Scene set for the first league games of the season

The 1st XI gets its 2025 competitive season under way with an opening Western Premiership Two league match against Kilmarnock at Glenpark on Saturday. The fixture brings together two of the oldest cricket clubs in Scotland with Kilmarnock formed in 1852 and Greenock in 1862.

After two wet weekends which disrupted the team's pre-season preparations, the weather is looking positive for this weekend.

The players have been working hard indoors since January and outdoors from the beginning of April, and are 'raring to go'.

The Ayrshire side and Greenock are old adversaries with strong bonds between them. And this season, as well as meeting in the league, the sides will also meet in the first round of the Rowan Cup on Thursday 15th of May, the game being played at Glenpark.

Last season, the 1st XI finished in fourth place in the league with Kilmarnock two places further below. But it was Killie who came out on top in both fixtures between the two teams. So the 1st XI will be keen to make amends this Saturday and at the same time get their league campaign off to a positive start.

A strong team wil be fielded for the match and will be led by young Aryan Sanghera in his first season as captain. He has already developed a great enthusiasm within the Club's player group and the twice weekly training sessions have gone extremely well.

And making their competitive debuts for the team will be two young Australians. Callum Henry and Will Jenkins from the Brisbane area of Queensland arrived in Greenock just a week ago and are quickly getting acclimatised. Henry is a wicket-keeper and opening batsman while Jenkins is a pace bowler and middle order bat.

The match will start at 12 noon. During the tea interval a new Club Flag, which has been presented by Honorary Vice-President Roger Hardie, will be unfurled.

The Glenpark XI also start their competitive season this Saturday. Led again by Eddie Ahmad, the team will hope to improve on last season's better showing. On Saturday they have to make the long trek south to take on Galloway at Gatehouse on Fleet. Their opponents have come down into the Western Championship Three league from the Premiership Three division where they finished bottom, winning only one game. The Glenparkers will be keen to start their season on a winning note and have picked a strong-looking team to do so. The match starts at 12 noon, which means an early start on Saturday morning for the players.

There will be cricket on Sunday at Glenpark when the Hillend XI get their season underway with a friendly against the XL Club. Hillend will have a busy season this year as they are entered into the Sunday and Midweek leagues in an attempt to give some of the fringe players more chances. Sunday's team is a good mixture of players from the senior elevens plus some who will not be featuring on Saturday and they will be led by Aryan Sanghera. The match starts at 1pm.