Two fixtures stand out in the Cumbria Cricket League’s Premier Division on Saturday and one of them is excellent news for the Cockermouth club.
They entertain Keswick and it will be played at Sandair which didn’t look possible two weeks ago after an unfortunate error saw the wrong weedkiller applied to the square.
The Cockermouth club have informed the League that they have been working closely with a subject matter expert who has inspected the square twice and advised on a plan for the season.
The committee at Sandair said: “We have reseeded three wickets on the Gote Road side of the square and the grass is already growing well on these which is good.
“The weed killer put down was a weak dose thankfully so aside from discolouration the grass coverage on the square hasn’t been affected as yet so we are able to play all games as scheduled at Sandair.
“The Carlisle game in the first week of the season was scheduled for Sandair and the wicket looked as good as we’ve seen for opening day but sadly we were rained off.
“We’ve had some great moral support from the Workington club, and in particular Malcolm Wood and also from Wigton CC and fortunately are currently in a good place compared to what we initially thought could potentially have been the case.
“We look forward to welcoming Keswick on Saturday and we are sure that, like us, they will be delighted that we will get the game on at Sandair as scheduled.”
In fact both sides go into the contest on the back of defeats with Cockermouth, in particular, smarting from a defeat at Whitehaven who struggled last season to avoid the drop.
Keswick were beaten at champions Carlisle so both will be keen to register that first win of the season as their opening week-end games were both rained-off.
Which brings us to the second stand-out game of the weekend – Whitehaven at home to Furness – which probably wouldn’t have had the same pre-match build-up last year.
However Whitehaven have been refreshed by the return of their 2021 pro Terence Warde and the arrival of a couple of new players and are likely to be a lot more competitive this time around.
Furness, too, are keen to regain their title which they lost to Carlisle last season and the return of Mark Daly after a year out will certainly boost their chances. It could be an interesting confrontation at the Playground.
Carlisle travel to Egremont and will be expected to overcome the west Cumbrians who were beaten at Lindal Moor last weekend.
Professional Michael Slack, despite a niggling groin strain over the winter, looked in good nick against Keswick last week and will again be a key figure for the champions with bat and ball.
Surprise packages this season are likely to be Workington who have started with two wins – the only team to do so – and they will be looking for a third at Wigton. The Lowmoor Road side lost heavily by 149 runs at Furness last week.
Workington, however, will be anxious to cut down on the number of wides they have been sending down. It cost them at St Anne’s on Sunday in the ECB National Cup when they were beaten by two wickets off the last ball of the game after conceding 25 wides. They had sent down 23 against Millom in the League game on Saturday.
There’s a south Cumbrian derby in the offing when Millom entertain Haverigg while the fixtures are completed by Cleator v Lindal Moor.
