Jamie King hopes to inspire an upturn in Stoneywood-Dyce’s fortunes during his brief return to the club.
The former People’s Park captain left last August to go travelling, however, he and girlfriend Iona Anderson have been back in the north-east for the last few weeks, with King returning to action.
Tomorrow Stoneywood-Dyce – who have lost all seven Eastern Premier League games they’ve played this summer – are at home to Forfarshire.
King is hoping they can get off the mark for the campaign and boost their survival hopes before he prepares to depart again.
He said: “We’ve been around Asia and Australia, now we’re potentially heading down to England for a job for a couple of years before heading off again.
“Cricket’s been part of my life for a long time and I was always going to miss it.
“Even when I was on the other side of the world, I was tuning in and watching games at 2am in Japan and things like that.
“Some of the boys are lifelong friends so even when I was away I still wanted to see how they were getting on.
“The reason I’m playing while I’m back is to try to help the club pick up some wins and stay up.
“Ultimately, despite the run we’ve been on, there are still really good players at the club who have earned the opportunity they’ve got.
“It takes time, some of the boys are experiencing this level for the first time and it’s a bigger step than people realise.
“But I fully believe all the boys are capable of competing at this level.”
Shire search for consistency
Meanwhile, in the North East Championship, Aberdeenshire are aiming to put inconsistency behind them when they tackle Falkland 2nds at Scroggie Park.
Shire’s hopes of challenging for the title have been hampered by three losses in six outings.
Captain David Gamblen said: “If we’re being realistic, I think Arbroath are the best team in the league based on what we’ve seen.
“Them losing four games may be unlikely, but all we can do is try to win as many games as we can and see where that leaves us.
“If you win a couple of games confidence grows and all of a sudden tricky situations a few weeks ago become less tricky to get out of.”
Elsewhere in the North East Championship, Huntly look to bounce back from consecutive defeats when Kinloch visit Castle Park.
Gordonians can move up to seventh spot with a victory against Strathmore at Lochside Park.
Grades leaders in action
Meanwhile, Mannofield can consolidate their position at the head of affairs in Grade One tomorrow when they meet basement side Grampian, who have won only one game in seven starts.
A more tightly-contested game is expected at the Links where second-placed Bon Accord meet fifth-placed Inverurie.
With both sides in fine fettle with the bat a high scoring game is likely.
Bons’ Fazal Awan has amassed 682 runs at an average 113.67, scoring four centuries in the process – although in George Hadden, Trevor Norval and Chris Watson the visitors have prolific scorers of their own
The clash between Gordonians and Master Blasters Aberdeen at Countesswells will also have some bearing on the title race as the sides are currently in third and fourth place respectively.
Elsewhere, defending champions Knight Riders will be attempting to claw back into contention at the expense of Crescent.
AberGreen and Cults will be battling to improve their positions in the bottom half of the division.
However, the game of the day might well be at Rubislaw where Grade Two leaders Aberdeen Grammar meet second-placed Methlick.
Grammar are undefeated while the men of Methlick have lost only one game.
