Division 1 fixtures released for 2015

The OCC has released the fixtures for 2015, and as always, they engender a certain amount of excitement, knowing that the 2015 season is that little bit closer.

The secretary of the OCC, Michael Sharp, explained that, "dates for provincial competition fixtures in 2015 have been affected seriously by the holding in Ireland of the ICC T20 World Cup qualifying tournament. This has meant that Cricket Ireland was unable to fix any Interpro or ISC/National Cup fixtures during the month of July and these all have to be fitted into the other months." This account for there only being one set of league matches between May 16th and July 4th.

Fixtures are initially allocared on a strict home/away/home basis, with all clubs playing their home matches every other week. Unfortunately life is never that simple, and many clubs have other commitments that mean they cannot always play home matches. Both Malahide and Clontarf have commitements to Cricket Ireland, whilst ground share agreements mean that some clubs such as Railway Union can not play at home at the begining of the season.

The league starts on the Saturday of the May Bank Holiday, and as ever there are some mouth watering fixtures. Cork County play their first ever Division 1 match, with reigning champions YMCA visiting the Mardyke. Merrion look to go one better than their second place in 2014 with a Dublin 4 derby against Pembroke, whilst two teams who evetunally finished in the mid table last year, Clontarf and Railway Union, go head to head in Castle Avenue.

The final fixture for Week 1 sees this year's Division 1 Final derby, with newly promoted Malahide going to North County.

Four months later, week 16 of the league brings the competition to its conclusion, and it is always tempting to look at these fixtures and to guess which matches will be the crucial ones. Merrion play Clontarf in a match that has the look of a top of the table clash, although it was the same fixture in 2012 that saw Clontarf relegated on the last day of the season.

YMCA finish their campaign with another Sandymount derby in Railway Union, and the two promoted clubs from 2014, Cork County and Malahide will play in Cork on that last weekend. Will one of them be trying to cling on to Division 1 status at this stage, or will there a be a surprise at the other end of the table? The final fixture on that last week sees Pembroke travel to North County. Could this be the scene of a famous Pembroke title win? Or maybe North County could seal a return to their all conquering ways.

All the action starts in less than five months time.