1st XI need a win at Glasgow Accies

The 1st XI travel to the west end of Glasgow to meet Glasgow Accies at their New Anniesland ground this Saturday. They will be seeking to get back into winning ways after the disappointment of losing to league leaders Dumfries last weekend. Second bottom Accies should provide the opportunity for the local side to move up the league table.

Earlier in the season, they gained a very comfortable 8 wicket win over Accies at Glenpark. It was the third match of the season, and the win placed them third in the table behind Kelburne and Dumfries. Just over two months later, the top teams remain the same and appear to be heading for promotion while the 1st XI have faltered and now occupy sixth position.

So Saturday's match is an important one for the team to show that they are better than the lower mid-table position currently occupied. Following the Accies encounter, they have an important three weeks of fixtures against Langside (H) , Kilmarnock (H) and East Renfrewshire (A).

All of these sides sit close in the league table and achieving positive results against them would hoist the team up to a much more comfortable position.

But first, it is a game against Accies which needs to be won.

In the match played by the two sides in May, it was the team's two Australian amateurs who were the top performers with both bat and ball.

Accies were bowled out for 116 in 36.2 overs with Angus Tolhurst giving the Glasgow batters a particularly difficult time with his left arm spin as he claimed 4 wickets for just 8 runs from his ten overs in the middle part of the innings.

And opening pace bowler Connor Nowlan with 3 for 31 was also key to the destruction of the Accies batting line-up.

Then in reply to Accies 116 all out, it was Nowlan with 68 not out and Tolhurst 21 not out along with Harry Briggs 20 who took the team to a well deserved win.

Saturday's team shows a number of changes from the one fielded last week with Briggs, Bryceland, Calder and Sam Sanghera all dropping out.

A repeat of the form displayed by the two Aussie amateurs against Accies in May could be key to the outcome of Saturday's match. Indeed both players have done well for most of the summer so far and they each feature toward the top of the batting and bowling statistics for the WDCU Premiership Two league. More wickets and runs from the pair on Saturday will surely bring the win the team seeks.

There have also been some positive signs of improving form from a number of others in the team in recent weeks.

Aryan Sanghera has shown that he can become a top order bat with 30 runs against Hillhead two weeks ago at Hughenden and Ewan Stewart has played important roles with both bat and ball. Cameron Calder too has the ability to be an important all-rounder for the side.

Accies had a poor start to the league programme. Their opening six matches all ended in defeat and so it took until mid-June for their first win to be achieved, which came against Irvine and was won thanks to the DLS system.

That opening success then led to two more wins in succession against Renfrew and Hillhead to give the New Anniesland side three wins in the month of June.

And although Accies lost to Dumfries on the first Saturday in July, the team got back into winning form last Saturday. Despite scoring just 119 Accies managed to bowl out Langside for just 68.

Runs are not easy to come by at New Anniesland as the outfield is often kept much longer than most grounds due to the fact that the cricket playing area is partly shared with rugby and the groundstaff favour the oval shaped ball.

Accies have struggled to score well on their own ground this year and last Saturday's 119 was their highest total at New Anniesland by 30 runs with the exception of the 159 runs scored in defeat to Kilmarnock at the end of May.

There are no stand-out players in their side with only one having managed to score a single fifty in the season so far and only one bowler who has taken a total of more than ten wickets from matches in the league programme.

But the team will need to be on form at New Anniesland on Saturday if a win is to be gained as confidence is on the up at New Anniesland due to their four wins from their last five matches.

The Glenpark XI are at home on Saturday to Clydesdale 4th XI. Due to the vagaries of this season's fixture list, the two teams will meet again next Saturday in Glasgow. Glenpark sit just one place above their opponents in the table but they pushed the league leaders, The Tryst, hard last week and will be confident that a similar level of performance from this week's team can see them come out on top on Saturday.

Both games are scheduled to start at 12 noon.

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