1st XI reach the halfway point of the season at Renfrew

The WDCU Premiership Division Two league reaches its halfway point in the season this Saturday and the 1st XI will complete their first set of fixtures with an away trip to Renfrew.

The teams have met twice this season already with victory going to the 1st XI on both occasions. A pre-season friendly at Glenpark saw a 100-run win for the local team, with Connor Nowlan announcing himself to supporters with a fine century while the McCulloch Cup fixture at King George V Park resulted in an 8-wicket win for the visitors.

However, it would be wise not to read too much into these results as in neither game were the teams at full strength. It probably makes more sense to look at where the two teams are presently situated in the league table and this shows that the upriver side hold an advantage.

Renfrew currently sit third in the table with a percentage of 65.71, admittedly well behind the two leading sides, Kelburne and Dumfries, but with a good lead over the teams immediately below them. For their part, the 1st XI lie in 6th position with a percentage of 50.29 which reflects the poor run of form in the first half of June that only ended last Saturday with the win over Irvine.

Renfrew started the season in fine form, with resounding victories over Kilmarnock and East Renfrewshire, both of whom have defeated the 1st XI, and they gave Kelburne a good run for their money but in recent weeks their form has drifted and last Saturday they lost a low-scoring game with Glasgow Accies by 3 runs when chasing just 94.

This fluctuating form suggests that this might be a good time to be playing Renfrew. They appear to rely quite heavily on their professional, Myshukur Rahman, who has scored 197 runs and taken 11 wickets so far. Farhan Khan with 199 runs and Hussanain Haider with 13 wickets are the only other players who have made any real impact with bat and ball.

Having said that, the 1st XI have been heavily reliant on their two young Australians. Connor Nowlan with 328 runs and 14 wickets and Angus Tolhurst with 189 runs and 13 wickets have been the stand-out performers all season. The next best total of runs is 79 which shows just how crucial the Aussies have been to the team.

This lack of runs from the supporting batsmen is the most worrying aspect of the team's form and goes some way to explaining why the team has struggled in the league. Saturday's team shows just the one change from the side that defeated Irvine with Shailesh Prabhu, who has missed the last two games replacing Vishal Yadav. Prabhu scored 52 in his last appearance and his presence this week may help to shore up the batting. It is likely that he will open the batting with Nowlan and a good partnership from them would set the platform for a better all-round performance.

Skipper McDougall will have a number of options open to him with regards to his bowling attack and he will look to them to make inroads into the Renfrew batting line-up. With neither Harry Briggs or Chris Hempsey available, Chirag Pandher will take over the wicket-keeping duties but if he is required to bowl, as has been the case in previous games, then Angus Tolhurst will take over the gloves.

The game is likely to be close on Saturday but the feeling is that the two Aussies hold the key and if they maintain their form, then the winning points should belong to the 1st XI.

The Glenpark XI have a home fixture this Saturday when they welcome Milngavie 2nd XI to Glenpark. They do so on the back of a disappointing result last Saturday against Inverclyde. Having restricted their local rivals to 127 for 6 in their 40 overs, they would have fancied their chances of winning but a disastrous mid-innings collapse put paid to that and the fact that they fell short by just 9 runs in the end was only thanks to a last wicket stand of 29 by Zabiullah Dilsoz and Emily Norris.

A much better batting performance from the selected team will be needed this week against their opponents who have had a mixed season so far but seem to be coming into form as witness their recent comfortable win over league leaders, Mearns 2nd XI.

Both games are scheduled to start at 12 noon.

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