It's that time of the cricketing year again. With the Ireland squad starting their World T20 warm up games with a good win against the Netherlands in Dubai, and our Elite training squads getting back into the gym and nets, the bedrock of the game in Leinster, the clubs, turn their thoughts to the 2014 season.
Without further ado, we can now reveal the provisional Open Competitions league structure for 2014. As is habitually the case, the new leagues do not exactly match the finishing places from the previous season, with new teams coming in, and some clubs asking to be moved down.
This year there are new teams from Longford, Leinster, Merrion, YMCA and Phoenix, with only Laois dropping a side. This has resulted in many divisions now involving none teams, the most dramatic of these being Division 2 - enlarged to give all temas a full season, as Dublin University only playing half a season is felt to not give enough cricket to the others.
The ins and outs for each divisions are listed, along with any notes to explain anything that may be outside the regular "two up, two" down scenario.
Any comments you may have can be added to the article below, or emailed to Michael Sharp .
The opportunities to make any changes to this are limited, but if there are any major changes such as a club entering less teams, please get in touch immediately. The draws for the full and mid-week cup competitions will be made during the next month.
A full FAQ on the promotion and relegation procedure was prepared by Michael Sharp in 2012, and can be read here
Division 1. The Hills 1, Merrion 1 ,YMCA 1, Pembroke 1, North County 1, Railway Union 1, Clontarf 1, Terenure 1
Promoted from Division 2 - Clontarf 1 & Terenure 1
Other ins and outs - none
Division 2. Leinster 1, Phoenix 1, Rush 1, Dublin University 1, Malahide 1, Merrion 2, Balbriggan 1, Cork County 1, Pembroke 2
Relegated from Division 1 - Leinster 1 & Phoenix 1
Promoted from Division 3 - Cork County 1 & Pembroke 2
Other ins and outs - Division increased to nine teams due to Dublin University only playing half a season. Balbriggan 1 not relegated
Division 3. Leinster 2, YMCA 2, Clontarf 2, Laois 1, The Hills 2, North County 2, North Kildare 1, Civil Service 1
Relegated from Division 2 - Leinster 2
Promoted from Division 4 - North Kildare 1 & Civil Service 1
Other ins and outs - North County 2 not relegated to maintain eight teams in division
Division 4. Malahide 2, Railway Union 2, Phoenix 2, Dundrum 1, Pembroke 3, Mullingar 1, YMCA 3, Merrion 3
Relegated from Division 3 - Malahide 2
Promoted from Division 5 - YMCA 3 & Merrion 3 (Railway Union 3 not promoted as Railway Union 2 already in Division 4)
Other ins and outs - Mullingar 1 not relegated to maintain eight teams in division
Division 5. Clontarf 3, Railway Union 3, Malahide 3, North County 3, Leinster 3, Merrion 4, Terenure 2, Greystones 1
Relegated from Division 4 - Clontarf 3
Promoted from Division 6 - Merrion 4 & Terenure 2 (Railway Union 4 not promoted as Railway Union 3 already in Division 5)
Other ins and outs - Greystones 1 are moved from winning Division 7 to Division 5
Division 6. Sandyford 1, Railway Union 4, Castleknock 1, Longford 1, Rush 2, Knockharley 1, Phoenix 3, North Kildare 2
Relegated from Division 5 - Sandyford 1. Laois 2 drop to Division 7 at request of club
Promoted from Division 7 - Knockharley 1
Other ins and outs - None
Division 7. Laois 2, Wexford Wanderers 1, Pembroke 4, Clontarf 4, Balbriggan 2, Merrion 5, Adamstown 1, Dundrum 2, Dublin University 2
Relegated from Division 6 - None (Laois 2 dropped from Division 5 at request of club)
Promoted from Division 8 - Adamstown 2 & Dundrum 2
Other ins and outs - Dublin University 2 are promoted from Division 9 after going unbeaten in 2013, making Division 7 a nine team division (Merrion 5 not relegated)
Division 8. Bagenalstown 1, Dundalk 1, The Hills 3, Wicklow County 1, Malahide 4, Leinster 4, Civil Service 2, Knockharley 2, YMCA 4
Relegated from Division 7 - Bagenalstown 1 (Merrion 5 remain in Division 7)
Promoted from Division 9 - Knockharley 2 & YMCA 4
Other ins and outs - None
Division 9. Mullingar 2, Sandyford 2, Swords 1, Leinster 5, North County 4, Terenure 3, Phoenix 4, Ringcommons 1, Greystones 2
Relegated from Division 8 - None
Promoted from Division 10 - Phoenix 4, Ringcommons 1
Other ins and outs - Greystones 2 are promoted from Division 11 after winning 13 of 16 matches
Division 10. Merrion 6, Railway Union 5, Rush 3, Civil Service 3, Clontarf 5, Pembroke 5, Slieve Bloom 1, Castleknock 2, YMCA 5
Relegated from Division 9 - none
Promoted from Division 11 - Clontarf 5, Slieve Bloom 1, Castleknock 2
Others ins and outs - Laois 3 dropped to Division 13 at request of club. In order to maintain nine team Division, Pembroke 5 not relegated, and three teams promoted. YMCA 5 enter the league
Division 11. Malahide 5, The Hills 4, Wexford Wanderers 2, Cabinteely 1, North County 5, Adamstown 2, Lucan 1, Leinster 6, Longford 2
Relegated from Division 10 - Malahide 5 (Only one team relegated to preserve a nine team division)
Promoted from Division 12 - Adamstown 2, Lucan 1 & Leinster 6
Other ins and outs - Longford 2 enter the league. Leinster 6 move up from Division 12 to acheive better spread of Leinster teams.
Division 12. Bagenalstown 2, Phoenix 5, Halverstown 1, Swords 2, Pembroke 6, Clontarf 6, Dublin University 3, Railway Union 6, Merrion 7
Relegated from Division 11 - Bagenalstown 2
Promoted from Division 13 - Dublin University 3 & Railway Union 6
Other ins and outs - Merrion 7 moved up from Division 14 to accommodate a new Merrion 8 team.
Division 13. Dundalk 2, Dundrum 3, North Kildare 3, Rush 4, Sandyford 3, Knockharley 3, Castleknock 3, Adamstown 3, Laois 3
Relegated from Division 12 - Dundalk 2, Laois 3 relegated from Division 10 at request of club
Promoted from Division 14 - Castleknock 3 & Adamstown 3
Other ins and outs - None
Division 14. Civil Service 4, Mullingar 3, Greystones 3, Balbriggan 3, Wicklow County 2, Clontarf 7, Merrion 8, Phoenix 6, Leinster 7
Relegated from Division 13 - Civil Service 4 (Laois 4 withdrawn from leagues)
Other ins and outs - Leinster 7, Merrion 8 and Phoenix 6 are all newly entered in league.