Greenock Telegraph | Sport | Capital fare at Glenpark

Monday, 12th May, 2008

Published: Friday, 9th May, 2008 12:00

Capital fare at Glenpark

By Roger Graham

Print Article

Image related to story, see caption or article text

Big hit: Tim McIntosh lifts a delivery for six against Poloc at Shawholm last Saturday.

IT is only Greenock’s second match of the season, but Glenpark tomorrow is the venue for one of the top encounters of the campaign when Grange are the visitors.

The Edinburgh outfit and Greenock have been the two main clubs in Scotland in recent years. Grange were among many observers’ favourites to provide the strongest challenge for Greenock’s Premier title, but they suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Ayr last week in the capital.

That will give them added motivation at Glenpark tomorrow, for few teams win a championship having lost two matches.

Greenock themselves will be keen to put one over their Edinburgh rivals and maintain the momentum gained from winning their opening game against Poloc last week.

There are already alterations to last year’s new points system. No longer does a team get two bonus points for bowling out the opposition, while cancellations result in two points rather than the three of last season. It remains an inherently unfair system which takes little account of teams playing different numbers of games.

Sides are also docked points if they don’t provide results to the SCU immediately after the match. In addition, the first bowling bonus point, in event of defeat, becomes available after three wickets.

Added to that is the fact that the Scottish Under-19 team now play in the Premier League against the other 10 teams at their grounds. These games take place on a Sunday and only half the points are awarded e.g. five for a win. This is designed to give the youngsters valuable experience, although they themselves are not included in the league table. All of this must lead to the complete bemusement and utter befuddlement of the average spectator. Throw in the fact that top teams lose players to international commitments regularly throughout the season, and the credibility of the Premier League becomes more than a tad tarnished.

We should go back to the old percentage system which never, to my knowledge, produced a championship-winning team who did not deserve to win the title. Its only perceived flaw was that on certain occasions teams may not have been too willing to play a game in order to maintain their percentage. It jappened rarely and, even at that, I cannot recall a single occasion when a side won the league who did not deserve to.

Meanwhile, Greenock are back at full strength tomorrow, meaning the return after international duty of Craig Wright and Dewald Nel.

Each played a key part in the Scots victory over Lancashire, taking five wickets between them. Nel ripped out the key wickets of Yousuf, Flintoff and Cross, while Wright removed Croft and du Plessis.

Their addition greatly strengthens the side who, nevertheless, had a comfortable win against a mediocre Poloc at Shawholm last Saturday. The key performers were professional Tim McIntosh with an impressive 62, Richie Berrington with 42, and Dougie Wylie and Sean Weeraratna with four wickets apiece.

Special mention should also be made of young Johnathan Hempsey who gave a decent bowling stint, albeit with the exception of one over when Sajaad opened up against him, striking two sixes. Hempsey can be consoled by the fact that, over the years, the big fellow has done that to players of far greater experience.

On Sunday, Greenock meet Scotland Under-19s at Glenpark in another league encounter. Full points from both games would be a major boost in Greenock’s attempts to retain their title.

Greenock v Grange at Glenpark, 1pm start: C.M. Wright (capt), R.G. Begley, K. Begley, R.D. Berrington, J. Hempsey, H. Howe, J.D. Nel, S. Prabhu, S.D. Weeraratna, R.D.G. Wylie, T.G. McIntosh.

For Sunday’s game Dougie Wylie is unavaliable while Craig Wright is on standby for Scotland.

l Saturday’s match sponsor is WLE Electrical Services.

On Sunday the match is sponsored by Murray Plant.

Social Bookmarking What are these?