KELBURNE and their captain Qasim Sheikh have been absent from the higher echelons of club cricket for too long.

Since the formation of the old National League format in 1998 the Paisley club have never performed in the top flight while not since leaving Clydesdale five years ago has Sheikh graced the domestic game's showpiece stage.

However, last week they made their return to the CS Western Union premier division and did so in some style with a comfortable win against Renfrew, the team that finished third last season.

Sheikh, the former Scotland batsman, believes those that wrote Kelburne off as no-hopers may already be preparing to munch on a slice of humble pie.

"We saw a prediction in one of the papers that we would finish eighth," noted the 30 year-old, who has not given up hope of resurrecting an international career that many believe was brought to an end far too soon.

"That really fired the boys up and we've decided to use it to motivate us throughout the season. We know it's a big jump from where we were last year but we have a lot of experienced guys in the team who can help the younger lads make the step up.

"I'm not interested in being in the Premier division to make up the numbers or talking about surviving in the top flight. We should be aiming to win the title and if we can't do that we should certainly have our sights on the top three. I'd regard anything less than that as not being a successful season."

It is bullish talk from the man who boasts three first-class centuries - two of them for Scotland and one during a season in Pakistan's highly competitive domestic structure.

He last played for his country five years ago before falling foul of officialdom for publicly criticising former national coach Pete Steindl.

However, with a busy summer of representative cricket ahead and new Scotland coach Grant Bradbrun likely to adopt a horses-for-courses selection policy over the three formats of the game, Sheikh may yet have a part to play.

"To be honest I'm not thinking about Scotland and deep down I don't really expect to get a recall.

"But, there is no doubt that playing in the Western Union premier division gives all of the guys a higher profile.

"We've already seen (opening bowler) Ross McLean given a call-up to the Reivers squad and I expect a couple of our other guys could catch the eye of the selectors.

"From my own point of view my best plan is just to score as many runs as I can for Kelburne and see what happens."

Kelburne make their home debut in the top flight when they face Dumfries at Whitehaugh this afternoon.

The Nunholm men also made a winning start and are boosted by the return of former Scotland U19 pace bowler Niall Alexander while the Paisley side are unchanged.

Champions Ayr, having beaten East Kilbride a week ago, are aiming to make it two-in-a-row when they host Renfrew though they are again without overseas amateur Heynrych Nel who is yet to arrive in the country.

Clydesdale are still without the suspended Majid Haq for the visit of Drumpellier while youngster Zain Ashraf replaces Kasim Farid who is unavailable.

Both teams were victorious last week and Clydesdale manager Colin Mitchell said: "The most pleasing thing is that we won pretty convincingly against Ferguslie without playing at our best.

"Zain has earned his place in the team and will bring some much-needed energy in the field."

Mitchell is also looking forward to seeing how new signing Abdul Sabri performs against his old Drumpellier team-mates but is wary of the Lanarkshire side's overseas duo Sudesh Fernando and Louis Venter.

Elsewhere, East Kilbride and West of Scotland are bidding for a first win when they clash at Torrance House as are Uddingston and Ferguslie who meet at Bothwell Castle.