Grade 1 leaders Knight Riders are at Mannofield and it will be interesting to find out if the home advantage of playing on grass will affect this result. Fellow table toppers Crescent go to Rubislaw to play AGSFPs, and whilst the latter were soundly beaten in their NESC CS T20 match v Shire on Thursday, at least Karan Anand and Rob Swiergon got some runs under their belts. Crescent have been more than handy with the bat this season and that consistency will see them favourites to take the spoils.Bon Accord took a bit of a beating on Thursday evening against Gordonians 1st team, but they should find it a much more comfortable proposition against Gordos 2nd team at Links. Gordonians include 5 juniors whilst Bons will undoubtedly go with a tried and tested line up packed with experience. George Hadden and Fraser Lawrence return for Inverurie as they play Cults at Allan Park. Inverurie are sitting in an unaccustomed 9th spot and could do with a win, and Cults are 8th, part of a pack of 5 teams separated by very few points. 2nd Knight Riders have been a surprise package this season and they host Master Blasters at Groats Road. At their best Master Blasters can hold their own with anyone, but that said, they haven’t always been at their best.
In Grade 2, Banchory are at Harlaw to face unbeaten Grampian and Portcullis play Siyapa at Duthie Park. To avoid playing at Sheddocksley, 2nd Grampian have their ‘home’ match v Ellon at Ellon. You wouldn’t bet your house on the results of any of these matches.
Grade 3 has derby day at Lairds as the 2 Methlick teams lock horns. On paper this should be a one sided encounter with Steve Murphy and Mike Hordley providing the runs alongside the bowling prowess of Jamie Jones and Tim Duffy for the firsts. 2nd Methlick list 12 potential players, but they would need a few more than that to pull off a shock. 2nd Siyapa have been performing well and they go to Crathie who have not been performing quite so well. It may be time for Chris Bell to bowl some pies and see if he can tempt the opposition into some mince shot making. Dunecht are looking for their first league win at home to Stoneywood Dyce and Huntly should be too good for Stonehaven, although that depends on what sort of team the Mineralwell Park hosts can put on the pitch.
Having come top of the pile in the local 3 Counties Cup qualifier last Saturday, Gordonians return to league action in the SPCU North East Championship with a trip to table toppling Meigle. Having beaten Bon Accord in the final NESC CS T20 match by 10 wickets on Thursday with half centuries from Mohit Khosla and Abrar Ahmed, Gordos are without skipper Mayank Bhandari, but spring a surprise with the inclusion of former captain Swapnil Rane. Whilst his lack of cricket may count against him, his former club Aberdeenshire will be hoping he can do them a favour by inflicting a defeat on Meigle. Aberdeenshire go to Forthill to face 2nd Forfarshire off the back of a huge win at Freuchie in the Scottish Cup last Sunday. A century from Kenny Reid and an even bigger one from Dian Forrester will have Forfs suitably worried about just how often their boundary will be peppered by the in-form duo.
Huntly are at home to a resurgent Perth Doocot, but Perth rarely travel well to the North East, so if Sam Cuconits can continue his run making then a home win is a distinct possibility. Strathmore should have a comfortable home win against Dundee High, and the Arbroath 2nds versus Kinloch encounter could be a close game.
A recalculation of net run rate has moved Stoneywood Dyce, equal on points with Heriots, to second spot in the Eastern Premier League. Four teams have played 5 and only lost 1 game, and Stoneywood Dyce travel to Edinburgh to face one of those 4 teams, RH Corstorphine. RHC have been another surprise package at the top end of the table, and with SDCC missing Lennard Bester, Jamie King and Garreth Wolmarans it will be a tough ask for SDCC to come home with the points. Heriots and Grange are the other 2 clubs with 4 wins, and whilst Grange welcome back Messrs Budge and Greaves from international duty, Forfarshire haven’t listed Michael Leask in their team line. Heriots are at home to Carlton who haven’t performed as they would have expected this season. Falkland at last include Harsha Cooray as they visit Stewarts Melville, and Arbroath sorely need to get a positive result as they go to Watsonian.