Survival showdown for Greenock
Published 26 Aug 2011 12:00
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GREENOCK go into their final two SNCL Premiership fixtures of the season this weekend knowing they must win both to have any hope of staying in the top flight of Scottish cricket for next year.
The two sides who will be visitors to Glenpark, Stirling County on Saturday and Drumpellier on Sunday, are in a very similar situation to Greenock and so the scene is set for a very tense but hopefully entertaining two days of cricket.
Last weekend at New Cambusdoon, Greenock lost the first of their three relegation play-off matches to Local Life Ayr.
It was a match the team had gone into as favourites but from which they emerged well beaten.
The result was a huge blow to Greenock in their quest to retain Premiership status. Only Richie Berrington, with 22 runs and three wickets, emerged with any real credit on an afternoon when performances of too many players were below what might reasonably have been expected.
At various points in the season, it has been in the batting department that Greenock have been shown up as being brittle and on Sunday that frailty was once again exposed.
The top order of the team failed to fire and the first five batsmen were back in the clubhouse with only about 60 runs on the scoreboard.
The result could have been even more embarrassing but for a fine ninth-wicket stand from Ryan Begley (28 not out) and Dougie Wylie (16) who put on close to 40 runs before the innings ended.
There were few partnerships to note and none substantial. Against both Stirling County and Drumpellier this weekend, Greenock's batsmen, and the top order in particular, must show effort and concentration to build partnerships right from the start of the innings in order for runs to flow throughout the innings.
Aussie pro Luke Butterworth will be a key player for the team. He has shown in the few matches in which he has been able to play for Greenock this season that he is a class player.
If he can make a good start, he will almost certainly go on to make a big score. Richie Berrington too is due a big innings and will want to finish his season with runs aplenty.
Against Local Life Ayr, no fewer than five of Greenock's batsmen were given out LBW. This weekend, batting technique must be improved to ensure opportunities for such decisions are not provided.
Players such as Chris Bellwood, Shailesh Prabhu, Alex Baum and Andy Hislop need to be positive against the opposition bowling.
Their contributions to the team's total will be very important, and if at least two or three of them are able to dominate and add significant runs to the score, the Greenock innings should be a large one.
In the bowling department, Greenock have a variety of good options, and in most matches to date, opposition teams have had to work hard for their runs.
Richie Berrington and Aussie pro Luke Butterworth will lead the attack against Stirling County tomorrow and their considerable pace should provide problems for the visitors' early batsmen.
Waleed Jamal also has pace and has troubled various sides and picked up wickets in almost all matches in which he has bowled.
However he can be expensive, and must harness his pace well to minimise any extras.
Dougie Wylie adds a different dimension altogether with his off-spin, and his experience and guile has brought a large number of wickets during his career at Glenpark.
Jonathan Hempsey, Willie Rowan and Chris Bellwood can also be called upon, and although none has had a bowl in a match situation for several weeks, each is capable of posing problems to opposition batsmen.
Saturday's visitors, Stirling County, have fared only slightly better than Greenock, having won just three of 11 Premiership matches.
Last Sunday in the first of their play-off matches, Stirling went down by five wickets to fellow relegation battlers Drumpellier at Langloan. All out for 144 in 47 overs, the New Williamfield side had their total overtaken in less than 30 overs.
Stirling made the poorest start of any side in the league and were without a win until early July.
Since then victories over high-flying Forfarshire, Stoneywood Dyce and Local Life Ayr have lifted County off the bottom of the Premiership table. They are a side who should not be taken lightly.
On Sunday, Drumpellier provide the opposition for the final match of the Premiership season for Greenock and it may be a tense affair depending on how results have gone on Saturday.
Unfortunately, Greenock will be without Richie Berrington, who will be with the Scottish Saltires en route to play Hampshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 series, and Dougie Wylie, who is unavailable due to family commitments.
A late decision will be taken regarding who will come in as replacements for these two players.
Drumpellier began their first season in the SNCL Premiership with a fine four-wicket win over Dunfermline on the first Saturday of the season back in April.
Since then, the team from Coatbridge have managed only two further wins, both of which have been against Stirling County.
Greenock will be hoping their record is not improved before the visit to Glenpark on Sunday.
The 2011 cricket season has been one of the most weather-disrupted seasons on record and it is an interesting fact Greenock failed to play three of the other teams who occupied the bottom five positions in the Premiership prior to the split, due to rain cancellations.
Matches against Stoneywood Dyce, Stirling County and Drumpellier were all lost to the weather. That is now history and this weekend is what counts.
The Greenock teams for this weekend's crucial matches are:
Against Stirling County at Glenpark on Saturday with a noon start: RG Begley, A J Baum, CJ Bellwood, RD Berrington, LR Butterworth, JPC Hempsey, AHJ Hislop, W Jamal, SS Prabhu, WJ Rowan, RDG Wylie.
Against Drumpellier at Glenpark on Sunday with a noon start team will be from: RG Begley, A J Baum, CJ Bellwood, LR Butterworth, AP Forrest, JPC Hempsey, AHJ Hislop, W Jamal, GJ McDougall, SS Prabhu, MI Robertson, WJ Rowan.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 26 Aug 11
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