The dawn of a new season is invariably a period of abounding optimism. All previous hitches, from the other side of the winter, are disregarded as aspirations supplant pragmatism and hope springs eternal for all the field. For this one week, everyone is joint top of the table.
As the universal proverb “start as you mean to go on” advocates, the shape of one’s season can so often be defined in the starting blocks. Once the gun is fired, the tussle for early season ascendancy is of great substance for the tasking miles that lie ahead between now and early September.
As many people will say, and quite rightly too, the season is a marathon rather than a dash but blundering the first fence on the opening weekend isn’t the desired benchmark. Nothing can be won or lost in April but a slow start can set the precedent for the next thirteen games.
Such is the variable nature of Leinster cricket, there has been six different winners of Division One in as many years. Not since North County’s four year supremacy between 2003 and 2006, has any club managed to defend the trophy they lifted twelve months previous. Not only will last year’s victors, The Hills, have to defy recent history but also conquer fortified adversaries, who are all longing for success of their own in 2014.
A cursory glance at a leading bookmaker’s website and one cannot help but take heed of the market for outright winner. Last year’s runners-up, Merrion, are the frontrunners this time around while Clontarf, on their return to the upper echelon, are also heavily touted; YMCA - who were the protagonists for much of 2013 before falling away - are ranked as outsiders for the title. In truth, the odds mean very little but they are illustrative of the competitive and somewhat mercurial nature of Division One.
There can often be an influx of comings and goings during the off-season, but most significantly this time around, many of the eight clubs have used the winter productively and bolstered their resources without losing many key figures.
The Hills, who begin the defence of their title on Saturday against Railway Union, have managed to keep the same side together that performed so consistently in 2013 as well as welcoming a couple of new faces into the changing room.
However, the strength of the defending champions’ panel will be put to the test on the opening weekend. Darryl Caulder and Declan Moore are both unavailable, while Tomas Murphy, who is abroad, is expected to miss the first month of the season. The absence of Max Sorensen, however, will be felt most although the Irish fast-bowler will return next weekend.
In what is a repeat of last year’s opener, Kevin O’Brien and his charges make the trip to Milverton hoping to avoid the same outcome as twelve months ago, when they were comfortably beaten by 57 runs. The Park Avenue side found themselves lurching in the lower regions of the standings from that point on before climbing to mid-table mediocrity. Victory at the Vineyard, a ground where the hosts were only beaten once in 2013, would be an emphatic statement of intent from a Railway outfit comprised of youth and experience. Regardless of Sorensen’s absence, the home side should be too strong.
The Hills: Nazeer Shoukat (capt), Jonathan Andrews, Nicolaas Pretorius, Osama Khan, Mike Baumgart, Mark Dwyer, Cormac McLoughlin, Patrick Byrne, Osama Khan, Howard O’Donnell, Luke Clinton, Andrew Moore (12th man).
Railway Union: TBC
Three defeats in their last four outings saw YMCA’s title assault fade away in 2013 but lifting the Leinster Senior Cup mitigated any disappointment at Claremont Road. Their fledgling stars are a year older but the loss of Reinhardt Strydom, to Malahide, and the limited availability of Jeremy Bray and Trent Johnston due to coaching commitments means the spine of the side has somewhat dissipated.
However, the eleventh hour arrival of Terenure skipper Tom Fisher coupled with the signing of Zimbabwean PJ Moor has bolstered the batting ranks, in particular. The latter won’t feature on Saturday, when North County are the visitors to Sandymount, but Fisher will make his debut. Many may overlook Albert van der Merwe’s side on the basis of losing three former internationals but write them off at your peril.
North County, like YM, are a side committed to, and with an onus on, developing home-grown talent and nurturing them at the top level. As many as four underage players will feature for County on Saturday with Nathan Rooney, a winter recruit from Balbriggan, coming straight into the side. Big things, meanwhile, are expected of overseas signing Tim Affleck with John Mooney and Eddie Richardson also hoping to hit the ground running in order to give the national selectors a headache. Your guess is as good as mine, however, when it comes to a prediction on this one.
YMCA: Albert van der Merwe (capt), JJ Cassidy (wk), Simi Singh, Jack Tector, Alan Lewis, Robert Garth, Sean McAuley, Bobby Gamble, Yaqoob Shah, Aaron Bailey, Tom Fisher.
North County: Conor Sheil (capt), Ciaran Garry, Eddie Richardson, John Mooney, Tim Affleck, Conor Armstrong, Niall McGovern, Tomas Sheil, Nathan Rooney, Jamie Grassi (wk), Kashif Ali.
Clontarf strolled to the Division Two title last year, with thirteen wins from thirteen, and will be looking to consolidate in 2014 above anything else. Given the ease in which they dispatched Saturday’s opponents, Terenure, at home and away last season, they couldn’t have asked for a better fixture to ease themselves back into life at the top as Division One cricket returns to Castle Avenue.
