Inverclyde Now Logo CRICKET — Weekend Pre-Season Fixtures For Greenock

18 April, 2019 | Local

GREENOCK will continue their preparations for the 2019 cricket season this weekend with another two ‘friendly’ matches at Glenpark.

On Saturday, Hillhead provide the opposition and on Sunday, West of Scotland are the visitors. Hillhead play in Division 2 and are regular pre-season opposition — matches are usually well contested. 

 West of Scotland have a very useful side and, like Greenock, play in the Premier Division, and so both will meet again later in the season in a fully competitive situation. Sunday’s game will be the last opportunity for the sides to gain match practice before the opening round of league fixtures next weekend.

Greenock’s preparations have been going well with players using indoors nets on a weekly basis since early February and outdoors since the beginning of April. Last weekend, a good number of players got a game on either Saturday or Sunday.

Neil Flack, one of Greenock’s most talented cricketers and also former Scotland Under-19 captain, retains the captaincy of the 1st XI at Glenpark for a second season.

Returning to his side is Saurabh Bandekar a 31-year-old professional from India who made a good impression at Glenpark while pro at the club last summer. Also coming into the side is 20-year-old amateur Zac Barrenechea from near Melbourne, Australia.

Barrenechea arrived in Greenock after his long flight from ‘Down Under’ on Tuesday evening and he will make his debut against Hillhead on Saturday.

But Bandekar will not arrive until next week from his native India after having spent the winter months playing as professional for a side in Victoria State, Australia.

Bandekar represented India Under-19s, alongside current national stars Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. He is a right-arm pace bowler who is also an accomplished batsman and his talents are likely to be a key feature for the local side this season.

Bandekar has played at top level state cricket in India for Goa and has also featured in the high profile Indian Premier League for Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Since his first-class debut in 2015, Bandekar has played more than 140 domestic matches, across the three formats. He has scored 3,000 plus runs and taken 250 plus wickets, including three hundreds and eight five-wicket hauls.

Barrenechea is a top order batsman for his side in Australia and he is also a wicketkeeper.

This weekend’s friendly matches will allow Flack to run his eye over a number of Greenock’s up and coming young players who will undoubtedly be challenging for places in the 1st XI. Sixteen-year-old Sean Fischer Keogh gained good experience at 1st XI level last summer and became a regular in the side. He is also a regular in the Scotland Under-17 side and will undoubtedly feature prominently for Greenock this season.

But for the most part, Flack will depend on the group of experienced players who have been the core of the 1st XI in recent seasons. Former captains Jonathan Hempsey and Shailesh Prabhu will be regulars alongside Greg McDougall, Chris Hempsey, Sehmat Pander and Sam Sanghera.

Other senior players with first-team experience and likely to be in the frame for 1st XI cricket include Chirag Pandher, Jack Griffiths and Rod Mountford, but with competition for places likely to be very keen this season, there can be no guarantee of a regular place for any of these players…and there will be others from the 2nd XI pushing for a place also.

A significant amount of work has been put into the ground, and in particular the cricket square, since the end of the 2018 season and players and supporters will be keen to see the impact which this work has on play as the season progresses.

Greenock’s team for the match against Hillhead on Saturday will be chosen from the following pool of players: ND Flack, Z Barrenechea, C Calder, S Chaudhary, T Forrest, CJK Hempsey, GJ McDougall, RP Mountford, J Nowell, CS Pandher, SS Pandher, SS Prabhu, SS Sanghera, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor

Greenock’s team for the match against West of Scotland on Sunday will be chosen from the following pool of players: ND Flack, Z Barrenechea, C Calder, S Chaudhary, T Forrest, JPC Hempsey, CJK Hempsey, GJ McDougall, J Nowell, CS Pandher, SS Pandher, SS Sanghera, E Stewart. Scorer: R McGregor The matches on both Saturday and Sunday at Glenpark will start at 1pm

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U

Pin It on Pinterest