Teenager Hairs raising hopes of championship push for Grange

Hairs was a key figure as the SNCL Premier Division title favourites stormed through the opening weeks of the season with six straight victories. However, they face something of a mini-crisis after suffering two defeats to Clydesdale and Uddingston.

Hairs scored a brilliant century against Uddingston a week ago only for the Bothwell club to stage a record-breaking run-chase which saw them amass 341-5. However, the young Grange batsman was undeterred and followed his club heroics by scoring a remarkable 140 from only 66 balls as a Saltires Select won a charity T20 match against the Armed Forces in midweek.

Now Patel believes the youngster will play a significant part as Grange attempt to win the title for the third time in five years. They lost their crown to Aberdeenshire last season and are on a revenge mission when they visit the reigning champions today.

Patel said: "People will be saying the wheels have come off because we have lost two games in a row. But, to be honest, last week's game against Uddingston was freakish. I am more interested in looking forward as well as taking the positives from the first eight weeks of the campaign.

"There is no doubt that one of the pluses for us has been the form of Oli. He is an exceptional talent and we are lucky to have him in our side. You never want to rush a young player but in my opinion he is ready to play for the Saltires. Oli can genuinely accelerate against decent bowling when he wants. Other players can accumulate runs well enough but this guy can be devastating and has the same range of shots as a lot of county batters."

Elsewhere, Watsonians are poised to take advantage of any further slip-ups by Grange. The Myreside men are favourites to pick up the points when they visit West of Scotland. Clydesdale welcome back Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh for what looks like being a close encounter at Forfarshire. Dunfermline Knights face Greenock, while Uddingston entertain Carlton.