ALL eyes will be on St Clare this Saturday as leaders Penzance welcome second-placed Helston in the ECB Cornwall Premier League (1pm).
The hosts have a 14-point advantage over the Blues who saw off previous table-toppers Wadebridge at the same time the champions eased to a 114-run victory at Grampound Road.
But with seven weeks to go the title race is very much on, particularly as Wadebridge, who are just a point behind Helston, welcome Penzance next weekend.
Penzance have to make do without the unavailable Tommy Sturgess against his boyhood club, with his place going to batsman Grant Stone who returns from holiday.
Helston have had some real selection dilemmas with Gavin Tregenza and Somerset’s Lewis Goldsworthy both named in a 12-man squad.
With a couple of injury concerns, skipper Dan Jenkin will decide on the team closer to the toss.
HELSTON (11 from 12): Dan Jenkin (capt), Billy Taylor, Steve Jenkin, Karl Leathley (wkt), Jayden Mitchell, Lewis Goldsworthy, Mark Jenkin, Sunny Osmont, Harry Saunders, Ryan Tonkin, Ollie Black, Gavin Tregenza.
TWO of the bottom five meet at Werrington as Grampound Road look to climb away from the relegation slot.
They sit two points behind Truro who welcome title-chasing Wadebridge, while St Just and Callington have tough home dates with St Austell and Redruth respectively.
The Road head up the A30 to face a Werrington side without skipper Nick Lawson (wedding) which means a debut behind the stumps for teenager Ed Walters.
The left-hander will bat in the lower-order, while Mark Gribble, who will lead the team in Lawson’s absence, is fit enough to play despite a blow to the hand last weekend at Redruth.
The rest of the side is unchanged.
Grampound Road have to do without hard-hitting opener Dave Hoskings who is replaced by the available-again Chris Roberts in their sole alteration.
WERRINGTON: Sam Hockin, John Moon, Adam Hodgson, Thulina Dilshan, Mark Gribble (capt), Ben Jenkin, Ed Walters (wkt), Ben Smeeth, Dan Barnard, Mark Taskis, Jordan Duke.
GRAMPOUND ROAD: Antony Angove, Alex Lean, Chris Roberts, Tom Orpe (capt), Ravi Karunarathna, Harry Gregory (wkt), Harry Matthews, Jack Mingo, Nathan Keevil, Tom Fox-Dean, Dan Ferris.
WADEBRIDGE head to Truro with points crucial for both sides in their respective campaigns.
Wadebridge will be glad to see the back of Helston who beat them twice this term, while Truro will look to bounce back from their defeat at St Austell.
Truro welcome back Cornwall all-rounder Scott Kellow in place of young off-spinner Jack Ivamy in their only alteration, while the Swans are unchanged from last weekend.
TRURO: Harry Phillips, Charlie Kent (capt), Akhilesh Sahani, Ted Phillips, Murray Wyatt, Adam Price, Scott Kellow, Wilf Bartlett (wkt), Rob Harrison, Neil Ivamy, Freddie Bose.
WADEBRIDGE: Tom McLachlan, Matt Robins, Matt Rowe, Lachlan Crump, James Turpin, Callum Wilson, Alex Forward, Kelvin Snell (capt), Fred Wilkinson (wkt), Matt Lawrence, Elliot Dunnett.
SIXTH versus fifth looks a mid-table battle on paper, but it is anything but for St Just when they welcome St Austell (12pm).
While the hosts earned a vital two-run victory at Callington last weekend, they are still just 13 ahead of Grampound Road, meaning any one of the bottom five teams could end the day bottom of the pile.
St Austell travel comfortably fifth but unlikely to launch the title challenge they had hoped.
However, they comfortably saw off Truro last Saturday and will target some revenge after losing to the Penwith outfit back in May.
St Just player/coach Justin Stephens reverts to his off-field role with youngster George Blaken coming into the side.
For the Saints, Mike Bone returns from holiday at the top of the order, bowler Liam Watson is available again and all-rounder Steve Raven is recalled from the second team.
Jack Mallet drops out while Matt Lloyd and Ben Sleeman are unavailable.
ST JUST: Gareth May (capt), Ellis May, Rhys Brownfield (wkt), Neil Curnow, Phil Nicholas, Chamikara Edirisinghe, Lewis Stephens, Logan Curnow, Ben Stevens, George Blaken, Joe Clifton-Griffith.
ST AUSTELL: Mike Bone, Dan Jarman, Curtis Dalby, Alex Bone (capt, wkt), Connor Cooke, Thevindu Dickwella, Gary Bone, Adam Snowdon, Steve Raven, Andrew Libby, Liam Watson.
CALLINGTON are free-falling towards trouble after a fine start and welcome a Redruth side who are right in the mix for a maiden Premier League crown.
Cally’s total of 28 batting points is the worst in the division and if they are to avoid an agonising few weeks, need to find a way to score more runs.
That said, their bowling on the whole has been good, while Redruth’s attack – which includes four, sometimes five spinners – is one of the best in the division.
Both sides see their strength lie in the bowling, so whoever can grind out a total will likely come away as winners on Ladies Day at Moores Park.
Callington have to do without star paceman Mohammed Danyaal who is resting his back injury suffered last Saturday, while Ben Allsop is unavailable.
Ben’s brother Ollie is back in the county for the weekend and will line up in the middle-order, while Danyaal’s place goes to Cornwall Under 18s fast bowler, Ben Alford.
Redruth make just one alteration from their 32-run victory over Werrington as Lloyd Brock comes in for Matt Bonds in the middle-order.
CALLINGTON: James Brenton, Liam Lindsay, Graham Wagg (capt), Xavie Clarke, Max Tryfonos, Ben Ellis, Ben Allsop, Aidan Libby, Rowen Taplin, Joe White (wkt), Ben Alford.
REDRUTH: Toby Whiteford, Toby Stoddard, Jack Hale, Dulash Udayanga, Elliot Stoddard, Lloyd Brock, Peter Howells (wkt), Ellis Whiteford, Justin Beaton, Piran Kent (capt), Craig Johnson.
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