Crosby and Valkyres could face a fierce backlash in the Standard Bank Premiership on Saturday.
Both sides did not play last week, but now meet two teams who slumped to shock defeats.
Champions St John’s were dismissed for only 36 against Ramsey and, despite a brave fight-back, went on to lose by six wickets. This hurt and the Saints will be determined to return to winning ways when they take on Crosby.
Some of the westerners’ key players were missing and will return. Russell Miller should be back and possibly Akkie Van Den Berg. The club will also be hoping that Jaco Jansen has recovered from a knee injury.
Crosby’s hopes of pre-season practice were washed away when their tour of Cheshire was wrecked by rain. That leaves them vulnerable to what will surely be a fierce onslaught from the western XI.
Much will depend on the Marown opening attack of Ross Berry and Joe Rothwell while Harry Rothwell’s spin can cause problems.
The batting is sure to come under pressure with Danny and Kevin Kniveton crucial to success.
Castletown were defeated at Tromode in their opener and big worries surfaced about the support batting. The team were bowled out for 127 and 82 of those runs came from Wicus Wessels and Mark Williams.
There is some fine talent there and the southerners get the chance to improve on last week’s show when they return to Tromode – this time to meet Valkyres. They have relocated from King William’s College to Douglas and this will be their first game at their new home.
Zubair Siddiqi leads out a side which showed steady improvement over the course of the 2011 season.
There are some dangerous bowlers in the team, but the batting has often let them down. If they can consistently post good totals, then Valkyres will be a big threat to the other clubs.
In what should be the match of the day, the two winners in the first matches clash. Ramsey and Cronkbourne are due to meet at the former, but there could be doubts about the game going ahead. The northern astro was damaged recently, but urgent attempts are being made to repair the pitch.
Hopes are high that this can be done. The damage is almost half way down the track and to one side. It should not cause problems to the batsmen, but could be a threat for fielders and players running down the pitch. A big effort is being made to rectify the fault and hopefully all will be well for Saturday.
Ramsey’s confidence in their defeat of St John’s was obvious. Their bowling sparkled with skipper Ollie Webster taking 6-11. The fielding was excellent and Ken Harding’s catch in the deep outstanding.
Cronkbourne showed real promise in their first match. The attack was solid and Phil Richardson’s 4-13 a fine spell. However, all this happened on a grass track which aided the seamers. Ramsey’s hard astro is completely different.
In the past the Douglas batting has been fragile, but it stood up well to chase down 128 for victory. At 16 for 3 it looked the same old story of failure. Then gritty work from Carl Wagstaff (28), Will Wood (28) and Ryan Burns (22) paved the way for a narrow two-wicket win.
The game at Ramsey could be a classic.
CRICKET FIXTURES DIARY
Saturday, April 28
Standard Bank Premiership (1pm)
Black Grace Cowley St John’s v Fairbairn Crosby
Ramsey v Cronkbourne
Habib Bank Valkyres v Celton Manx Castletown