IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – ROUND 4 (MAY 23RD)

A bumper weekend of cricket sees no fewer than 8 of these sides participating in double weekends, as they mix their charges in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League with the rapidly progressing All-Ireland campaign, this being the first of a brace of double weekends in just 22 days for teams which progress on Sunday.

This weekend sees last season’s top 4 all facing off, as Clontarf host Leinster, whilst Phoenix visit Pembroke, in what could be a very interesting gameweek at the top of the table. There’s a Fingal derby in Inch, where Balbriggan are the visitors, whilst Rush make the trip across to Sandymount and face Railway Union. Malahide venture into the Phoenix Park to face Civil Service, who still seek their first win, whilst the featured action will come from Anglesea Road, where Cork County are the visitors to a Merrion side looking to capitalise on a double dose of home advantage this weekend.

CLONTARF VS LEINSTER

A familiar feeling for Clontarf this Irish Cup weekend, last term they faced Pembroke in a league and all-Ireland back-to-back double header, and this time around they face the same challenge in the shape of Leinster. The hosts on Saturday will see Mitchell Thompson returning to their batting line-up, however it will be interesting to see if he slots into the middle order after overseas man Samuel Morgan thumped a match-winning century at the top last weekend. Séamus Lynch and Eoghan Delany are the certainties in the top three and with John McNally back in the middle order the ‘Bulls’ look increasingly deep with the bat.

Fionn Hand leads the way with the new ball, alongside Nawaz Khan, with the side without Reuben Wilson this weekend after his exploits in this week’s four day game. McNally and Luke Thomson are the other seamers in the side, whilst there are the usual spin options in the shape of Cillian McDonnell’s slow left-arm and Yash Bala’s off-breaks.

Leinster meanwhile field their usually strong side this weekend, and whilst there’s a doubt as to whether Jai Moondra will be able to fulfil his bowling duties on Saturday, they remain a very deep unit. Bilal Azhar and Tom O’Connor provide plenty of left-arm seam between them, whilst Mark Tonge and Joey Carroll as the two right-armers mean they still have 40 overs of high quality quick bowling available to them if needed. Saqib Bahadur is the main spinner in the line-up, and his ability to bowl tight game-breaking spells could be crucial with the side potentially down a frontline bowler.

With the bat, Ruben Newton comes into the side this week, replacing Luke Horgan, and could well appear at the top of the order alongside Tom Johnson. Monil Patel and Younas Ahmadzai are an increasingly dominant force, particularly considering the latter’s form last weekend in thumping an unbeaten 39-ball century to down Merrion in the Leinster Senior Cup. Carroll was also to the fore in that chase, whilst Tonge, Bahadur and O’Connor all play all-rounder roles which have seen them play crucial roles in weeks gone by. Rian Cassidy continues behind the stumps for the Rathmines outfit.

Younas Ahmadzai’s explosive century last weekend proved to be match defining for Leinster, and he’s now become the key wicket going into this weekend, he will likely take on Cillian McDonnell in the middle overs, and if ‘Tarf’s left-arm spinner can dismiss the power-packed Ahmadzai, it could swing the game in the hosts’ favour.

KEY BATTLE: Cillian McDonnell vs Younas Ahmadzai

MERRION VS CORK COUNTY

The featured action this weekend sees an extremely strong Merrion side taking on a Cork County side who’s batting seems to offer them hope in any game this season. Starting with the hosts, they’re without their star man at the top of the order in the shape of Stephen Doheny, meaning there’s a debut for Olivier Molins behind the stumps for the Anglesea Road outfit. This also means that Swapnil Modgill will have a new opening partner, with Danny Forkin the most likely option. Seb Dijkstra is set to bat at three, whilst John Anderson and Jamie Forbes have settled well at 4 and 5, performing consistently well in this unit over the course of the last year. The all-rounders see Corne Botha and Sean Stanton batting at 6 and 7, and both have contributed well with the bat so far this term, Dom Joyce will hope this weekend sees them only needed to put the finishing touches to their innings.

With the ball, Stanton will likely open alongside the left-arm of Mikey O’Reilly, with that pair having extracted plenty of early movement in their early spells so far this season. Botha adds a significant pace angle, with the seamers rounded out by Irish U19 international Tom Ford, who has bounced back from a tough start to the season to deliver strong spells in recent weeks. The spin comes from Peter Forkin’s off-breaks, whilst he’ll get support from Modgill, who may play a more important role in the coming weeks with the ball.

Cork County meanwhile come into this game without skipper Diarmuid Carey, meaning Thorne Prophet takes over the captaincy duties this weekend. He’s the most likely to lead the way with the new ball, alongside the impressive left-arm of William Shields. Zubair Khan is the other frontline seamer in the attack, whilst both Tiago Oelofse and Raj Undre can also offer some part-time options. The absence of Carey does weaken the spin stocks slightly, however the Leesiders do still boast two strong options in the shape of Bakhtyar Nabi’s offies and the leg-breaks of Nabeel Anjum.