The loss of Andre Botha is a sizable blow and with Andrew Poynter likely to miss chunks of the season on international duty, there will be a couple of voids that need filling if they are to harbour realistic hopes of competing with the league’s protagonists. For now, however, the presence of Poynter, Bill Coghlan and Alex Cusack in the side is as strong as it gets. Clontarf’s resources are unlikely to be stretched this time around but sterner tests will follow.
After some hefty investment and a strong promotion-winning campaign last year, Terenure have been hit by the loss of the aforementioned Fisher just days before their Division One return. The Ireland A batsman was the cornerstone of their success in 2013, as he scored 787 runs, and his abrupt departure on the eve of the new season is a blow to Terenure’s hopes of staying afloat in an extremely competitive division.
Consequently, Dave Langford-Smith and Stephen Moreton will shoulder much of the responsibility while how well their young players can adapt to the top level will go along way to determining if they can pick up enough points to avoid floundering at the wrong end of the table. What is for sure, Terenure will need a bright start and not get cut adrift if they were to make a false one. You can’t see anything but a home win on Saturday, however.
Clontarf: Eoghan Delany (capt), Bill Coghlan, Robert Forrest, Andrew Poynter, Colin Currie, Alex Cusack, Adrian D'arcy, Zander vd Merwe, Joe Morrissey, Connor D'arcy, David Delany.
Terenure: TBC
Incomplete work on Sydney Parade’s outfield means the final Division One fixture of the weekend has been moved to Claremont Road on Sunday. Pembroke and Merrion will have to wait that little bit longer to get up and running but the wait may well be worth it as these two can genuinely consider themselves as contenders.
On their return to the top-flight last year, Pembroke enjoyed a fine season with a young squad and the headway made over the past eighteen months has seen them develop into a strong all-round unit with the ability to upset the odds.
Graham McDonnell, who makes the short return journey from Railway, is unavailable but Jono Cook - who played for the club in 2008 - is included in the 12-man panel. Alan Eastwood will once again spearhead the bowling attack, which contains a battery of spinners including the leg-spin of Cook and Fiachra Tucker as well as Paul Lawson.
Merrion assumed the role of bridesmaids last year. There will be a determination to go one step further this time around as the redevelopment of their clubhouse edges closer to completion. It’s difficult to find any weaknesses in Dom Joyce’s side and it would be of great surprise if they weren’t to go close to winning their sixth crown, and first since 2001.
Their batting line-up is arguably the strongest in Leinster and overseas recruit Brett Thompson only adds weight to that presumption. Tyler Smith will take the gloves as he embarks on an exchange programme from South Africa while Dave Watkins, fresh from a Leinster Lightning appearance last week, provides the spin option. Given they are many people’s favourites, and on paper they look formidable, it would be an upset if the visitors didn’t take the points from this one.
Pembroke (from): Theo Lawson (capt), Ryan Hopkins, Jono Cook, Alan Eastwood, Rory Kelly, Paul Lawson, Barry McCarthy, David Murphy, Darren Nicol, Robin Russell, Fiachra Tucker, Lorcan Tucker.
Merrion: Dom Joyce (capt), Tyler Smith (wk), John Anderson, Brett Thompson, Tyrone Kane, Deon Carolus, Tom Stanton, Jeff Short, Rob Ensor, Dave Watkins, Ben Ackland.
Meanwhile, in Division Two, Leinster will be hoping to kickstart their push for an instant return to the top-flight when they head south on the opening weekend to face Cork County. The Munster side have spent the winter adding reinforcements after gaining promotion and will be no pushover, especially on home soil but, captain Ross Durity misses out through injury.
Phoenix, who also suffered relegation last year, face Rush who are buoyed by the return of the prolific Lynal Jansen while it’s Merrion v Pembroke part one as the second XIs do battle at Anglesea Road. Elsewhere, Dublin University begin their campaign with a trip to Balbriggan, who are hoping a couple of shrewd acquisitions will change their fortunes.
Division One Fixtures: Week One
(12.30pm start)
Division Two Fixtures
Cork County: Morne Bauer (capt), Stephan Grobler, Robert Duggan, Ian Coleman (wk), Anthony O’Reilly, Rory O’Keeffe, Sid Joshi, Junaid Amin, Abubakar Saddique, Andy Wootton, Oscar Cotter.
Leinster: TBC
Phoenix (from): D.Ford, R.Anders, Masud Ahmad, T. Hashmi, R. Lawrence, E. Peterson, S. Rizvi, T. Anders, B. White, A. Chester, E. Cleere, J. Wardell.
Rush: TBC
Merrion II: K. Beasley (capt), D. Poder, N. Brown, A. O'Brien, C. Allwright, H. Kennedy, N. Sharma, R. Ensor, C. O'Donoghue, R. Bridge, T. Smith.
Pembroke II: Emmett Whaley (capt), Stuart McDonnell, Gary Baugh, Fiachra Tucker, Jack Balbirnie, Max Byers, Bill Whaley, Cian Mollen, David Murphy, Paddy Gallagher, Diarmaid Tucker.
Balbriggan: E Ahmed, S Anwar, M Byrne, M Farook, D Harper, R Kear, P Martin, G Russell, T Faheem, A Harper, A Harper.
Dublin University: TBA