Oval men looking to bounce back

Surprise opening day defeat for champions

Champions Prestwick Cricket Club are looking to bounce back from an opening day defeat when they head to Poloc on Saturday.

The Henry Thow Oval men lost by 44 runs at home to Stirling County in a rain affected opening match.

Ross Patterson took 3-36 and Craig Morrison 2-54 as Stirling reached 252-8 off their 50 overs.

A stoppage for heavy rain left Prestwick facing a reduced total of 234 in 42 overs on a wet outfield.

But after a bright start, they were bowled out for 190 in 39.5 overs to muster only five points.

Top knocks came from Sachin Chaudhary (60), Faisal Jawad (41) and Mitchell Rao (36).

The St Ninians Xl open their season on Saturday at home to Shawholm after last weekend’s trip to East Kilbride was off.

•Heavy overnight rain put paid to Ayr’s first league match away to Uddingston, water getting under the covers and leaving the pitch unplayable.

At Cambusdoon the weather did allow some play with Uddingston scoring 243-7 in their 50 overs, before weather ended proceedings.

Angus Craig was pick of the bowlers taking 3-34.

This weekend sees Greenock visit Cambusdoon on Saturday in the Western Union while the Cambusdoon XI head to East Kilbride to play Torrance House in the Reserve League.

•Ayr Cricket Club are calling for youngsters to get involved.

Launched last year, All Stars Cricket aims to inspire five to eight year old children to take up the sport through a fun first experience of the game.

Registration has now opened, with each child receiving a pack of cricket goodies including a cricket bat, ball, backpack, activity book, cap and personalised shirt to keep so that they can continue their love of cricket when they go home.

Alongside this, there will also be a chance for youngsters to meet current Scotland internationalists as part of All Stars Cricket, which will be led by fully trained and vetted activators at each club.

The programme involves eight, one-hour sessions at Ayr Cricket Club starting from May 11, costing £40 per child.

To sign up, visit www. allstarscricket.co.uk.