The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
ShireouttobatwellagainstwinlessGlenrothes
Aberdeenshire wicketkeeper Kenny Reid knows a much improved batting performance is the order of the day tomorrow when his side bid to get back to winning ways in the Eastern Premier Division following back-to-back defeats.
Shire suffered their first home league defeat last weekend as Carlton recorded a 48-run victory at Mannofield and Reid knows there must be an improvement with the bat when his club travels to bottom club Glenrothes tomorrow.
He said: “We were really disappointed as we bowled and fielded well against Carlton. We gave ourselves 196 to chase, which is a reasonable tally, but nobody in the top four of the batting order put a score on the board and that made life a lot harder for ourselves.
“Lewis Munro and Rutiwk Hedge batted well to give us a glimmer of hope but we shot ourselves in the foot and it was disappointing. Having said that, if you had offered us four wins from the first seven we probably would have taken it and if we can win this weekend we will be in a decent position after eight matches. Glenrothes are winless and we have to go there and keep it that way. We need to get a win on the board again.”
Shire captain Chris Venske will be fit for the trip despite injuring a finger last weekend against Carlton but allrounder Ian Kirk will miss the next six weeks with a broken thumb.
Reid said: “Chris went to stop a ball when fielding and it hit the end of his little finger. At one point he thought it was broken as it was badly swollen and that’s why he moved himself further down the batting order.
“The good news is that it was just staved and he has trained this week and will be fine for Saturday.
“Ian wasn’t so lucky, however. He is looking at six weeks out which is disappointing but his injury gives another player an opportunity and hopefully whoever comes in can make the most of their chance.”