AFTER a washout last weekend when their match at Glenpark was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the wet weather, Greenock travel down the coast to play Prestwick tomorrow.

The Ayrshire side which won the Premier Division title in 2017, were runners-up in 2022 and are currently occupying a comfortable mid-table position having won five out of the eleven matches do far.

After an unexpected poor start to the season which saw them lose the first three matches, Prestwick got back to winning ways with three wins on the bounce.

Two more wins have been gained against Uddingston and Dumfries against three losses to Stirling County, Ayr and Clydesdale. 

Greenock show three changes to the team which lost to Prestwick at the end of May. In the side for Saturday are Harry Briggs, Aryan Sanghera, Usman Mansoor while Tom Forrest, Jamie Nowell and Ewan Stewart are the players who are replaced.

Briggs will add to the batting line-up while Sanghera and Mansoor will provide a couple of extra bowling options for team captain Greg McDougall.

It is perhaps getting runs on the board that Greenock most need to achieve to ensure that Prestwick are challenged. And if the top five or six in the Greenock batting line-up can score runs then there is every possibility that points will be gained.

First up, the opening partnership is likely to be Tom Polkinghorne and Shailesh Prabhu with Lukas Fischer-Keogh coming in at number three. A good start to the innings from the top three would lay a good platform for Rahul Dalal at number four to take forward.

The club’s Indian professional scored a fine unbeaten century against Prestwick at Glenpark in May and if he can continue his fine batting form and get support from others then a big Greenock score can be possible.

The Henry Thow Oval at Prestwick is normally a ground where high scores can be achieved. It is not a huge ground and with a fast, often bumpy outfield, boundaries are a regular feature of most innings. It is also a ground which has a sandy base and drains well so if there is rain around it can also dry quickly.

Team captain Greg McDougall has a number of bowling options for Saturday’s match and if Prestwick’s top five batsmen can be kept quiet and dismissed without getting settled in to their innings then Greenock could find themselves gaining the result needed.

McDougall stated, “We know that we can be competitive and if we can bat and bowl well on Saturday then we are very hopeful of getting a good result”.

With Dumfries now in bottom position in the Premiership table, Greenock must look to overtake Stirling County who are in third bottom position. However, fifteen percentage points is the gap between the sides and with only five rounds of fixtures remaining it will take quite an effort from the Glenpark side to beat the drop. The immediate task is a win at Prestwick.

Greenock’s 1stXI team for the match against Prestwick at the Henry Thow Oval in Prestwick on Saturday will be: GJ McDougall, HR Briggs, GM Chambers, RR Dalal, LC Fischer-Keogh, U Mansoor, CS Pandher, SS Prabhu, T Polkinghorne, A Sanghera, S Sanghera.

Scorer: R McGregor The match on Saturday at Prestwick will start at 12noon

Greenock’s 2ndXI are at home to Woodfarm. The team for the match will be from : E Ahmad capt., A Afzal, PJ Bryceland, S Chaudhary, A Farooq, J Hutchinson, N Nagaraju, E Norris, DC Sharma, E Stewart, V Yadav. Reserves : H Safi, C Prabhu.

The match on Saturday against league leaders Woodfarm at Glenpark will start at 12noon.

On Sunday at Glenpark, Greenock’s “Hillend XI” have a friendly match against a Ferguslie XI. The team for the match will be: A Sanghera capt. PJ Bryceland, T Forrest, J Hutchinson, I Khan, U Mansoor, C Prabhu, R Purewal, H Safi, E Stewart, V Yadav.

Sunday’s friendly match at Glenpark will start at 12noon.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U