Witherers drag Catton back to lead final tilt
SO serious are the Witherers about today's game against CMI Saturday League leaders Merchants, that they have persuaded Brian Catton to dig out his old flannels, collected their strongest team this season and secured neutral umpires for the crucial clash at DBS.
'There will be a bit of blood on the ground. We are all fired up for this game,' said Catton, who will come up against his partner-at-work, Papu Butani, the captain of Merchants.
Butani says Merchants will not settle for being second best. 'We don't want to finish runners-up after coming so close. Our task is simple - beat Witherers then St. George's next Saturday.' His fellow-Cricket World International director Catton, who has played only three games this season for the Hong Kong Cricket Club outfit has been 'pulled out of semi-retirement' and pushed into the role of captain.
Witherers will miss skipper Stuart McGregor who is away opening a brewery in China. But they will be hoping that the celebratory beers will still be flowing at the day's end.
'It is a crucial game. Not for us but for Kai Tak. If we beat the Merchants, Kai Tak should win the league,' Catton said yesterday.
Merchants top the standings with 172 points. In second place are Kai Tak (who lost to Merchants last week) with 167 points, and Witherers are third on 152. A victory for Witherers today would be a huge favour to Kai Tak who are expected to win easily against DBS.
Since most of the players who turn out for Merchants also play Sunday League cricket for champions Pakistan Association, a 'double' is on line for them.
'We most certainly want to prevent that if we can,' said Catton, who is pleased that the Witherers will be fielding their best team this season including Ben Hall, Matthew Johnson, Tony Molloy, Tim Cook and Richard Sullivan.
Merchants will miss their dashing opener Sada Hussain today. The Pakistani returns to the territory later this weekend.
'We will miss him. He has always given us a flying start. But we are still confident of winning,' Butani added.
Pakistan Association should face few problems as they come up against Dragons in CMI Sunday League action tomorrow. The Pakistanis, who have virtually clinched the title, are bidding to become the only team in Sunday League history to finish a season unbeaten. They have won 13-out-of-13 so far.
