ALAN MURRAY CUP PREVIEW – GROUPS C & D 29TH APRIL

Today’s preview will take a look forward to the games in Groups C and D of the LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup, where we will come across the current holders, as well as the 2021 T20 winners.

GROUP C

Group C is an all-Fingal affair, featuring our holders, The Hills and Malahide from the Premier League, whereas the Championship is represented by North County and Rush.

At The Vineyard;

The Hills vs North County

Opening up proceedings we have a game that is always a fiery affair, as the local rivals, with two vastly differing off-seasons, face off. The home side have had a change of captain, with Andrew Kavanagh now at the helm having led the side to the Alan Murray Cup last season, and although they have seen Ashley Bain and Levon Shields move on from the club, they have been bolstered by some excellent reinforcements coming in. Danish international Nicolaj Laegsgaard is a batsman who arrives with a reputation for power hitting, and a player who The Hills’ coach Jeremy Bray will know well from his time coaching the side. Also coming in is Australian Sean McNicholl, an Irish passport-holding seam bowler who will be looking to make his presence felt from the outset. Nathan Rooney from Balbriggan and Muzamil & Yaseen Sherzad from North Kildare are the more local new men who add plenty of depth to The Hills side.

North County have gone through a range of change over the winter having won the National Cup last season. Usman Azhar has moved on to pastures new North of the border, whilst they have also seen Andrew Sheridan and Jamie Grassi leave the club. Whilst an unfortunate injury late in the Australian season has seen them lose their original overseas man Mitchell Owen. However this side has had some extremely reliable performers over the past number of years, and under the captaincy of Sean Sludds, they will no doubt be happy to look to the likes of Eddie Richardson, Niall McGovern and Jonno Andrews to continue to produce to the standards they have previously set.

This derby game is always hotly contested, and is one where the big game players stand up more often than not, Eddie Richardson has time and time again proven to be that man with both bat and ball, he is likely to mark out his run up to The Hills’ newest addition in Nicolaj Laesgaard at some stage early in the home side’s batting innings, and this could be a battle which provides significant momentum one way or another to either side.

KEY BATTLE: Nicolaj Laesgaard vs Eddie Richardson

The Hills vs Rush

The 16:30 start in Skerries sees Rush the visitors, and although the home side have strengthened significantly over the course of the winter months, they still have the core of last season’s cup winning team to bed in around. Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin is fresh from a winter in the Southern-Hemisphere and opened his season with a century in a friendly game last weekend, and whilst Murray Commins is currently away with the Irish side, retaining the South African-born batsman is a major boost for the side. Mark Donegan has produced some explosive innings’ in the middle order at times, whilst Tomas Rooney-Murphy and Jonathan Tall will again likely prove crucial with the ball in this season’s campaign.

Rush are doubtless a team set up to play T20 cricket in any ground in the country, they have retained overseas man Llew Johnson and whilst Nathan McGuire did return at the tail end of last season for a couple of fixtures, his full time availability for the coming year will be a big boost to the team. This will free up Neil Rock to bat in the middle order and give the side impetus right throughout the innings. Cian Egerton has returned to the club having previously played with Cork Harlequins and in Australia, and the former youth international will be keen to push his case to be recognised higher up the ladder. The seam bowling quartet of Asher Abbasi, Jared Barnes, Daniel Coffey and Allan Eastwood are all set to play a big part for the team again this season and will no doubt be important in this game.

The top of Rush’s innings is always vital, but in T20 more than anything else it’s crucial for any side against them not to let Llew Johnson away to a flying start. The Kiwi made several explosive scores last season and his early doors battle with Sean McNicholl is sure to be one to keep spectators interested throughout the Rush PowerPlay.

KEY BATTLE: Sean McNicholl vs Llew Johnson

At Malahide:

Malahide vs Rush

The opening game of the day in Malahide sees Rush the visitors. The home side have been bolstered this off-season by the addition of Hunter Kindley, Younas Ahmadzai and returnining Kelvin Donnelly. Kindley and Ahmadzai add to what was already a decent batting core, whilst Donnelly’s return will see him reunited with Cameron Shoebridge, David O’Halloran and James Newland, in a pace attack which, alongside Peter Chase, in 2019 was largely responsible for Malahide’s last victory in this competition. Matt Ford looks set to be the main spinner in the team this season, whilst Ali Frost will again showcase his all-round skills.

