1st XI looking to rebound at East Renfrewshire

The 1st XI travel to the south side of Glasgow on Saturday to play against East Renfrewshire at their ground in Giffnock. The team will be keen to get a win from this match after their disappointing loss to Kilmarnock by nine runs last Saturday.

East Renfrewshire were promoted to the Western Premiership Two division at the end of the 2023 season and have struggled for much of the season with just four wins from eleven matches completed and currently occupy second bottom position in the league.

One of those wins, however, came at Glenpark in early June when the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) system was brought into use on an afternoon when rain frequently interrupted play and eventually brought an early halt to the match.

The 1st XI had scored 172 for 7 and in reply East Renfrewshire were 127 for 4 after 36 overs when rain stopped play. The DLS system indicated that the visitors were ahead of their target at that point and so gained the victory.

It was a disappointing end to the game, as it was felt that one more wicket might well have brought on a collapse of the remaining batters in the East Renfrewshire side and so given the team the win.

The defeat on that occasion has been one of a number of league games which have been lost this season, but which on reflection could have provided a winning outcome. The result is that with four matches remaining in the league programme, the team lie in fifth position in the Western Premiership Two with a percentage of 57.67.

Saturday's match will be a tester for the team. The ground at Woodfarm Playing Fields is a new one, being only quite recently formed and suffered initial drainage problems which delayed its acceptance as a suitable cricket venue by the Western District Cricket Union (WDCU).

The ground has hosted matches throughout this season and has seen several with teams scoring over 200 runs in an innings, but also a number where matches have been cancelled due to the ground being unplayable following spells of rain. This week's wet weather may present a problem for the match.

Players who the team will be keen to remove early from the East Ren batting line-up are Wajid Zaman, Mo Choudhary and Ali Qazi. These three are their side's most consistent batters and most likely to score big runs, but on occasion there are others in the side who can score well.

Statistics would suggest that the East Ren side is less dangerous as a bowling unit, and so, if the team get their batting tactics correct, then runs should be able to be accumulated and a substantial total gained if batting first or a winning total if chasing down a target.

If batting first the team may have to target a two hundred plus score and will rely on certain batsmen to achieve that sort of total. The Club's two Australian amateurs, Connor Nowlan and Angus Tolhurst, will be top of that list.

Nowlan and Tolhurst have both scored over 400 runs during the summer and also have almost fifty wickets between them. Their contributions to the team have been hugely important and will be needed on Saturday.

The selected side shows a number of changes to the team from last weekend. Back into the side comes team captain Greg McDougall and Sam Sanghera both of whom have been sidelined over recent weeks due to injury. But unavailable are Cammy Calder, Harry Briggs and Sehmet Pandher.

Also, still out due to injury is Ewan Stewart who is a useful all-rounder for the team and who was a key player in the win against Langside just a couple of weeks ago. But brought back into the side is Faheem Dinarkhel who has been doing well in the Glenpark XI and who will provide an extra bowling option for McDougall.

So the trip up the M8 to the south side of Glasgow is an important one as it presents an opportunity to get back on to winning form and consolidate the team's position in the league table.

The Glenpark XI welcome Bute County & Cowal to Glenpark on Saturday for their final home league game of the season. Their opponents have played just 6 league matches so far, but having won 5 of them, they sit in 3rd top position in the league, just behind the two leading clubs. Glenpark for their part have won 5 of their 9 matches played to date and are in 5th position so a keen game can be expected. Skipper Eddie Ahmad leads a strong-looking team and will be confident of victory.

Both games are scheduled to start at 12 noon.

The Club is grateful for the continued sponsorship from Cleaning Supplies 4U.