GORDON Drummond was one of the Scottish Saltires' heroes in their thrilling two-run win over Lancashire last Monday, but his week may well end in anticlimax.
A tweaked hamstring may rule Drummond out of captaining Watsonians in their home game against Greaves Clydesdale today, and he may also miss the Saltires Friends Provident Trophy game against Durham at Citylets Grange tomorrow.
"I take my club
cricket, which I enjoy, very seriously and it will be frustrating if I can't help Watsonians recover from what has been a poor start," admitted Drummond, who soon came back down to earth after his fine last over at Old Trafford denied Andrew Flintoff's side victory.
"We came straight back home, arriving in Edinburgh about 1am, and then I had a business appointment at 9am."
Drummond missed last Saturday's defeat by Heriot's, but as far as he is concerned it's just a matter of time before the Myreside men get their first win. "We have a much-changed team from last season, such as our new pro Andy Delmont, Steve Paige and Ryan Flannigan, and it will take time for the players to gel. But make no mistake, the quality is there."
Whether he plays or not, Drummond appreciates that Clydesdale will "be a tough team to beat, but with the wicket being firmer thanks to the excellent weather this week, I'm confident our guys can rise to the occasion."
Clydesdale were disappointed with their batting against Carlton but if wicket-keeper Craig Smith is fit the same XI are likely to get the chance to redeem themselves. Greenock have a big weekend with home matches against Grange today and Scotland Under-19s tomorrow. Unfortunately for captain Craig Wright, he will miss the match against the youngsters he coaches, along with Willie Morton, because of the Saltires' game.
But he will be a key man in today's encounter with Grange who make only the one change, Neil McCallum for Keith Meakin, from the team whose brittle batting led to last weekend's defeat by Ayr. Only Sriram Sarangarajan topped 20 and lots more commitment will be required against Wright and his colleagues.
Uddingston take their 100 per cent record to Ayr where there is every chance the outcome of the game could depend on the form of the respective pros, Matt Horne and the visitors' Ed Cowan.
Horne excelled with both bat and ball in Ayr's win over Grange, while in his two league innings to date, Cowan has scored unbeaten knocks of 163 and 88 for Uddingston.
Another pro in form last Saturday was Australian Cameron Farrell, who spearheaded Heriot's win over Watsonians with 53 runs, and more of the same will be needed today when they visit leaders Carlton, who will be delighted to have Fraser Watts back.
Assisting Heriot's will be former Scotland paceman Asim Butt, having his first game of the season.
In the remaining match, NVT Poloc, who beat Scotland Under-18s last Sunday, are away to Ferguslie, who hope to have Majid Haq back from exam studies
The full article contains 519 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
