a relatively straightforward start to their league programme with two out of their three matches at home and also pitched against two teams, Helensburgh and Hillhead, who are at the bottom end of the table.

Of course, no matter the opposition, runs still have to be scored and wickets taken to gain a win. Uddingston have batted first against Hillhead and Kilmarnock and set a target of 200 runs for each of the sides to chase and then bowled them out well short of what was required.

Against bottom side Helensburgh at Bothwell Policies last Saturday, the visitors batted through their 50 overs and reached 162 for the loss of 9 wickets. In reply, Uddingston scored 163 for the loss of 6 wickets in 31.2 overs to win the match very comfortably.

Amaad Ramzan, Ben Wilmott and Ross Lyons batting in the middle order for the Lanarkshire side have been in fine form. In the three matches played these players have scored a total of 337 runs, so the 1st XI will need to bowl and field well to contain and / or remove them.

Uddingston have a strong bowling unit and will likely use six, or maybe even seven, bowlers on Saturday. All are capable of taking wickets but particularly dangerous may be former Scotland international Ross Lyons and Rajarajan Kamaraj who picked up 4 wickets for 32 runs against Helensburgh.

The 1st XI's form has shown an upturn over the past week with both Aussie amateurs showing that they are getting used to Scottish conditions. Toby Matthews has bowled very well and also shown that he can score runs batting in the top order, while Adam McGuirk has been a consistent run scorer either opening the innings or coming in at number 4 or 5 depending on the match plan. The Aussie amateurs will be backed up by Aryan Sanghera and Chirag Pandher in the top order.

Nikhil Kadyan will be an important all rounder for the match with Uddingston. Last Saturday at East Kilbride he scored an unbeaten 44 runs and was not needed to bowl as the Lanarkshire side was bowled out in just 18.1 overs. Against Uddingston, Kadyan's slow, off spin should come in very useful.

With Cammy Calder missing from the bowling attack, Mubi Ahmadzai and Usman Mansoor will have important roles to play along with Chirag Pandher.

The weekend's sides are at less than full strength with various players unavailable due to work commitments. The 1st XI's selection shows three changes from last Saturday's team with the Ahmadzai brothers and Thapa replacing Prabhu, Calder and Bryceland.

The Glenpark XI travel to Paisley on Saturday to take on Meikleriggs (Ferguslie's 2nd XI) in the Western Championship Two league. Last weekend saw a much improved display and more of the same would be good. At time of writing there is no news about team selection and the team is likely to be at less than full strength.

The 1st XI start their defence of the CS Challenge Cup on Sunday with an away fixture against Crescent-Dunecht. They are an Aberdeen-based side but they play their home games at Brechin. This promises to be a tough encounter for the 1st XI as their opponents play in the First Division of the Strathmore & Perthshire Cricket Union and have had some good results this season.

The Hillend XI were supposed to be playing Mearns Masters on Sunday but this fixture has been moved to 30th August.

The Club is grateful for the continued sponsorship from Ethos Group.