It’s a busy weekend of cricket with the Blincoe Cup semi-finals slotting in alongside a couple of Premiership matches.

Hannan Law Crosby welcome Ramsey Crookall Finch Hill to the Memorial Playing Fields in the league on Saturday.

The hosts have not really been able to get going this season for some reason, and this has been shown in their results with only one win from their four games.

The make up of the team is the same as last year but no batsman has really been able to stamp their authority on a game.

Dave Picken is bowling well, as he has over the years, and Chris Langford has been charging in of late.

The Finches had a good win a couple of weeks ago against Valkyres and they have been able to welcome their students back to the fold after the exam period finished.

George Burrows is in scintillating form with the bat and if Eddie Beard can get up to speed also it could be a run-fest at Crosby.

Also in the league, CTH Insurance Ramsey host Baker Tilly Isle of Man Cronkbourne on Saturday.

Ramsey scored 191 against Finch Hill on Sunday and if they can build upon that performance again, it will stand them in good stead.

They need some solidity in the middle order though, as Cronkbourne can bowl consistently and this will build the pressure to score more quickly than Ramsey may want at times.

Cronkbourne lost a tight game last weekend and they will be keen to get back to winning ways.

The key for Ramsey will be to keep pressure on the Cronkbourne batsmen and force some mistakes.

Batsmen such as Nathan Knights or Matthew Ansell can quickly take the game away from you.

Valkyres play the Callin Wild Development XI at Mullen-e-Cloie on Sunday in the weekend’s final league game.

Buoyed by a victory last weekend, Valkyres are still close to the top of the league and they will be keen to maintain their winning run.

Mohammed Salman has been the team’s best player with both bat and ball this season, but last weekend everybody contributed to the win over Cronkbourne.

Salman will have to be wary of his son, Mohammed Abdullah who has bowled very well since he came into the team.

The Development XI have demonstrated that they are a good team, but they have faltered a couple of times recently.

Valkyres will be hoping to get back on the winning trail, but with players like Nathan Williams and Ed Walker bowling at you, the opposition batsmen will need to be careful.

These two sides played a close match in the Tinker Cup earlier in the season, so it should be interesting.

The Blincoe Cup semi-finals on Sunday see Finch Hill take on Ramsey at their Ballafletcher ground.

Finch Hill have invested a lot of money, time and effort into relaying their pitch up by the hospital and this will be one of their first games since the relay.

I am sure that Ramsey will try and spoil the party, but they will need to be on top form to take on what I expect will be a strong Finch Hill team.

In the other Blincoe semi, Crosby are in action against Cronkbourne.

Crosby made the commendable decision to play two teams in the Blincoe Cup.

One side came up against Cronkbourne last time and the other team sailed through against Valkyres.

Unfortunately, they were drawn against Cronkbourne once again.

This match is a rerun of last year’s final, although it should not be the truncated affair of last year.

If Crosby’s bowlers can restrict the Cronkbourne batsmen, they should have a chance over the four innings, but the former will go into the game as favourites.

l The second of the Isle of Man women’s and girls’ cricket festivals took place at Peel and St John’s last weekend.

Over 32 players came along to enjoy the fun and this Saturday Cronkbourne Cricket Club at Tromode will play host to another afternoon of soft-ball cricket.