SHIRE WILL TREAT NEW BOYS WITH RESPECT

Forfarshire cricketers will today attempt to pull rank on Eastern Premier new boys Falkland when they head to Scroggie Park.

The Forthill troops, pre-pandemic champions in 2019, kickstarted their campaign with an impressive win over Stewart’s Melville a week ago.

They start favourites in Fife today but skipper Scott Cameron will take nothing for granted and believes there are still improvements to be made from his side.

He said: “It was a pretty positive performance last week but I would say we weren’t at our best with the ball – we got the job done by taking 10 wickets but it’s an area we can work on.”

Shire raced to their 127 target in only 14.4 overs, Craig Wallace starring with a rapid 72.

Cameron added: “Our batting was certainly how we want to go about things but we have to remember it’s only one win.

“Now we want to go out and get wins two and three and see how far we can take it.”

Falkland, who squandered a promising start at Stoneywood-Dyce last week, are aiming to learn fast as they search for a first win of the season.

The Fifers’ captain Adam Ferguson said: “Our younger players are already learning a lot about how to play in this league with bat and ball.”

Meanwhile Arbroath, on the rebound from a heavy defeat at Carlton, have the chance to bounce back when they entertain Stoneywood-Dyce at Lochlands.

The home team are boosted by the availability of former Scotland allrounder Matthew Parker for a first appearance of the season while Matthew Hurst and Pranav Saravanan also return.

Arbroath also have home advantage in an enticing Scottish Cup derby clash with Forfarshire tomorrow.

Today’s Eastern Premier card is completed by a trio of capital derbies – Stewart’s Melville, Grange and Watsonians having home advantage against Corstorphine, Carlton and Heriot’s respectively.

Other cup ties tomorrow see Falkland entertaining Stewart’s Melville while Meigle have a daunting task against Grange at Portgower Place.