Greenock slump to another defeat

William Dick • Published 28 Jun 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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DEFEAT: Greenock on Saturday.

THERE was further disappointment for Greenock and their supporters at Glenpark on Saturday as Uddingston sent Tony Judd's men tumbling to their eighth defeat in nine SNCL starts.

Judd himself came out of retirement in a bid to bolster a side which was still without Scotland star Richie Berrington.

With other key players also absent, the Aussie coach was unable to change the team's fortunes, though there were some encouraging signs in an ultimately heavy eight-wicket defeat.

Judd said: "We never like to lose and it has happened far too often this season. Our total was way too low to give us a chance but at least there was a little more resilience than in recent games.

"I have said before that there will be more pain before we really start to find the consistency we need but players are gaining valuable experience and must learn from it."

Greenock made the worst possible start when they lost a wicket before a run had been scored.

Andy Hislop had survived a Paul Hoffmann maiden when Willie Rowan, returning after a two-week injury absence, found himself clean bowled by visiting skipper Ricky Bawa.

It was the beginning of a purple patch for Bawa who sent down ten miserly overs, five of them maidens, and conceded only five runs to complete the most economical ten-over spell in SNCL history.

Meanwhile wickets continued to fall at the other end with the veteran Hoffmann showing all his skill to dismiss Chris Bellwood and Courtney Kruger in quick succession.

At 17-3, the Glenpark men were in danger of another humiliatingly-low total to follow on from the 47 and 53 of the previous two weeks.

However, Hislop showed commendable resolve in one of his best knocks for the club since arriving at Glenpark, the former Clydesdale man hitting a welcome 41.

He found support from Kevin McLaren and Ryan Begley as the board ticked slowly over.

McLaren, though, was trapped in front by Gavin Bradley while Begley, having made 16, was the first of Amir Gul's three victims.

The latter's departure sparked a lower-order collapse that saw five wickets fall for just 14 runs and, at 98-9, it looked as if Greenock might once again fail to reach three figures.

Instead, David Thomson and Kieran Begley produced the second-biggest partnership of the innings to take the total to 131, Thomson finishing unbeaten on 24.

While Bawa was the most economical of the Uddingston attack, former Saltires star Hoffmann finished with 4-27 and Gul 3-18.

To have any chance of defending such a low total, Greenock needed early wickets and they gave themselves a boost when McLaren had the pinch-hitting Hoffmann caught by Kieran Begley for 19 and Rowan dismissed Bryan Clarke for 7 to reduce the visitors to 62-2.

However, these were to prove Greenock's only successes as Sameer Zia and Rasika Priyadarshana saw Uddingston safely to their target with more than 22 overs remaining.

UAE star Zia led the way with a fluent unbeaten 70 which came from just 74 balls and featured eight boundaries and two sixes.

Meanwhile the Bothwell club's Sri Lankan professional Priyadarshana leant valuable support with 31no, once again emphasising Greenock's disadvantage in having no hired hand this season.

Uddingston skipper Bawa declared: "Greenock never gave up but we had just too much for them.

"We got the job done pretty efficiently and, from a personal point of view, I'm delighted with what I'm told are record figures in the SNCL."

Meanwhile Scotland assistant coach Judd and all-rounder Berrington will be missing for the next two games while the national side participate in the World Cricket League in Holland.

Greenock begin the second half of the league campaign with a tricky trip to face Clydesdale on Saturday.

GREENOCK: A Hislop c Clarke b Gul 41; W Rowan b Bawa 0; C Bellwood c Bradley b Hoffmann 4; C Kruger b Hoffmann 0; K McLaren lbw b Bradley 6; R Begley c&b Gul 16; J Hempsey lbw b Gul 6; D Thomson not out 24; T Judd c Johnstone b Hoffmann 3; G McDougall b Hoffmann 0; K Begley lbw b Priyardarshana 5.

Extras 24. Total all out, 48.4 overs) 131. Fall: 1-0 2-17 3-17 4-57 5-84 6-85 7-90 8-97 9-98 10-131. Bowling: Hoffmann 10-2-27-4 Bawa 10-5-5-1 Priyadarshana 8.4-0-34-1 Bradley 7-0-24-1 Zia 4-0-19-0 Gul 9-3-18-3

UDDINGSTON: P Hoffmann c K Begley b McLaren 19; S Zia not out 70; B Clarke c Kruger b Rowan 7; R Priyadarshana not out 31.

Extras 6. Total (for two, 27.3 overs) 133. Fall: 1-36 2-62. Bowling: Rowan 7-0-28-1 Bellwood 5-0-17-0 McLaren 7.3-0-41-1 Hempsey 2-0-13-0 Judd 5-0-27-0

Greenock Cricket Club acknowledges the generous support of the following sponsors - Match Ball: Brian Roberts. Match: BPI plc. Presidential Suite: David Campbell.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 28 Jun 10

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