CSPL – An innovative intra-club Initiative

One of Ireland’s oldest clubs, Civil Service came up with a fantastic initiative last summer. The club had a big influx of members last season which equated to about 70+ playing members. With this, and in order to give everyone games on a regular basis, the club set up an in-house tournament which was called the Civil Service Premier League. We caught up with lifelong member Keith Webster to find out a bit more about the tournament.

The tournament was a T20 format and made up of five different teams.

“The idea came from our second team captain Prasan Shah and the tournament was based on the IPL. We had 5 teams overall which consisted of a squad of about 15 players each. The players came from all teams in the club - from the 1st XI to the 5th XI. Each player was given a Grade A, B or C which ensured the teams we evenly matched.”

The different teams were called:
· Civil Warriors
· Dublin Stallions
· Civil Super Kings
· Master Blasters
· Thunderbolts

The five teams competed for the ‘Fintan Butler Cup’ named after the Club's President. The games took place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings right throughout the summer - “Each team played around 8 games overall before the knockout stages and the games basically replaced our training sessions. We implemented full ODI rules in each game.”

The games were very competitive. “Players didn't take the games lightly. They were very competitive and every team wanted to win. We are also lucky enough to have many members in our club who are registered umpires so we had umpires for each game which was a big bonus.”

Not only were the games competitive with full playing regulations and umpires but the games were live-scored where players who weren't playing on the day could follow the game at home.

When asked whether Civil Service CC plan to run the tournament again for the coming season Keith says -

“Most definitely. It was great fun and everyone really got to mix with each other which was important as we had a lot of new members join the club last season. Next year we hope to play the tournament with white balls and in coloured clothing which would be a great spectacle.”

The club are looking forward to the season ahead - “One big priority for us is to build our Youth Section and we are working hard in the background to achieve this. We have qualified coaches in the club and are keen to enter more youth teams in the future. Also, we already have 80 players registered at the moment and are hoping to enter another team this year and would make up six teams in the club which is the most we have ever had in our history.”

Overall, the CSPL seemed a fantastic idea and initiative from the club which was a huge success and something they are looking to progress in the summer.