Greenock Cricket Club play their first home match of the season on Saturday - and the task facing them could hardly be tougher, with league leaders Uddingston coming to Glenpark looking to extend a run which has seen them win their first three matches.
The Lanarkshire side are seeking to make a quick return to the Western Premiership One division from which they were unexpectedly relegated at the end of last season.
But Greenock, with wins against East Kilbride last weekend and against Renfrew in a McCulloch Cup fixture in midweek, will be in confident mood against the top of the table side.
Greenock have been given a very challenging start to the league programme, having been set against the three top sides in the league in the first four matches.
While it has been a tough start, the players have very quickly had to focus on their playing skills, and the two most recent matches, which have both been won, have boosted confidence.
Uddingston, on the other hand, have had a relatively straightforward start to their league programme with two out of their three matches at home and also pitched against two teams, Helensburgh and Hillhead, who are at the bottom end of the table.
Of course, no matter the opposition, runs still have to be scored and wickets taken to gain a win. Uddingston have batted first against Hillhead and Kilmarnock, and set a target of 200 runs for each of the sides to chase - before bowling them out well short of what was required.
Against bottom side Helensburgh at Bothwell Policies last Saturday, the visitors batted through their 50 overs and reached 162 for the loss of 9 wickets. In reply, Uddingston scored 163 for 6 in 31.2 overs to win the match very comfortably.
Amaad Ramzan, Ben Wilmott and Ross Lyons, batting in the middle order for the Lanarkshire side, have been in fine form. In the three matches played these players have scored a total of 337 runs, so Greenock will need to bowl and field well to contain and/or remove them.
Uddingston have a strong bowling unit and will likely use six, or maybe even seven, bowlers against Greenock on Saturday. All are capable of taking wickets, but particularly dangerous may be former Scotland international Lyons and Rajarajan Kamaraj, who picked up four wickets for 32 runs against Helensburgh.
Greenock’s form has shown an upturn over the past week, with both Aussie amateurs showing that they are getting used to Scottish conditions. Toby Matthews has bowled very well and also shown that he can score runs batting in the top order, while Adam McGuirk has been a consistent run scorer either opening the innings or coming in at number 4 or 5 depending on the match plan.
The Aussie amateurs will be backed up by Aryan Sanghera and Chirag Pandher in the top order.
Nikhil Kadyan will be an important all rounder for the match with Uddingston. Last Saturday at East Kilbride he scored an unbeaten 44 runs and was not needed to bowl as the Lanarkshire side was bowled out in just 18 .1 overs. And against Uddingston, Kadyan’s slow off-spin should come in very useful.
With Cammy Calder missing from the bowling attack, Mubi Ahmadzai and Usman Mansoor will have important roles to play along with Chirag Pandher
The weekend’s sides are at less than full strength with various players unavailable due to work commitments.
Greenock’s team for the match against Uddingston at Glenpark which will start at 12 noon is : The team for Saturday’s match at East Kilbride will be: A Sanghera (Capt), Mu Ahmadzai, F Dinarkheil, U Mansoor, Ma Ahmazai, N Kadyan, T Matthews, GJ McDougall, A. McGuirk (Wk), CS Pandher, K Thapa.
Saturday's match is the first of two this weekend for Greenock's first XI; the second is on Sunday, when they travel to Brechin to play against Crescent-Dunecht in the first round of the Scottish Challenge Cup.
Greenock's second XI, Glenpark, travel to Paisley on Saturday to play Ferguslie CC's second XI, Meikleriggs. The match will have a 12 noon start.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by The Ethos Group.
