Frustrating forecasts stand in way of sides

The Bluebacks defended their low score last week, rallying around Simon Chappell's 7-19 and 48, with batting a major focus for skipper Nashib Nisthar this week.

"Obviously our batting hasn't really been up to the mark in both games, so we are looking to improve on that and looking forward to this week," he said.

"Our batsmen need to step up, if we can have one or two of our batsmen dig deep, we are set for a good game."

Trevallyn will be focusing on their fielding this week as captain-coach James Whiteley returns to his line-up this week alongside Will Elliott following an team-effort win over Legana.

"Fielding is going to be a massive thing for us this week after we dropped three or four catches last week so we are looking forward to keeping that energy."

Both George Town and Longford haven't completed a full game of cricket since round two, with the side's coaches hoping Saturday's forecast changes.

Despite their lack of cricket, Longford sits third with a healthy percentage as Josh Adams has his eyes on 80 overs of play.

"It's been a bit frustrating as essentially we haven't played for a month so we're just looking to get out there and play some cricket," he said.

"The boys are keen, we've still been training very hard and they are putting in the work, so when we get the opportunity we will be ready to go."

Jack Hill's top four did what he asked of them last week before the rain stopped a "really, really good game of cricket" as he looks for the Saints to continue their momentum.

"Every game we've played this year, we've put ourselves in positions to win so we expect it to be the same against Longford," he said.

"We know their strength is their bowling and obviously their opening pair, so if we bat like we did last week and accelerate more through the middle overs [we'll be in with a shot]."

Legana and Perth both look to recover from low totals last week as they meet on the Durhams' home turf.

Perth coach Mat Devlin credited Hadspen for their bowling last week but is expecting his team to show more care at the crease this week and learn from their poor shot selection.

"We know that if we play the right cricket we can definitely come away with a win down there," he said.

"Legana are always a tough side to play at their home ground, it's a small ground and they've got some explosive batters that, on their day, are as good as anyone."

The home side regain captain Dylan Sharman and crucial cog Mike Dunn, with batting their main focus, having lost 20 wickets for 153 runs in the past two games.

"Batting 40 overs is something we've just got to strive to do," Sharman said.

"We match up against Perth really well but I think we still really need to work on our batting, putting together 80 overs of good cricket and getting some continuity back into our game."

Evandale Panthers are out to get their first win on the board as they meet Bracknell, who are still yet to play a full game of cricket.

Panthers coach Jonty Manktelow described last week's loss as "disappointing", saying they were winning most of the match but their batting let them down.

"If we lose a couple of wickets, we just need to hold ourselves and dig deep to not keep losing clumps of wickets," he said.

"To be able to chase down or make a score, we just need our middle order to stick around longer and hopefully be able to contribute."

On the flipside, Bracknell were in an intriguing position in their George Town match-up, needing 102 runs from 21 overs with six wickets in hand.

Coach Brad Fryett was well positioned on 60 and praised his side's bowling ahead of this week, which he thinks will be another tight contest.

"It's probably another game that we are expecting to be really competitive in and hopefully getting the win," he said.

"I'm sure they probably feel the same way about us."

Reigning premiers Hadspen have the bye.