BUAKIT U23 DISTRICT CUP PREVIEW – 50 OVER GAME ONE (28TH APRIL)

The first round of the BUAKit U23 District Cup takes place this Sunday, with two 50 over fixtures providing the first representative cricket we see all season. 

Leinster Lightning & Bolts Pathway Manager, Head Coach Andre Botha has assisted all squads by ensuring the best possible split of players has been achieved to provide a high standard of cricket in the competition this season, this has seen an allocation of players across each of the districts to provide a balance between the quality of each team, and allowing players of interest to put their hand up for potential Lightning Bolts selection in the Future Series competition which takes place this summer.

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY VS DUBLIN CITY, College Park

In College Park, Dublin University host Dublin City, who were last season’s competition champions, and the holders have put together a strong side for the opening fixture this weekend. The clubs represented in this weekend’s XI see Clontarf, Railway Union, Pembroke, Phoenix and Merrion coming together to provide a team which has a good mix of senior cricket experience, as well as a number of players who have tasted success in the Bolts environment before.

Their batting unit features Merrion’s Swapnil Modgil, Railway’s Ashil Prakash and Phoenix pair Johit Mungal and Hedayatullah Khogiani. Modgil and Prakash in particular both produced some fine performances last season and will be the men to watch. The seamers in the side are led by Liam McCarthy, with support from Sean O’Brien and Andrew Doheny, however it’s the spin department where Dublin City are arguably at their strongest, Cillian McDonnell and Danny Forkin being two high-class Premier League left-arm spinners who will cause plenty of trouble for their oppositions throughout this competition.

Dublin University’s side meanwhile contains a range of skills from across a number of clubs, and several of them have represented both Dublin University and their own clubs at Senior level in the past few seasons. Their skipper Theo Dempsey, and opening bowler Mikey O’Reilly are the two members of the side with InterPro appearances to their name, opening bowler O’Reilly a consistent member of the Leinster Lightning side. Stephen Black, David Vincent and Jamie Forbes have all been consistent members of their club’s 1^st XIs over the past few seasons, with Vincent in particular impressing for Clontarf in the back half of 2022. Yash Balasubramaniam and Jack Atkinson are two names which would be familiar to regular followers of the 2^nd XI Premier League, in what is a more than competitive line-up for the Students.

Dublin City Team; Cillian McDonnell (Clontarf), Liam McCarthy (Railway Union), Noah Smith (WK) (Pembroke), Johit Mungal (Phoenix), Hedayatullah Khogiani (Railway Union), Ashil Prakash (Railway Union), Andrew Doheny (Merrion), Daniel Forkin (Merrion), Sean O’Brien (Railway Union), Callum O’Byrne (Phoenix), Swapnil Modgil (Merrion)

Dublin University Team; Rory Betley, Stephen Black, David Vincent, Jamie Forbes, Theo Dempsey (Capt), Mikey O’Reilly, Yash Balasubramaniam, Jack Atkinson, Will Barker, Brian Delaney (WK), Aidan Muller, Will Thorp (12^th)

FINGAL VS SOUTH DUBLIN & MIDLANDS, The Vineyard

This fixture was rained off last season without a ball being bowled, and it may have ultimately cost Fingal the title, they once again have a very strong side going into this competition. They’re skippered by a newcomer in Brandon Kruger who is now plying his trade with The Hills. There’s a strong Balbriggan influence in the side, as they account for 5 of the 12 selected, with The Hills, Rush, Malahide and North County all also represented. The batting unit consists of some very talented players, none more so than Leinster Lightning’s Chris de Freitas, whilst there’s plenty of excitement about what Suliman Safi may be capable of, Cameron Rowe and Jeremy Martins are two more high class operators who will look to hit the ground running. With the ball, the side is somewhat spin heavy, however in Nasir Totakhil and Sam Willemse they boast a fine opening bowling partnership, both capable of moving the ball off straight at pace. Their spinners however are sure to be the trump card, Dylan Lues and Mike Frost lead the way in that department, with Frost in particular being a hugely dangerous bowler to this week’s opposition, which is laden with right-handed batters who he will look to move the ball away from.

South Dublin & Midlands were the weakest team in the competition last season and their opening team selection already gives cause for optimism that they may well be a totally different proposition this time around. In spite of being missing Séamus Lynch and Adam Rosslee this time around, they still have two Leinster Lightning men in their ranks, Tim Tector at the top of the order and Reuben Wilson who will take the new ball, whilst Olly Riley recently skippered Ireland U19 and has been a consistent performer for the Lightning Bolts. The side is boosted by the inclusion of Younas Ahmadzai and addition of Malahide gloveman Matthew Langan, whilst North Kildare are also represented by a pair of all-rounders in the shape of Husnain Maroof and Abidullah Taniwal who both have the skills to make an impact on this game.

Fingal Team; Cameron Rowe (Balbriggan), Suliman Safi (North County), Jeremy Martins (Malahide), Chris de Freitas (Balbriggan), Brandon Kruger (Capt) (The Hills), Sebastien D’Oliveira (Balbriggan), Dylan Lues (Balbriggan), Luke Whelan (WK) (North County), Nasir Totakhil (Rush), Mike Frost (Malahide), Sam Willemse (Balbriggan), John Devane (North County)

South Dublin & Midlands Team; Tim Tector (Pembroke), Srihan Karpe (Railway Union), Tristan de Beer (Leinster), Matthew Langan (WK) (Malahide), Younas Ahmadzai (Malahide), Husnain Maroof (North Kildare), Abidullah Taniwal (North Kildare), Mark Tonge (Leinster), Reuben Wilson (Clontarf), Alan Joseph Mathew (North County), Devan Keenan (Leinster)