Big display needed

Roger Graham • Published 26 Jun 2009 14:00

GREENOCK Cricket Club travel through to Edinburgh tomorrow to meet Heriot"s in the unfamiliar position of trying to salvage something from their league season rather than maintaining a title challenge.

A sixth defeat last Saturday at Clydesdale means they have won just once this term - against bottom club Ayr at Glenpark.

It has been a traumatic time for a club which boasts six internationalists - five if you discount recently retired skipper Craig Wright - and one under-19 cap.

A combination of international withdrawals, injuries, poor form and less than impressive decision-making at key times has resulted in the worst opening half to a season that I can recall. There is also the question of an alarming lack of strength in depth at the club.

The reasons have been detailed in previous articles - notably the lack of school sport - but it doesn"t fully explain the malaise that currently hangs over Glenpark.

Tomorrow Craig Wright will lead a side to Goldenacre desperately needing a win to take them away from the relegation zone. He will be minus at least two internationalists in long-term injured pair Sean Weeraratna and Dewald Nel, but there ought to be sufficient ability in the team to start getting themselves out of their current predicament.

Greenock have lost their way to an extent in which defeats have come to be expected. Last week at Titwood they were in a decent position at various times during the match, only to go down meekly, 20 runs short of the target with wickets in hand. That Willie Rowan and Ryan Begley were held back at the loss of the fourth wicket seemed a mistake.

Clydesdale"s 200, albeit on a greenish wicket, was eminently attainable. After a good opening partnership between Richie Berrington and Shailesh Prabhu, the visitors recovered from the loss of Prabhu only to lose the wickets of Cameron Borgas and Berrington in successive deliveries.

Even so, they recovered well enough, despite Moneeb Iqbal and Keenan Bowers becoming bogged down a little. With just over eight overs to go, and six wickets in hand, they needed 59 for victory.

That they fell 20 short was an indication of the slump that the current team is in. The fact is that when they get themselves into positions of control they too often fail to capitalise.

Tomorrow needs big performances from the key players, but then I"m sure they know that themselves. The current crisis, for that is what it has become, may not be crucial, as league reconstruction in one form or other almost certainly will take place at the end of the season, but there are questions Greenock need to be asking of themselves as to their overall strategy as a club.

A look at the 2nd XI - and no criticism is intended of the lads who perform there - shows that there is a huge gap between that and the requirements of 1st XI cricket. The step-up is enormous.

Somewhere along the line, for whatever reasons, the club is not proving able to hold onto promising young players once they get to the age of around 17 or 18.

The current difficulties will serve a purpose if they can be examined constructively and solutions found. Normally a game at Heriot"s would not be reason for trepidation. But supporters who travel will not be going with any feeeling of genuine confidence.

These are difficult times at Glenpark.

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 26 Jun 09

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