BARNT GREEN'S cricketers are gearing themselves up for what promises to be one of the most vital weekend's of the season for the club.

They entertain lowly Stratford in the Banks's Birmingham League on Saturday - and then Liverpool outfit Bootle on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the National Knockout.

"It's a massive weekend for us," says skipper Lyndon Jones.

"A win in the league is really what we need, as that'll put more distance between the lower sides and us.

"Sunday's game will be tense, mentally draining and exciting. Whatever the result we'll enjoy it because all our lads like playing in front of a crowd," said Jones.

Hopefully we'll get plenty of supporters being the home team, I'm sure Bootle will bring a couple of bus-loads as well."

Jones cites Bootle captain Ian Cockbain and batsman Richard Hignett as potential dangermen.

"Cockbain is vastly experienced and has played a fair amount of first-class cricket, whilst Hignett is probably one of the most talented and destructive amateur batsmen in the country.

"Having seen our victory against Bowdon in the last round, I'm sure they'll be fearing us a little bit as well." he added.

Both games start at 1pm.

Last weekend Barnt Green were frustrated by obdurate home batting as they just failed to snatch a maximum 20 points against Coventry.

Having lost the toss against a Coventry side missing key players, Barnt Green did very well to reach 209-8 on a slow wicket. Experienced campaigners Haynes (55) and Illingworth (28) provided the base for Froggatt (45) and Smith (15) to bat positively towards the end. Ex-Warwickshire pace bowler Darren Altree nabbed four wickets and acting captain Jason Pyatt three wickets.

Needing to bowl straight and with patience, Barnt Green captured two early wickets to put them in the drivng seat. However, spirited knocks from Hopkins (32) and Pathan (30) meant the game wasn't done and dusted. The dismissal of Pathan, bowled by a ball that kept low, straight after the drinks interval, was decisive as wickets started to tumble. But Pyatt (28 not out) batted stoutly with the lower order, which meant that Barnt Green went home with 13 points instead of the full 20 points.

This means that the Cherry Hill side continues to stay out of trouble, but captain Lyndon Jones knows that a couple of bad results will mean a return to the dreaded relegation dog-fight.

"We've been playing some consistently excellent cricket over the last five or six weeks and another positive result is always good. However, the league is so tight this year that a couple of losses will be bad news. Then again if we maintain our form over the next month and grab two or three wins on the trot, then we can be contenders for a high finish."