Today’s Cricket Scotland League prospects

EASTERN PREMIER DIVISION

Arbroath may be on target to retain the Eastern Premiership title but Geoff Fisher, the club president, believes that there is still more to come from his side, writes David Kelso. If he is right then their league rivals may as well resign themselves to battling it out for the runners-up spot.

The competition has reached its midway stage and today the Lochlands club continue the defence of their title with a trip to the capital to take on Grange, a side which who have struggled to find momentum since their loss in the opening fixture of the season.

“Though we are delighted to be sitting at the top of the table at this stage of the summer, the unanimous verdict among the guys is that they have not been performing consistently close to their capabilities, especially with the bat,” said Fisher.

“One of the great attributes of these lads is that they refuse to accept defeat, even when the odds are stacked against them. That has been brought about by the team spirit instilled by [the captain] Marc Petrie, who has proved to be an inspirational figure.

“There were definite signs of a batting improvement last weekend when we comprehensively beat Stoneywood-Dyce. Hamish Bartlett scored an excellent century and he was well backed up by Fraser Burnett. Then Craig Ramsay finished off the job with a fine bowling spell that yielded five wickets. It was definitely our best all-round display of the season.”

For Forfarshire and Falkland, the past couple of months have been beset by inconsistency, featuring heady wins but also humbling defeats. However, both clubs will still be relatively satisfied with their current league positions. This afternoon, the Broughty Ferry side are at home to Heriot’s, while Falkland face SMRH at Inverleith. nIn the Championship, the biggest challenges for leaders Glenrothes are being caused by local yobs, with their ground and facilities the target of vandalism. The club can at least focus today on preserving their unblemished record by beating Carlton II.

Aberdeenshire v Carlton, Autoecosse Forfarshire v Heriot’s, Mazars Grange v Arbroath United, SMRH v Falkland, Stoneywood-Dyce v Watsonians

WESTERN PREMIER DIVISION

Ayr, the new leaders, not only ended the only remaining 100% record with their victory over Clydesdale last week but also rekindled the title hopes of Uddingston and second-top Renfrew who meet in today’s standout fixture, writes William Dick.

Champions Uddingston, who are fourth, and Renfrew approach the midway point of the season with a new sense of optimism and both know the importance of today’s game. Having already lost twice, the Bothwell team have little margin for error but victory today would set them up nicely for next week’s visit of Ayr.

Having lost two of their first three games, the champions appear to have found form and are going for a third straight win. Their captain Bryan Clarke said: “We played well last week and are looking to keep the momentum going. We’ve got to make sure we beat Renfrew and that should make for a really interesting game next week.”

Renfrew know that victory would keep the pressure on the leaders; they could even finish the day in top spot should Ayr slip up. Sai Majeed, their captain, will guard against such heady thoughts, preferring instead to build on last week’s thrilling last-ball win at Dumfries. “We expect a really tough game against an Uddingston team who