Tough game ahead for the 1st XI at West of Scotland

The 1st XI face a tough away match against West of Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow this Saturday. However, the team will take confidence from the good form from last weekend which brought victories against Glasgow Accies in the league and also Dunfermline & Carnegie in the quarter-final of the Cricket Scotland Challenge Cup.

West dropped down from the Western Premiership One at the end of last season but could make a quick return to the top league if their Saturday form this season is maintained. However, the 1st XI will be keen to put a dent in that ambition when the teams meet at the famous Glasgow ground this weekend.

In the first half of the league programme when the sides met at Glenpark in May, it was West who came out on top after a well contested match in which both sides scored over two hundred runs. A similarly well-contested match is anticipated this Saturday.

The team will welcome the return of Aussie amateur Will Jenkins after an absence of two Saturdays and will hope that his back injury has improved sufficiently to allow him to bowl some overs. As an all-rounder, however, Jenkins will have an important role to play as a batsman. He was top scorer with 43 runs against West earlier in the season.

And if Callum Henry can play another long innings and be supported by others in the side, then the team has every chance of providing an upset at Hamilton Crescent.

Henry is the player in form (casting aside last Sunday) as his run-scoring places him at the top of the Western Premiership Two batting statistics. He has scored 403 league runs, which includes three undefeated centuries, and has an average of 134.3. His century last Saturday against Glasgow Accies, 111 not out, was his highest score so far.

The 1st XI will field a strong eleven at Hamilton Crescent on Saturday which shows three changes from the team which won comfortably against Accies last week. Into the side come Aussie amateur Will Jenkins, Shailesh Prabhu and Sehmat Pandher, while the players making way are Greg McDougall, Ewan Stewart and Harry Briggs.

The West side is currently in second top spot having completed seven matches. Only one game has been lost which was to third placed Stirling County at the end of June.

A key player for the Glasgow side is Larvet Masunda, the Club's 33 year old Zimbabwean professional. He is a left handed batsman and wicket-keeper. In the match at Glenpark earlier in the season he top scored for the West team with 51 runs and took three catches behind the stumps.

Another player whom West have in their squad is former Shropshire county player Joe Carrasco and along with Masunda he fills an important middle order batting position.

So, West have a strong batting line-up which was evidenced at Glenpark in May. Chasing a total of 213 for 8, three players Carrasco (39) Oliver (37 not out) and Mills (39 not out) all had fine innings along with Masunda and the Glasgow team scored 217 for 4 to win with almost six overs still to play.

The Hamilton Crescent side also has a number of useful bowlers and a pace attack often led this season by John Oliver and Oscar Shepperson and with the likes of the experienced Dave McNulty and also Calum Dutia available as change bowlers.

A tough game ahead for the 1st XI but it will be all eyes on the weather as the forecast for Saturday is not promising.

The Glenpark XI are at home to Ardrossan on Saturday afternoon. The North Ayrshire side are currently stuck at the bottom of the Western Championship Three league table with just one win from six matches completed.

Glenpark meanwhile are second top of the league table and have completed five matches, winning four. So, form would suggest that Glenpark should add another win to their already promising season.

The one league match lost by Glenpark was against Milngavie 2nd XI at Garscube in Glasgow last Saturday. It was a high scoring game with Glenpark batting first and scoring 204 for 9 at the end of the 40 overs with Mo Zeeshan 55 and Moiz Mansoor 51. However, the Milngavie team batted well and won the match with just under four overs of the forty available remaining having scored 208 for 6.

Captain Eddie Ahmad will expect his team, which is along the usual lines, to bounce back and claim the victory.

The Hillend XI travel through to play Stenhousemuir at The Tryst on Sunday afternoon. They have a 100% record in the West District Sunday League Division 2 having played two and won two, while Stenhousemuir have played just one match in which they narrowly defeated Irvine Spartans. The team for Sunday's match has yet to be chosen.

The team was well beaten in their Midweek League match in Glasgow against Crow Road on Wednesday evening. Batting first, Hillend were all out for the lowly total of 57. Crow Road then scored 63 for 3 with just four overs remaining to win the match.

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