The three Division 2 matches on the August Bank Holiday Monday, merely emphasized that The Hills are odds on favourite for the Division 2 title but also strengthened the feeling in many people's minds that it is Phoenix who are most likely to grab the second promotion spot.
Phoenix took on a Rush side that looks to be under performing this year. An outside bet for promotion, they are still perilously close to relegation, and will have some important matches in the next six weeks.
Phoenix recovered from being 78-3, as the prolific Sam Anderson (71) and Tom Anders (49) put on 95 for the 4th wicket. Form there, regular contributions from the Phoenix lower order got them up to 252-9. That proved to be ample, as Rush slipped to 66-5. They then staged a partial recovery to 97-5 before they crumbled against the guiles of Matt Lunson, who took another four wickets , wrapping up the tail to finish with 4-15, with Rush 95 runs short.
Another crucial mid table tie was taking place in the Jack Harper Memorial Ground between Balbriggan and Leinster. A win for Leinster would have kept them up with Phoenix at the top of the table, whilst a loss for Leinster would have left them level with Rush and YMCA 2 at the bottom. And but for the performance of one player, the match could well have ended with that scenario.
Joe Carroll has taken a liking to Balbriggan in the last month. In the match in Leinster in July, Carroll had a brilliant match double of 5-39 and 94 as he single handedly grabbed the match for Leinster. And remarkably he improved on both marks this week, with 5-30 and 101.
Danny Coad was the next highest scorer for Leinster with 49, as a good allround Balbriggan bowling performance (John Mooney with the best figures of 3-60, Duane Harper tidy with 2-37 from ten) kept Leinster to a chasable 249 all out. When Balbriggan lost their fourth wicket, they were 92-4, with many of their star batsmen back in the hutch. But Adrian Harper and Barry Archer still remained, and the pair added 75 for the 6th wicket before Harper went for 63. That left Archer to shepherd the tail, and eke out the remaining 54 runs.
That man Carroll had other ideas, removing the tail as the last four wickets fell for seven runs.
On paper, the final tie between The Hills and Terenure was a clash between first and second. The table has been slightly flattering to Terenure for the past few weeks, and it was not too much of a surprise when Terenure crashed to 106 all out, with Syed Ali Aijaz Shah top scoring with 28, with the wickets being shared around. The Hills' talismanic overseas player, Nicolaas Pretorius then hit a 30 ball 54 to hasten the Terenure defeat.
Highest Batting average in Division 2 - (current qualification - 200 runs)
With the qualification mark moving up to 200 runs, there have been some major changes this week, not least in the lack of Irish qualified players that are contending! Two quick scoring overseas players, Anderson and Pretorius lead the way, with Shahid Iqbal of Rush the highest eligible player, with 213 runs at 42.60.
Joe Carroll and Masud Ahmed are the only other Irish qualified players who make the cut.
| # | Name | Club | Inn | NO | HS | 50 | 100 | 4s | 6s | Dks | SR | Runs | Avg |
| 1 | S Anderson * | Phoe | 9 | - | 130 | 4 | 2 | 77 | 8 | 1 | 111.78 | 560 | 62.22 |
| 2 | N Pretorius * | Hills | 8 | 2 | 106 | 2 | 1 | 56 | 6 | - | 131.03 | 342 | 57.00 |
| 3 | S Iqbal | Rush | 7 | 2 | 64 | 1 | - | 21 | 4 | - | 71.54 | 213 | 42.60 |
| 4 | B Speake * | Ter | 10 | 1 | 81 | 4 | - | 39 | 7 | - | 62.22 | 364 | 40.44 |
| 5 | L Jansen * | Rush | 8 | 1 | 110 | - | 1 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 90.15 | 275 | 39.29 |
| 6 | A Taylor * | Phoe | 9 | 1 | 82 | 2 | - | 31 | 2 | - | 69.35 | 301 | 37.62 |
| 7 | J Carroll | Lein | 9 | - | 101 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 89.16 | 329 | 36.56 |
| 8 | Masud Ahmed | Phoe | 8 | - | 76 | 2 | - | 36 | 3 | - | 95.20 | 238 | 29.75 |
| 9 | S Ramnathpur * | Ter | 9 | 2 | 51* | 1 | - | 23 | - | 1 | 72.63 | 207 | 29.57 |
| 10 | M Farrukh * | Balb | 9 | 1 | 53* | 1 | - | 29 | 1 | 1 | 64.22 | 201 | 25.12 |
Lowest Bowling average in Division 2 - (Current Qualification - 13 wkts)
Matt Lunson is the new leader, his 4-15 being enough to overtake John Moooney who could only muster 3-60. Joe Caroll is now the highest wicket taker, with 23 wickets at 11.74.
