Entering the penultimate week of this year’s Grades season, things heat up with it all to play for in Grade 1, with the top and bottom all separated by the smallest of margins. At the top league leaders Knight Riders face off against ‘One man Army’ Chandu and the red hot Mannofield, The returns of Indika Yahathugoda and John Dickinson to Mannofield’s batting line up will only give headaches to Tenneti’s league toppers as they seek to win their first-ever Grade 1 division title. Elsewhere in Grade 1 Bon Accord seek to regain control at the top, however, they face a tricky Gordonians side at Countesswells who are fresh off a well-needed win led by the beast of Chandigarh, Mohit Khosla.
At the bottom of the table, 2nd Knight Riders seek a desperate win in order to avoid relegation to Grade 2. They travel to the picturesque Allan Park where they play a dangerous Master Blasters side who’ll be looking to gather momentum towards a title charge for next season.
Despite a great start to the season, Crescent who looked well on their way to a long-awaited Grade 1 division title now seek certain results going their way at the top, but a mishap in the following weeks could see fortune favouring the brave as the mighty Gibson army host last year’s double winners, and now relegated, Aberdeen Grammar at the Links. Grammar are without the evergreen Alex Keith.
Last and certainly not least, Inverurie host a mythological battle at their Mt Olympus-like ground as they host Ajazi’s Cults. Flamboyant, handsome, and talented are some of the inclusions from his Tinder profile, all of which Chris Watson will be seeking to be as he looks to muster up another famous display of technical batting.
This Sunday sees the annual Aberdeenshire Cup Final, where we see a fiery battle between the up-and-coming Crescent and multiple division/cup-winning side Bon Accord. Both sides feature heavily in the batting department, with the battle between Fazal Awan and Rajeev Sujaya sure to cook up a treat.
Unlike the division above, the battle for promotion in Grade 2 is all but wrapped up as Grampian and Siyapa look to ease their way back into the top with the former away to Burnett Park to face off against Banchory and the latter at home to the formidable Portcullis, featuring the formidable duo of Ben Horne and Ronnie Falconer! The remaining tie in the Grade 2 fixture list features Ellon, who include Brian Veldsman, at home to 2nd Grampian with Fraserburgh having a bye week.
In Grade 3 we see Stoneywood Dyce face Huntly at Sheddocksley, Stonehaven at home to 3rd Gordonians, 2nd Gordonians at home to 2nd Siyapa and lastly a Royal encounter as Crathie host the Lords of Dunecht on Her Majesty’s grounds at Balmoral! Competing with the Aberdeenshire Cup final on Sunday is a Grade 3 match at Countesswells between 3rd Gordonians and Huntly.
The SPCU North East Championship concludes this weekend with the party likely to kick off at Meigle as they should comfortably overcome winless Dundee High. Aberdeenshire are at home to 2nd Stoneywood Dyce who include Jan Stander and have Ryan Williams returning from injury. Shire are along familiar lines and add Ken Yahathugoda to their batting depth. Shire will finish 2nd if they win. Gordonians go to Huntly who will finish at least 3rd. Gordonians will probably have to win to hold on to 4th spot. Gordonians bring in Himanshu Saraswat and Akhlaq Bashir, but they are without Prashant Wig and their batting hero from last week Adi Mehta. The number of teams who get relegated from the league will depend on whether the winners of the league get through the play off to go into the Eastern Premier league, and whether 2nd Falkland want to move up as winners of the 1st Division. In the firing line for relegation are Strathmore and Kinloch who have their derby match at Forfar. Tiaan Brits is away so the other Strathie batters will have to step up, or go with the assumption that the Kinloch batting will implode under pressure. 2nd Forfarshire could find themselves sucked into a worrying position if they lose away to Perth Doocot. Freuchie are at home to 2nd Arbroath who will be dropping down a level for 2023.
It could be argued that the Eastern Premier League is a bit of a closed shop with only 1 of its 10 member clubs being relegated each season, and with Arbroath having had such a miserable season their relegation has been on the cards for quite some time. They host RH Corstorphine. Champions Heriot’s head to Falkland, and Forfarshire will be looking to beat Watsonian to give themselves a chance of finishing second. Grange are second at the moment and include Chris Greaves as they go to Stewarts Melville. A win at home against Carlton could elevate Stonewyood Dyce to 8th position ahead of Falkland. Carlton include Ali Evans and Gaurav Lenekar moves up from Grade 3 duties to the SDCC 1st team.