As noted already, Rush’s top order is absolutely power-packed, with three of the cleanest ball strikers in the competition occupying the top three positions in their order, naturally the fear could be that were these players to fail they could possibly fall in a heap, however the emergence of the McGee brothers over the past couple of seasons will help to alleviate those fears in Kenure no doubt. That “lengthening” of their order will allow their boundary hitters later in the piece in Barnes, Abbasi and Eastwood to be able to free their arms up. Obviously each of those three will play a vital role with ball in hand as well, and with Alex Neary’s left arm now available to provide some variety in the attack, it gives Rush plenty of options for how to go about restricting Malahide’s line-up.

The top orders look key here, but in this instance it’s fair to say that Neil Rock’s ability against spin will possibly be what Malahide fear the most, that could see Matt Ford playing a vital role, if and when he needs to bowl to Rush’s Irish international.

KEY BATTLE: Matt Ford vs Neil Rock

Malahide vs North County

The late game in The Village sees North County make the trip to town. The visitors as mentioned already look to be up against it early in the season here, and although they have added Simi Singh to their squad, he isn’t available in time for this weekend’s cricket. Following on from his brilliant 2022, Abdul Ghaffar will still be one of the most fear bowlers in the competition this year, with his ability to bowl at sheer raw pace being a skill most clubs do not possess in their armoury. His brother, Sattar, has also joined the squad this season and adds to the bowling attack. Cian Mulvaney has returned to the fray this season and his left-arm spin could prove a vital addition to the side after a year away from the game in 2022. Whilst County may appear to be a side just finding their feet early in this competition, there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that no pair of fixtures are more likely to see them firing on all cylinders this weekend than the local derby with The Hills, followed up by this game against some familiar faces…

Malahide’s two latest additions to their squad this off-season are Andrew Sheridan and Jamie Grassi, both of whom will add majorly in at least two facets of the game. Sheridan has continuously shown great grit and determination to come back from injury and perform at this level, with his batting becoming every bit as strong as his bowling in the past couple of seasons. Grassi meanwhile has been relentless with the bat, with his exploits being recognised with caps for Leinster Lightning and Italy, his power-hitting will add another dimension to the middle order, whilst he also offers the option to keep wicket, should Fintan McAllister ever not do so. McAllister himself is likely to play a key role with bat in hand, with his innovation and ability to rotate the strike always a massive bonus to the side in the second half of an innings.

With the undoubted fire that will be lit under North County in having to play against two former players in this fixture, it’s fair to say they will be looking to Abdul Ghaffar to set down a marker early in the piece, if he gets to bowl at Jamie Grassi, it would certainly be a battle not to be missed!

KEY BATTLE: Jamie Grassi vs Abdul Ghaffar

GROUP D

Group D is our final preview, and is made up of the 2021 T20 competition winners Merrion, their Premier League counterparts Leinster, North Kildare and Dublin University.

At College Park:

Dublin University vs Merrion

The opening game of the day at College Park sees the Students taking on a powerful Merrion side who are sure to be eyeing up some early season silverware. This is the only competition which head-man Nicky Kenny is yet to win as coach in his home club, and there’s no doubt he’ll be hoping to add it to the collection sooner rather than later. His side are captained once again this season by Dom Joyce and boasts a powerful top-order of its own, with Stephen Doheny and Jack Carty seemingly ever present at this point in time, and only adding to their impressive records with each passing match. New overseas man Samuel Harbinson has been drafted in at the last minute, taking the place of Daya Singh who is yet another overseas player to suffer an injury on the stroke of a season starting. He will add to a middle order which already has a strong look to it, with John Anderson and Michael Lewis ever-consistent in the side.

Dublin University on the other hand are without any of their “experienced” campaigners this weekend, with Nic Pretorius and Nigel Jones absent, whilst Conor Hoey has hung up his playing boots. Gavin Hoey leads a side which isn’t short of some powerful hitting itself, Hoey is supported by Stephen Black and Sanil Gupta, whilst it can be safely assumed that David Vincent will be the man looking to play the ‘glue’ role in the team. Mikey O’Reilly and Scott Ruttle are also more than capable of producing runs in the back end of an innings, and as such the Trinity College side stand in good stead of being able to post some good totals for their bowlers to defend this season.

In the absence of some key men, DU will be looking to their skipper to lead by example this weekend, Gavin Hoey’s leg-spin will likely prove key, and if he can manage to tie down John Anderson, Merrion’s premier batsman against spin, it will be a big help to the home side.

