With just two weeks remaining in the WDCU Saturday leagues, we are very much at the business end of the season with a number of issues still to be decided.
PREMIER DIVISION
In the Premier Division, the top four sides all recorded wins last Saturday as the chasing pack attempted to bridge the gap on leaders Prestwick.
For their part, the Ayrshire club recorded a vital home win against Greenock at The Henry Thow Oval.
The home side won the toss and batted first and compiled a total of 242 for 8 in their 50 overs, with Fraser MacDonald (71), Thomas Fleet (56) and Fazal Jawad (45) making important contributions, while Neil Flack picked up 2 for 39 from his ten overs for the visitors.
In reply, Greenock could only muster 193 all out in 48.1 overs, despite the best efforts of Jonathan Hempsey (56) and Louis Ware (39), who top scored in the innings.
Mitchell Rao was the pick of the home bowlers with 5 for 24, while Gavin Pitt weighed in with 2 for 31, to secure a 49-run win.
Ferguslie maintained their pursuit of Prestwick, when they came out on top in a remarkable match a Nunholm against Dumfries.
Put in to bat on a normally batsman friendly pitch, the visitors found themselves dismissed for just 65 in 31. overs, with Michael English (26) they only batsman to reach double figures, while Niall Alexander (5 for 22), Stuart Alexander (3 for 16) and Alan Davidson (2 for 21) did the damage with the ball.
The Paisley side were not finished though and completed an outstanding recovery by dismissing the home side for just 57 in 25.2 overs.
Josh Forsyth (30), top scored for Dumfries but Riyaad Henry (4 for 13), Greg Cameron (2 for 9) and James Carruthers (2 for 34) secured an unlikely 8 run victory.
At Whitehaugh, third placed Uddingston secured maximum points, against bottom side Kelburne, in another match where bowlers were on top.
Batting first, the visitors were bowled out for 138 in 40.2 overs with Ross Lyons top scoring with 42, while Ross MacLean picked up 5 for 20 and Dougie Wylie collected 2 for 28.
In reply, Kelburne’s hopes of collecting their second league win of the season evaporated as they were bowled out for 107 in 35.5 overs.
Overseas amateur, Bradley Joynt contributed 30 to the run chase but Adil Raza (4 for 46), Ross Lyons (3 for 12) and Amir Gul (3 for 17) ensured Uddingston left with a 31-run win.
Meanwhile at Titwood, visitors Ayr batted first and reached 153 for 9 in 45 overs, thanks to 44 from skipper Andy McElnea and 24 from his brother Scott, but their quest for a bigger total was restricted by Con De Lange (3 for 36) and Richie Berrington (3 for 40).
In reply, Con De Lange (67 not out) completed a fine all-round display with an unbroken second wicket partnership of 148 with Patrick Barbour (79 not out) as Clydesdale secured a comfortable nine wicket victory, reaching 155 for 1 in 34.1 overs.
The other match scheduled for Saturday between East Kilbride and Poloc, at Torrance House, was cancelled due to rain.
This weekend Prestwick host Clydesdale at the Henry Thow Oval, while Ferguslie will travel to Glenpark, to take on Greenock, and will be looking to close the five percent gap on the leaders.
Third placed Uddingston host Dumfries at Bothwell Castle Policies, looking to consolidate their position, while Poloc entertain Kelburne at Shawholm and Ayr go head to head with second bottom East Kilbride at New Cambusdoon.

FIRST DIVISION
West of Scotland will almost certainly be playing Premier Division cricket in 2018, as they have all but ensured a top-flight return.
They will though, be keen to return as First Division champions following their 71-run victory over near neighbours Glasgow High/Kelvinside last Saturday, at Hamilton Crescent.
The home side batted first and posted 172 all out in their 50 overs with Hashen Ramanayake (49) and Nicholas Boller (46 not out) the main contributors, while Fazal Ul-Haq collected 6 for 29 for the visitors.