The visitors batting has been heavily reliant on a couple of gun-players at the top of the order so far this season. Two trips to Dublin in 2026 have seen Raj Undre making scores of 136 and 138, whilst Aussie Josh Hartill showed his worth in week one with an excellently paced unbeaten 76 as the men from the Rebel county saw off Phoenix. They will be looking to the likes of Sunil Gautam and Donald Marakassery to support them as frontline batters, whilst Oelofse, Khan and Prophet will all fancy their chances of making every bit as big an impact with the bat as the ball.

The opening spell of Mikey O’Reilly looks set to be the key here for the home side, and if he can see Raj Undre off early on, it will set Merrion well on their way to victory.

KEY BATTLE: Mikey O’Reilly vs Raj Undre

RAILWAY UNION VS RUSH

Rush visit Park Avenue this weekend on the hunt for their first win in CL competitions this season, and do so with a couple of significant absentees making this an uphill task. The Kenure men’s bowling was already stretched with Abid Taniwal having been managing a long-term injury which was preventing his left-arm seamers from being used, however the continued absence of Allan Eastwood due to injury does not help matters. Added to that, Taniwal is absent altogether this weekend, meaning the boost which is aggressive style gives with the bat is also missing. There is some piece of good news for Saturday as Jarred Barnes is set to take part in his first appearance of the season. His return is timely and sees him supporting a seam attack that also includes Alex Neary, Asher Abbasi and Conor Butterly this time out. Nasir Totakhil’s left-arm spin could prove crucial on the typically spinner friendly decks in Park Avenue.

On the batting front, Jack McGee and Isaac Bird will lead from the front, whilst the skipper Nathan McGuire has happy memories of his last knock against this opposition, when he made one of his three early-season centuries last season. Finn McGee showed his power game last weekend and in the absence of Taniwal is likely to play a more important role this time out. Nasir Totakhil is likely to see himself promoted to a more prominent role, having slid down the order for last week’s shortened game against North County.

Railway Union meanwhile are without key men this week, with skipper Philippe le Roux and key bowler Liam McCarthy both missing for Saturday’s fixture. Bruce Whaley and Ashil Prakash are set to continue their partnership at the top of the order, with Whaley taking the game on in the PowerPlay. Rob O’Brien remains a consistent force at number three, whilst Abhay Tipnis is likely to shift up the order in le Roux’s absence. Hayden Hamilton has been ever consistent for Railway this season, having quickly proved too good for their third XI on his debut for the club. Ryan Smith and Rob Carr round out the batting unit, and could play key roles in the middle order with the hosts’ tail arguably looking slightly longer than they would ordinarily hope in McCarthy’s absence.

That does however mean that they have a stronger look to their bowling, as Farman Afridi, Sean O’Brien and Digamber Mishra offer three genuine options to open the innings up. From there it is almost certainly ‘spin-to-win’ for Railway, with Tipnis and Prakash both offering support to the left-arm offies of Kathan Shah who returns to the line-up this weekend.

In the absence of Abid Taniwal, there is set to be all eyes on Nathan McGuire for the visitors this weekend, if he can dominate early on against Farman Afridi it could give Rush the foothold they need to kick-start their season.

KEY BATTLE: Farman Afridi vs Nathan McGuire

CIVIL SERVICE VS MALAHIDE

The other winless outfit in the competition so far this season, Civil Service, play host to Malahide this weekend and will be hoping they can capitalise on their visitors potentially having one eye on Sunday going into this tie. The hosts will look to their skipper and talisman Deepak Jayachandran to lead from the front with the bat once again, as he’s set to open proceedings alongside gloveman Simranjeet Singh. Their middle order plays host to some fine stroke players in the shape of Hedayat Khogiani, Zaman Safi and Swaraj Batham, however their propensity to lose wickets in clusters has hurt them this season, and this will be something that needs to improve going into this weekend.

Safi is set to be a key man with the ball once again, whilst Noor Ullah’s opening spell will also need to be strong. If Mubasher Siddique returns to the line-up it would be a major boost for the team, as his bowling offers plenty of control and crucially experience of their home conditions. Beyond that trio, Dev Ranolia’s left-arm spin is the class angle in the side, whilst they could also call upon Roshin Raviprasad and Ramgokul Srinivasan to deliver their slow bowling options as well.

Malahide meanwhile have started the season well, and could probably consider themselves a tad disappointed not to be three wins from three in the league so far this term. Their batting centres around the excellent Robbie Foulkes at the top of the order, whilst Adam Doyle at number three offers the solid base that allows those around him to bat at a tempo comfortable to them. Jeremy Martins has been the side’s in-form player with bat and ball this season, and along with Greg Ford and Andy Sheridan makes up a middle order that Service ought to be very wary of.

The Village’s bowling has been led brilliantly this term by Ravi Kumar, however it looks like this weekend will see them more dependent on Kelvin Donnelly and James Newland with the new balls. Martins’ bowling form has been unrivalled by any other change bowler in the league this term, and doubtless they won’t hesitate to throw him the ball should the start not be ideal. Mohit Sane’s left-arm spin makes him the frontline option, with the middle-overs support likely to be in the shape of Foulkes’ medium pace cutters.

