All eyes will be on the clash between Knightriders and Crescent as the two sides at the top of Grade 1 face off at Groats Road. Crescent include Sohaib Tahseen for his first appearance of the season while Knightriders are missing Kannan Palaniyandi.
Grammar are without George Gill and Roland Knudson for the visit of Cults however Karan Anand’s recent fitness kick with multiple appearances at pure gym is expected to show fruition soon. Cults will be without Rahul Meghani who’s gone home to India after 18 years of representing the Allan Park side.
Inverurie are without Fraser Lawrance but Jordan Thom comes back into the side. Also featuring is veteran Stuart Murrison. 2nd Knights are missing the experience of Prem Ballal for this one.
Mannofield are without the inspirational Rahul Chandu for the trip to play Bon Accord at the Links. The loss of Chandu due to a hamstring injury has been described in some circles as one of the biggest losses to cricket in the 21st century.
Master Blasters will be hoping the wicket at Cults has had a cut this week however Gordonians are without Jamil Sheikh but welcome back Chamila who is up there with Seal and Madonna in being instantly recognisable by one name. Teenage run sensation Tanish Kirodian made his first Grade 1 50 last week and it will be interesting to see how he gets on this week.
It’s the semi final stage of the Bon Accord Cup and Fraserburgh are on their travels to play Grampian at Harlaw without Alan Rennie and Chris Gospel who are the Anderson and Broad of the Broch with 1200 career wickets between them.
The Banchory boys have been going to extreme lengths to be looking their best ahead of their Frogbox debut when they meet Siyapa at Duthie Park. There’s rumours that Tim Donald and Tim Wilkinson have both been in for spray tans. Its unknown whether T20 specialist Khurram Haseeb has made the Siyapa squad for this game but after blasting 30 not out in the Oxy Cup on Wednesday night he’s certainly a man in form.
Andrew Rayner is on hand for Stoneywood Dyce to add some experience to their lineup as a youthful side travel to Balmoral to play Crathie. It is rumoured that Chris Bell has added at least 2 yards of pace to his bowling after a libellous comment in last weeks preview.
Methlick are without the services of Steve Murphy, Alasdair Smith and Tim Duffy as 3rd Gordonians come to town. Gordos have gone with their tried and tested lineup which is a mix of youth and experience.
Dunecht will be hoping Mike Baldry will be in inspired form again after his heroics last week, 2nd Gordonians with Alex Hounsome, Karl Morris and Ryan Davis in their line up appear to have strength in depth for this one.
A strong Huntly side makes the trip to Sheddocksley as Dan Lentz and Nathan Coffey are included in the team. Tanweer Khan has been in form with bat and ball for 2nd Siyapa but he could be in for a tough day at the office.
Stonehaven start as favourites when 2nd Methlick hit the AWPR despite captain Nathan MacAuley-Dicks being unavailable. Andrew Gale has been in form with the bat of late. Methlick will be looking for runs from Fraser Grant and wickets from Alan Hill.
The SPCU North East Championship could be pretty much done and dusted if Meigle can take the spoils at Mannofield in what will be the only league encounter between the teams. Aberdeenshire are without the in-form Kenny Reid as they look to recover from a shock defeat at Forthill last week. Meigle have a strong batting line up to support their outstanding pro Raju Gayashan, and whilst Lewis Munro has been scoring runs, a lot will hinge on the all round abilities of Dian Forrester for Shire. Safyaan Sharif will be showing his skills at Countesswells as Freuchie travel to play Gordonians. Gordos have skipper Mayank Bhandari back after their defeat to Meigle, but they will be without Aman Arora who picked up an injury on Evening League duty. 2nd Stoneywood Dyce head to Perth looking for their first win of the season. The Doocot Park side can be fairly unpredictable but their pro, Usman Saeed, has the ability to bat SDCC out of the game if others can offer support at the other end. 2nd Forfarshire will be in high spirits having beaten Shire, but they are another team who struggle when they get to Huntly. Jordan Squire will join spin colleagues Jack Mitchell and Sam Cuconits as Huntly quietly sneak up through the top half of the table. Strathmore have become over reliant on the batting skills of Tiaan Brits, but if he continues to score fluently then 2nd Arbroath could struggle at Forfar. Dundee High seem doomed to relegation, but they have a chance to kick start a revival as the swashbuckling Kinloch play them at Dalnacraig.
Stoneywood Dyce are at home to table topping Heriot’s in the Eastern Premier League and go into the game without Jan Stander and Jamie King, but Garreth Wolmarans returns to the team. Heriot’s are without Mark Watt, but their line up includes current internationals Matthew Cross, Adrian Neill and Gavin Main plus Hayes Van Der Berg who is due some runs. The inclusion of Michael Leask bolsters the Forfarshire ranks as they host Carlton who will have Ali Evans back to lead their bowling attack. Falkland will fancy their chances at home to RH Corstorphine, but the latter have George Munsey listed and his ability to play spin could impact on the Falkland bowling options. If Arbroath are to avoid relegation then they need to start winning games, and Stewarts Melville at home would have been a game they expected to win last season. Chris Sole joins the other big names at Grange in their derby match against Watsonian.