In reply GHK could only muster a disappointing 101 all out in 28.2 overs, with Ul-Haq top scoring with 32, while James Fennah (4 for 3), Hashen Ramanayake (2 for 6) and Gavin Smith (2 for 26) sharing the bowling honours.
Meanwhile at the Deanpark Oval, West’s nearest challengers, Stirling County were securing a comfortable win over third placed Renfrew.
In a match reduced to 46 overs a side, the visitors posted a competitive 176 for 5, with Matthew Tweedie (46) and Gavin Anderson (45) leading the run scoring exploits, while Waqas Arshad picked up 2 for 32 for Renfrew.
In reply, Renfrew got off to a poor start and never really looked like chasing the required runs, despite a fighting 55 from opener Mahmood Alam and 27 from skipper Shabir Baig.
Ian Shaw was the pick of the County bowlers with 4 for 37, as the home side were restricted to 138 for 9 from their allocation of overs.
At The Tryst, there was a remarkable contest between Stenhousemuir and Weirs that didn't quite last 60 overs in total.
Having been put in, the visitors subsided to 67 all out in just 30.2 overs, with Qasim Sheikh (13) and Ziggy Young (12) the only batsmen to reach double figures.
Rushdi Jappie once again underlined his importance to the home side with figures of 6 for 20, while Calum Grant (2 for 5) and Gary Halcrow (2 for 14) made important contributions with the ball.
In reply, Stenhousemuir were rocking despite an innings of 37 from Jappie, as Syed Shah picked up 6 wickets for 7 runs in his ten overs with 6 maidens.
Fortunately for the home side he could only bowl ten overs and they managed to attain a victory by the narrow margin of one wicket, at 68 for 9 from 28.5 overs.
In Ayrshire, at Marress, second bottom Drumpellier fought all the way before succumbing to a three- wicket defeat to Irvine.
Having elected to bat first, Drumpellier owed much to Chris Keltie (41) and Zander Erasmus (39) for getting them to 143 all out in 43 overs with Brandon Harwood (2 for 23) and Abdul-Rafay Ashraf (2 for 30) collecting two wickets each.
Irvine did eventually secure maximum points, but lost seven wickets in the process, before reaching 144 for 7 in 36.1 overs.
Their three-wicket victory owed much to Pashtoon Mohiagha (49) and Brandon Harwood (32), who made major contributions, while Mohsin Khan (3 for 18) and Hayden Sweet (2 for 10) did all they could to pull off an unlikely victory.
At the same time, bottom side St. Michaels secured a very important win at New Anniesland, against Glasgow Accies, to close the gap on Drumpellier.
Batting first, the visitors were bowled out for just 149 in 45.5 overs, with Duncan Muir (55 not out) and Juan Martins (31) providing the backbone of the innings, while Muhammad Ameer (4 for 31), Cameron Russell (3 for 32) and Richard Russell (2 for 20) shared the wickets to fall.
In reply, the home side were shot out for just 62 in 29.2 overs, as Christopher Brockwell (4 for 15) and Juan Martins (3 for 5) did the damage with the ball to hand St. Michaels an 87-run win.
This weekend West of Scotland travel to Langloan looking to secure the First Division title while the home side, Drumpellier, will be searching for maximum points to pull themselves clear on the basement area.
Second placed Stirling County travel to Dumfries to face bottom side St. Michaels, looking to cement their position in the league, while third placed Irvine will still have one eye on the runners up spot.
Renfrew will be looking to get back to winning ways when they travel to Albert Park, on Glasgow’s Southside, to face Weirs, while Stenhousemuir entertain Glasgow High/Kelvinside at the Tryst.

SECOND DIVISION
Helensburgh look a safe bet to be taking the step up to the First Division next season following their four-wicket win against Hillhead at Ardencaple last Saturday, but Kilmarnock will hope to keep the title race alive going in to the final week of the season when the sides meet at Helensburgh.
Having inserted their opponents at Ardecaple, the home side would have been happy to restrict them to 171 all out in 48.3 overs, with visiting skipper Paul Bartlett top scoring with 37 while Shehroz Mehmood and Umar Hameed each contributing 35.