Deepak Jaychandran is the key man for Civil Service, and one feels if they are to take a big scalp this season it will most likely include a three-figure score beside his name. He must however negotiate the league’s in-form all-rounder in Jeremy Martins this weekend, and if Martins has his number, it could give Malahide the opportunity to rip into the Service middle order.

KEY BATTLE: Deepak Jayachandran vs Jeremy Martins

PEMBROKE VS PHOENIX

The league leaders, Pembroke, play host to Phoenix as the only remaining unbeaten team in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, they are once again depleted by players being involved in this week’s 4-day trial match. Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Gavin Hoey all miss out, whilst Barry McCarthy won’t feature again this season following his injury in Waringstown. The batting line-up however is boosted by the inclusion of Tim Tector, who is likely to open the innings alongside Macdara Cosgrave, with Addison Sherriff at number three. That trio were the backbone of their excellent all-Ireland chase two weeks ago, and skipper Jack Tector will be hoping to see more of the same from them this weekend. He will feature in the middle order alongside promotions for some of their in-form 2^nd team batters including Danny Hogan, Sanil Gupta and wicket-keeper Greg Hollins.

The bowling sees Byron McDonough set to partner Sherriff to open proceedings, with Mark Berry returning to the 1^st XI as the third seamer in the side. The absence of Harry Tector takes away a potential opening bowling option, and with him and Gavin Hoey missing, it will be down to the experience of Paul Lawson to lead the spin attack, with Cosgrave’s very serviceable off-breaks offering support to his former skipper.

Phoenix meanwhile are blessed by their star internationals being seen as white-ball options by the Irish staff, meaning their extremely strong spin bowling trio of George Dockrell, Ben White and former IP performer Amish Sidhu can continue uninterrupted for another couple of weeks at least. They are set to support three strong seamers, in the shape of regular opener Sean McNicholl, whilst Raghav Grover and James Maginnis are likely to play a role slightly later in the innings.

Tim Tector has been in flying form this season, and with the IP season just around the corner he will no doubt be hoping to continue in that vein, Phoenix however will be throwing the ball to their strike bowler Sean McNicholl in the hope he can dismiss Pembroke’s star man early on here, and if he can it could blow the game wide open.

KEY BATTLE: Tim Tector vs Sean McNicholl

NORTH COUNTY VS BALBRIGGAN

North County take on nearest neighbours Balbriggan in their latest Fingal derby this weekend. The hosts will no doubt be disappointed with the manner of their last league loss, however last weekend’s brilliant cup victory over Rush sees them coming into this tie on an upward curve. Lochie Hardy has made two centuries in three league knocks so far this season, and is set to hold the key at the top of the order again this weekend, whilst he’s partnered by John Devane, who is beginning to discover some decent form once again. On paper the 3/4/5 of Suliman Safi, Eddie Richardson and Jamie Grassi ought to be one of the most feared in the league, and skipper Richardson will be hoping they can deliver on some of that fear-factor in the coming weeks. All-rounders Jake Devane and Alan Joseph Mathew round out a deep top seven.

With the ball, there’s a return to the side for Abdul Ghaffar this weekend, and the North County faithful will be hoping to see him reignite his ‘extra gear’ with the new ball. He will partner Eddie Richardson at the start of the innings, with the skipper having long since been a thorn in the side of their local rivals. Sean Sludds and Husnain Maroof offer right and left arm seam options that give a real variety to the attack. The spin options in the side see Brandon Morris accompanying Alan Joseph Mathew in a side that should be able to cause problems for their opposition this time out.

Balbriggan meanwhile head into a massive weekend for the side, with their all-Ireland defence getting underway on Sunday as well as this vital derby game in the first instance. They will be hoping that their batting unit can produce a strong effort this time out, led at the top by Cameron Rowe, who made a century in this fixture last season, and wicket-keeper Connor Fletcher, whilst there was an encouraging start in the number three role for Prashan Naidoo last weekend when he made 53 in their successful run-chase against North Kildare. Chris de Freitas is their premier player at number four, before the all-rounders including skipper Dylan Lues and overseas man Seb De Oliveira will attempt to boost the score.

On the bowling front, the Brigg are set to be without Matt Hollard following his heavy workload in this week’s practice game, meaning De Oliveira will likely share the new ball with Andy Darroch or Ruan Strauss, whilst Lues’ off-breaks are another option which could open the bowling, particularly with the number of left-handers at the top of the North County batting line-up. Jordan Hollard is the other frontline spinner in the side for the visitors this weekend.

Balbriggan have tended to find getting past Eddie Richardson’s opening spell to be a tricky scenario in the past, and the North County skipper will no doubt have his eyes firmly locked on dismissing Cameron Rowe this weekend, if he can do so, it will put his side right on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Eddie Richardson vs Cameron Rowe

IBI CORPORATE  FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH DAY 4 – MAY23^rd – All 12 Noon Start

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Leinster

At Anglesea Road, Merrion vs Cork County

At Park Avenue, Railway Union vs Rush

At Civil Service, Civil Service vs Malahide

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Phoenix

At Inch, North County vs Balbriggan