CRICKET — Greenock Need A Win At StirlingGREENOCK make the trip to play Stirling County in their battle to retain Premier Division cricket in 2019.
Fewer than three percentage points separate Greenock from second-bottom Ayr and fewer than seven percentage points separate the Glenparkers from bottom side Dumfries. With just two weekends of cricket remaining, any two of the bottom four could go down, but if Greenock can win both of their remaining matches then they will be safe.
Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar has been in good form in the last few weeks. He gained his top score of the season, 80 against West of Scotland in mid-July and then added to that with 59 at Prestwick. In the match at Uddingston he scored 33 not out in a 92-run partnership with Neil Flack and last Saturday he top-scored for the team with 70 against Ferguslie. But the pro needs to be better supported than has sometimes been the case if the team is to build a large total and gain control of the match.
Back into the side comes Chris Hempsey who missed out because of work commitments last Saturday, and his presence will be a boost. He will likely open the innings following his 61 at Prestwick and 29 at Uddingston when he filled that position. He is also the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
The experienced Shailesh Prabhu will probably be at the top of the order with Chris Hempsey and it will be important for that partnership to give the team a sound start. At Uddingston, two weeks ago the pairing did just that, putting on 55 runs. Flack has been Greenock’s highest-scoring batsman this season with 119 against Ferguslie at Meikleriggs back in June and he has had a number of other fine innings. This Saturday at Stirling, on what is normally a very good batting wicket, he has the potential to be a match-winner if he can remain focused in the manner he showed two weeks ago at Uddingston when, along with Bandekar he played a very important and carefully-constructed innings.
Others from whom runs can come include South African amateur Laurens Smit, Sehmat Pandher and Greg McDougall. Smit has had several good innings for the team in the Premier Division this season and is a capable batsman. But he needs to get through the first few overs and get some runs to develop his confidence to go on and build a score.
Sehmat Pandher is a hard-hitting batsman from whom runs are likely to come quickly but he needs to develop the ability to stay at the crease for longer spells to take advantage of his power and scoring potential. He is a player who can quite suddenly alter the run-rate and give the opposition a real problem defending the boundary and if he gets to the middle at the right moment on Saturday he could do real damage to Stirling.
Greg McDougall too can play an important role in the lower middle order if asked to bat there. He can defend well and support others from higher in the order while at the same time accumulating runs without any drama. And as building partnerships is important in getting a good team score, McDougall’s input with the bat later in the innings could prove pivotal.
Heading up the bowling attack will be pace-bowler Bandekar and leading league wicket-taker Neil Flack. These two will look to gain some early wickets to put Greenock in charge and supporting them will be under-15 Scotland international Sean Fischer-Keogh, Laurens Smit Greg McDougall and Sam Sanghera.
Out of last Saturday’s side are Harry Briggs, Fraser Godsman and Jonathan Hempsey, who has a back injury. Up-and-coming young players Sean Fischer-Keogh and Ewan Stewart, along with the experienced Chris Hempsey are the players who replace them.
Stirling have had a very mixed season but have done enough to secure a strong league position without ever challenging at the top of the table. Key players are the experienced Gavin Anderson, South African amateur Brandon McMullen, and Tom Bradburn, son of the Scottish national cricket coach.
Greenock’s team for the match at New Williamfield, which will start at noon, is likely to be: ND Flack (Capt), S Bandekar, S Fischer-Keogh, CJK Hempsey, GJ McDougall, RP Mountford, SS Pandher, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, L Smit, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor
The Greenock 2nd XI (Glenpark) are at home to St Michael’s 2nd XI (Kingholm) at Glenpark on Saturday afternoon. The match will commence at 1pm. The team will be from: A Calder, PJ Bryceland, C Calder, S Chaudhary, L Fischer-Keogh, T Forrest, F Godsman, P Hempsey, L. McCahill, J Nowell, C Pandher, P Robertson, A Sanghera, D Sharma,
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U