James Smith's performances have been slightly unheralded this season, but the Terenure paceman deserves his place in the top 10, being one of only three bowlers in the table to have learnt their bowling trade in Ireland.
| # | Name | Club | Overs | Maid | RunsA | BBowl | 5I | Econ | SR | Wkt | Avg |
| 1 | M Lunson | Phoe | 43 | 8 | 177 | 4-15 | - | 4.05 | 14.56 | 18 | 9.83 |
| 2 | John Mooney | Balb | 39 | 6 | 151 | 3-5 | - | 3.86 | 15.67 | 15 | 10.07 |
| 3 | J Carroll | Lein | 63 | 5 | 270 | 5-22 | 3 | 4.27 | 16.48 | 23 | 11.74 |
| 4 | R Kear | Balb | 47 | 1 | 190 | 5-43 | 1 | 4.04 | 18.80 | 15 | 12.67 |
| 5 | K Brennan | Ter | 86 | 22 | 293 | 4-25 | - | 3.39 | 24.71 | 21 | 13.95 |
| 6 | D Carolus * | Hills | 55 | 3 | 206 | 3-10 | - | 3.75 | 25.38 | 13 | 15.85 |
| 7 | S Iqbal | Rush | 53 | 3 | 209 | 4-4 | - | 3.91 | 24.69 | 13 | 16.08 |
| 8 | L Jansen * | Rush | 59 | 4 | 236 | 5-27 | 1 | 4.00 | 25.29 | 14 | 16.86 |
| 9 | James Smith | Ter | 57 | 5 | 316 | 4-42 | - | 5.48 | 19.22 | 18 | 17.56 |
| 10 | A Eastwood | Rush | 59 | 4 | 245 | 3-14 | - | 4.15 | 27.23 | 13 | 18.85 |
| 11 | M Farrukh * | Balb | 68 | 8 | 248 | 3-24 | - | 3.65 | 31.38 | 13 | 19.08 |
| 12 | S Ramnathpur * | Ter | 73 | 11 | 249 | 3-28 | - | 3.41 | 33.69 | 13 | 19.15 |
Most Catches by a fielder in Division 2
No change at the very top, with Hills teammates, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Mike Baumgart the leading eligible contenders.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Ct |
| 1 | B Speake * | Ter | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | C McLoughlin-Gavin | Hills | 8 | 7 |
| 3 | M Baumgart | Hills | 6 | 7 |
| 4 | Diarmuid Lynch | Ter | 8 | 6 |
| 5 | M Farrukh * | Balb | 9 | 6 |
| 6 | Harry Tector | YMCA | 6 | 5 |
| 7 | S Ramnathpur * | Ter | 9 | 5 |
| 8 | S Anderson * | Phoe | 9 | 5 |
| 9 | B Azhar | Lein | 8 | 5 |
| 10 | B White | Phoe | 6 | 5 |
Most dismissals by a wicket keeper in Division 2
Still little between the leading keepers. Richard Forrest has moved up along side Michael Cotter.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Ct | St | Dismissals |
| 1 | Sam Murphy | YMCA | 7 | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| 2 | Richard Forrest | Lein | 9 | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 | M Cotter | Ter | 10 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | A Taylor * | Phoe | 9 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | N Pretorius * | Hills | 8 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 6 | James King | Rush | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | B Archer | Balb | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Leading allrounder in Division 2 - (Qualification 100 runs and 6 wickets/dismissals. 1 pt for each run, 20 pts for each wkt, ctch or stmp)
No surprise that there is a new name at the top of the table. Joe Carroll's 100 and 5 wickets double rockets him to the top.
| # | Name | Club | Mts | Runs | Wkt | Ct | St | Points |
| 1 | J Carroll | Lein | 9 | 329 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 789 |
| 2 | S Anderson * | Phoe | 9 | 560 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 760 |
| 3 | N Pretorius * | Hills | 8 | 342 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 562 |
| 4 | L Jansen * | Rush | 8 | 275 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 555 |
| 5 | A Taylor * | Phoe | 9 | 301 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 541 |
| 6 | B Speake * | Ter | 10 | 364 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 524 |
| 7 | S Iqbal | Rush | 8 | 213 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 473 |
| 8 | S Ramnathpur * | Ter | 9 | 207 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 467 |
| 9 | M Farrukh * | Balb | 9 | 201 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 461 |
| 10 | E Ahmed | Balb | 8 | 153 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 413 |
| 11 | Harry Tector | YMCA | 6 | 179 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 399 |
| 12 | Sam Murphy | YMCA | 7 | 115 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 395 |
| 13 | M Sorensen | Hills | 7 | 165 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 385 |
| 14 | Tomas Rooney Murphy | Hills | 8 | 141 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 381 |
| 15 | Masud Ahmed | Phoe | 8 | 238 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 378 |
| 16 | T Ritchie * | Lein | 9 | 182 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 362 |
| 17 | M Kumar | Hills | 5 | 122 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 342 |
| 18 | T Anders | Phoe | 9 | 140 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 320 |
| 19 | M Scott * | Phoe | 9 | 175 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 315 |