No doubts about the match of the day as 1st plays 2nd in Grade 1 at Links with Bon Accord looking to overcome Mannofield and go top. Mannofield have Indy and Ken Yahathugoda back and Captain Chandu will be reading through The Art of Captaincy by Mike Brearley to hone his leadership skills, although scoring a quick century himself would be as effective.
Prasanth Malireddy is added to the Knight Riders bowling attack as Gordonians go to Groats Road. Gordos are without the injured Indy Pandit but Ash Bashir has the young guns of Mukhopadhya, Kirodian and Chouksey itching to show what they can do.
Inverurie have won 4 and lost 4, but will be looking to improve the win column as AberGreen visit Kellands Park. Messrs Hadden and Norval will be aiming to set up a big total for the hosts.
Cults return to Harlaw, this time to face Grampian, having scored 244 for 2 there last week. Grampian will be hoping that Cults weren’t just getting their eye in last week, and might go bigger this time around.
Dave Gibson will be looking to get amongst the wickets as Crescent go to Allan Park to play Master Blasters. Dave has taken an impressive 16 wickets across all competitions this season, but their cumulative batting averages suggests that Shubham Sharma will need to have a good day if Crescent have any chance of upsetting the form guide.
In Grade 2 AGSFPs are at home to Ellon and include Karan Anand for his 2nd match of the season, the first having brought an unbeaten century. Agha Haider has batted 5 times this season and averages 281. With Alex Keith also in form and a number of their bowlers averaging under 10 per wicket, Ellon have a lot to be concerned about.
2nd Knight Riders have won their last 3 games and would expect that run to continue as they play bottom side 2nd Grampian at Inverdee.
Portcullis have a tough task on their hands as they go to Banchory who have a very strong team out, including the final home appearance of Mark Herbert who will be knocking on the doors of clubs in New Zealand very shortly.
Huntly have won 4 out of their last 5 league games, and Fraserburgh will go there without run machine Cory Bowie, but with Liam Bowie very overdue a big score. Expect a close game.
Methlick would expect to be too good for 2nd AberGreen as they meet at Lairds, but Methlick will have to do without the inspirational presence of Tim Duffy who has other battles to take care of.
It’s rare to see a Crathie side without Justin Thomas. but the inclusion of Lloyd Belton in their team might have Alan Burnett wishing he had stayed on holiday for longer. A win for Dunecht would potentially see them leapfrog Crathie in the Grade 3 table.
2nd Gordonians will be delighted that Mark Lambley isn’t listed for Stoneywood Dyce as they meet at Countesswells. No Ryan Davis or Umesh Basavaraju for Gordos, but Alex Hounsome and Siv Gollakota will be looking to set up a high scoring game.
Shravan Aravind makes a rare appearance for 3rd Gordonians as they go to Stonehaven. Gordos won’t have to worry about the bowling of Nigel King and will fancy their chances of posting a big total.
2nd Mannofield play 2nd Methlick at Mannofield on Sunday, a rare chance for some of the Methlick stalwarts to walk in the footsteps of Don Bradman, although those footsteps will have faded a little since 1948.
Kenny Reid has only had one half century this season for Aberdeenshire and Strathmore could be chasing a lot of leather if the Shire batting line up gets into top gear. Strathmore have dropped to 9th in the SPCU North East Championship, but they do have bowling talent in Liam Sweeney and Lance Trueman to pose problems if the game doesn’t run away from them early on.
A Thursday night T20 can be a good opportunity for batters to get their arms loose for the weekend, but not in the case of what was effectively a 3 Counties Cup quarter final between Gordonians and Huntly. Jack Mitchell took 4 for 8 to bowl out Gordos for 93, and Abrar Ahmed answered back with 4 for 13 to bowl out Huntly for 43. Both sides will need a bit more solidity in their batting on Saturday, Gordos at home to 2nd Forfarshire, and Huntly away to Freuchie.
Gordos add the spin option of Pranav Gollakota and 2nd Forfs give Glenn Carnegie the chance to get some bowling in as he drops down from their 1sts.
Freuchie are without Robbie Wright and Huntly would be at full strength if Andrew Petrie was available.
Saturday could be painful for Kinloch as they go to runaway league leaders Arbroath, and 2nd Falkland could also be reaching for the painkillers as they head to Perth Doocot.
It’s crunch time for Stoneywood Dyce as they go to 9th place Meigle looking to record their first win of the season. The good news is the return of Lennard Bester and Jon Grant to the side, but the bad news could be the awesome batting form of Meigle overseas amateur Tiaan Brits.
At the top of the table it’s the big Edinburgh derby, not the Hearts v Hibs version, but the Heriot’s v Grange tussle. Dylan Budge is back for Grange and Peter Ross makes a rare appearance for Heriot’s.
Falkland are packed with experience as they host Stewart’s Melville, Forfarshire look strong on paper as they welcome Carlton, and it’s another Edinburgh derby as Watsonian go to RH Corstorphine.
The held over Aberdeenshire Cup tie between Bon Accord and Master Blasters goes ahead at Inverdee on Sunday, and 3rd Gordonians are at Balmoral to face Crathie in the remaining Reid Cup semi final.