Duncan Stephens (4 for 15) and Marc Christensen (3 for 39) were Helensburgh’s most effective performers with the ball.
In reply Helensburgh lost four wickets cheaply and were in a tight spot before, Jonathan Campbell (75), in partnership with Rajitha Kodithuwakku-Arachchi (25) and then Stuart Adams (28 not out), saw the home side to their target at 172 for 6 in 42 overs.
John Ferguson (2 for 0) and Shehroz Mehmood (2 for 14) shared four of the six wickets to fall but couldn’t pull off a remarkable turnaround.
At the same time Kilmarnock were securing a comfortable win against Galloway, at the Scott Ellis Playing Fields.
Put in to bat, the home side were bowled out for 210 in 41 overs with Paul Flannagan leading the way with 55, while Jasdeep Sarabha (46) and skipper Niamat Ali (45) also made important contributions.
Tommy McGrath (5 for 40) and Neil McGrath (2 for 20) were the top performers for Galloway while Paul Lindsay chipped in with 2 for 46.
In reply, Galloway struggled to maintain the run chase and were bowled out for 100 in 38.5 overs, despite an unbeaten 51 from Fraser Conn.
Muhammad Abdullah (4 for 18) and Chris Marshman (3 for 8) were the standouts with the ball for Kilmarnock as they secured a 100- run win.
The other match in the division saw third placed Victoria collect maximum points as Vale of Leven unfortunately had to concede the match.
On Saturday, Helensburgh make the trip south to face Galloway while Kilmarnock entertain Hillhead, and Motherwell host Vale of Leven at Williamfield, Stirling.

THIRD DIVISION
It looks like a three-way shoot-out between leaders Whiteinch, second placed East Renfrewshire and Clydesdale Cavaliers in the third division of the WDCU, with just seven percent separating first from third.
Last weekend Victoria’s second eleven, Whiteinch, recorded a crushing 337 run win against Glasgow Accies third eleven, Alps, at the school ground.
Batting first, the visitors compiled an astonishing 414 for 7 in just 40 overs with Zarak Ahad contributing an impressive 204, while Faisal Mustafa chipped in with 51 not out.
In reply to such a daunting total, Alps were shot out for just 77 in 27 overs, with Saqib Nazir (4 for 13) and Mohammed Sabir (2 for 7), doing the damage with the ball for Whiteinch.
It was a similar story at Woodfarm, on the southside of Glasgow, as East Renfrewshire continued their pursuit of the leaders with a comprehensive win against Galloway’s second eleven, Gatehouse.
East Renfrewshire batted first and amassed a total of 298 for 8 in 40 overs with Aamir Ashraf (63) and Rajesh Pathak (43) being the main contributors, while Arron Richardson picked up 3 for 55 with the ball for Gatehouse.
In reply, the visitors were skittled for just 18 in 18.1 overs, as Hammad Anwar (6 for 6) and Ammar Ashraf (2 for 2) helped East Renfrewshire to secure a 280-run win.
Clydesdale Cavaliers picked up full points from their match with Bute County without crossing the boundary line as the visitors were, unfortunately, forced to concede the match.
Elsewhere in the division, there were wins for Hillhead’s second eleven, Hughenden, against Kilmarnock’s seconds, Kirkstyle, while Helensburgh’s second string, Ardencaple, secured a home win against Clydesdale’s third eleven, The Bees, at Ardencaple.
This weekend, both the Cavaliers and East Renfrewshire will look to take advantage of the leaders, Whiteinch, not having a fixture, as they look to close the gap at the top.
Clydesdale Cavaliers travel to Glasgow’s west end to face Hughenden, while East Renfrewshire take on the Bees at Auldhouse, looking to secure maximum points, with Whiteinch playing their final fixture at Bute County, next Saturday.
The other matches in the division see Alps at home to Gatehouse, while Inverclyde meet Bute County and Kirkstyle take on Ardencaple at the Scott Ellis Playing Fields.
Let’s hope that the cricket played decides the issues at stake and not the Scottish weather!