KEY BATTLE: Gavin Hoey vs John Anderson

Dublin University vs North Kildare

The second game in College Park sees North Kildare visit, and with the away side’s team still as yet to be confirmed for both games, this is really an explorative exercise as they look to recover from losing the spine of their team from the past two seasons. Abdul Sattar, Monil Patel, Muzamil and Yaseen Sherzad have all moved on to pastures new, whilst the club has elected against an overseas player this season meaning there is also a Kaustab Pawar sized hole in the batting line-up. Sayed Shah, Josh Uddin and Manjeet Singh are likely to be the men left charged with producing the bulk of the runs for the depleted outfit in the early stages of this competition.

Dublin University meanwhile add David Cosgrave to their batting line-up for the second game, whilst Theo Dempsey, Mikey O’Reilly and Ben McCabe make up a seam bowling trio which has caused more than it’s fair share of problems for batters around the province in this competition in the past. O’Reilly and Dempsey have both seen their good form recognised at IP level and both will obviously be looking to reproduce some good form to help press their claims for further representative honours again. JJ Walsh, David Vincent and skipper Gavin Hoey make up a strong spin attack which is sure to cause some problems for their visitors weakened batting line-up.

KEY BATTLE: Mikey O'Reilly vs Sayed Shah

At Observatory Lane:

Leinster vs North Kildare

The first game of the day in Rathmines sees Leinster host North Kildare, and in stark contrast to the visitors, Leinster have added considerably to their side, with Michael Hogan and Monil Patel returning to add strength at the top of the order, whilst Devender Ranolia is bringing back his all-round skills after playing the 2022 season at Phoenix. All three are familiar faces having previously plied their trade at Observatory Lane, and when added to a largely settled 1^st team batting line-up which includes skipper Bilal Azhar, Saqib Bahadur and leading all-rounder Joey Carroll, a top 6 which looks to be a threat to any bowling attack begins to take shape, without mentioning Gareth Delany, who’s availability when confirmed will be a massive bonus to the side.

North Kildare will have a tough task on their hands in an effort to repel that powerful unit, however they do retain several experienced bowlers who were involved in the side’s foray into the Championship in 2016/17. Imran Ul-Haq and Wasif Ali were the backbone of the attack then and left arm options in Husnain Maroof and Yashraj Mate are added to the side since, they will need to make their presence felt here if they are to have any chance of keeping Leinster’s batting line-up within arm’s reach of their side.

Leinster’s key wicket remains as always Joey Carroll, and whilst he has been scoring runs for fun in recent times, the start of his innings is still an opportunity to unsettle him with the moving ball, Wasif Ali’s deceptive pace and late swing is exactly the sort of bowling that has thrived against Carroll early in his knock, however, if he gets through that opening salvo, he’s every chance of making a huge score against this line-up.

KEY BATTLE: Joey Carroll vs Wasif Ali

Leinster vs Merrion

Merrion arrive in Rathmines straight from College Park to face off in what looks like a game which could go a long way to deciding the eventual qualifiers from this group. The visitors bowling unit is bolstered by their overseas player Sam Harbinson’s medium pace, whilst Daniel Forkin rotates in for the spinner’s role for this game, exchanging for his brother Peter from the side that plays in College Park. Tom Stanton will be the lead spinner, whilst the seam attack will be led by Muhammad Sinan with further support from Jack Carty and Hugh Kennedy. This six-pronged attack provides a vast array of skills which lends itself towards being extremely efficient in T20 cricket, the key no doubt will be the ability to bowl dot balls against the Leinster unit which looks every bit as strong as Merrion’s.

Leinster’s bowling unit is led by Bilal Azhar and Joey Carroll every bit as much as they lead with the bat. With spin provided from left-armer Ranolia and right-armer Bahadur, the final piece of the jigsaw is Mark Tonge’s extra yard of pace which gives this Leinster attack an equally well-rounded feel to it as it’s opposition. This variety could prove key to tying down Merrion’s top order in particular, with Doheny and Carty’s ability to get on top of bowlers and strike powerfully through the ball being a big strength of both the Anglesea Road side’s openers.

Merrion’s top order getting off to a good start is the key to their middle order being able to put together a good score for the side, as a result Bilal Azhar’s opening spell to Stephen Doheny is sure to be a crucial part of the game, as the Irish international attempts to get his side off to a good start and give them momentum to carry through the innings.

KEY BATTLE: Bilal Azhar vs Stephen Doheny