Busy weekend for the 1st XI

The 1st XI get back into league action this weekend with a double header of Western Premiership Two matches. On Saturday West of Scotland are the visitors to Glenpark and then on Sunday, the team travels to the west end of Glasgow to meet Glasgow Accies for the re-arranged fixture from last weekend when a special commemorative rugby match between Accies and the Barbarians took precedence over cricket.

Saturday's opposition, West of Scotland, have bounced up and down between Premiership One and Premiership Two for the past three seasons. And at the end of the 2024 season, West suffered relegation to Premiership Two having won just two matches out of fifteen completed.

However, West have got off to a flying start to this season's league programme with two wins out of two from their opening matches. The Glasgow side has soundly beaten both Irvine and East Kilbride scoring over 200 runs in each match batting first.

Avaneesh Yalapavanam has been a key player for West scoring 50 against Irvine and 40 against East Kilbride. But he has not been alone in run scoring. Larvet Masunda with 80 runs against Irvine showed excellent early season form.

Opening bowler John Oliver had an outstanding afternoon against Irvine at Marress. He took 7 wickets for 31 runs and against East Kilbride at Hamilton Crescent last Saturday he picked up a further two wickets.

The 1st XI have players of their own who have made a good start to the season. Will Jenkins and Callum Henry, the Club's two Australian amateurs, have shown they have the potential to be match winners.

Henry is an opening bat and wicket-keeper and hit 38 runs against Kilmarnock. Jenkins is an all-rounder and collected his first two wickets for Greenock against Killie and then scored 55 not out against Kelburne in the McCulloch Cup midweek game.

And father and son, Sam and Aryan Sanghera, contributed 57 runs between them against Kilmarnock.

On Saturday against West at Glenpark, the team must build good partnerships and, if batting first, create a large total from their innings which will seriously challenge West.

Welcomed back into the side for his first match of the season is Harry Briggs. He will bring some experience to the top order and if he can spend time in the middle, Briggs could add important runs for the side.

So, Saturday's match looks set to be a fascinating encounter between two sides which have a long history of competitive cricket against each other stretching back over many years.

On Sunday, the team meet Glasgow Accies at New Anniesland, Glasgow. The Glasgow side won their opening match against East Kilbride and will be keen to make it two wins out of two, but the 1st XI will have other ideas about that.

Last season, Accies won only three of their Premiership Two matches and came close to being relegated. Greenock easily beat them in the fixture at Glenpark and the match at New Anniesland was abandoned due to rain.

On Sunday Greenock will be keen to outplay Accies and get a good away win.

The Glenpark XI travel down the coast to Ardrossan seeking to gain their third league win in a row. Eddie Ahmad, the team captain, has been the central figure for the side in the opening two wins against Galloway and Milngavie 2nd XI, scoring a half century against Galloway and 22 not out against Milngavie. Their opponents have yet to record a victory this season and the Glenparkers will see the game as the chance to notch another victory.

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