The battle for the Premiership title continues on Saturday after last week’s break for the MPL and Tinker Cup ties.

Holders Peel and St John’s start as favourites against Ramsey, who ended at the bottom of the table last year and lost the other week to Cronkbourne. However the Saints need to be careful as the northern club could welcome the return of Shaun Kelly and Tom Howard.

Both batsmen are potential match winners. In 2014 Kelly had scores of 148 and 156 while Howard also notched a century. On the other hand the strength of the Peel squad is awesome.

Their fast attack of skipper Dan Hawke and Akkie van den Berg is now backed up by the promising Kieran Cawte who impressed in the opening games in the MPL

The batting is also packed with potential and it will take a special effort from Ramsey to come away from Mullen-e-Cloie with a victory. They will though be encouraged by last week’s cup Tinker Cup win which saw Tom Moffatt take five wickets, Dan Kelly hit 62 and Andy Ball make 40 not out.

Cronkbourne could have problems at home when Crosby are the visitors. The Marown side were at Tromode on Sunday when they beat Valkyres by nine wickets. Martyn Oates cracked 40 and Danny Kniveton made 44 to go with the 57 he made the previous day in the MPL.

Both Ross Berry and Dave Picken had four wicket hauls so Cronkbourne could be pushed here. Their supporters will point out that the team looks in good form with a definite keenness and desire to win.

The Castletown versus Valkyres fixture is now to be played at Marown and this could be close. The Douglas team have a fine fighting spirit and last week saw good innings from Rob Weight, Ryan Windell and Chris Langford.

The bowling however failed to dent their opponents and claimed only one wicket. The track was damp and slow, so the Marown astro with more pace and bounce should help restore their fortunes.

There seems little to choose between the teams, but the bowling and batting of the Town’s Mark Williams could be the deciding factor.

The draw has been made for the semi-finals of the Tinker Cup. It is Peel v Ramsey and Crosby at home to the winners of Castletown v Cronkbourne.

The delayed first round tie between Castletown and Cronkbourne goes ahead on Sunday 14 June. The semi-finals are on Saturday 27 June (with Sunday 28 June as the reserve date if the games are washed out the day before).