The opening fixtures of the 2024 are scheduled for this Saturday 13th April - 10 fixtures in all across 9 leagues.
We are approaching the new season against a back-drop of significant and prolonged adverse weather conditions.
Met Éireann has already confirmed that last month (March) was one of the wettest on record with some areas experiencing rainfall over 200% above normal, mostly concentrated in the South & East of the country.
Whilst March 2023 was also quite wet, the difference between this year and last year is that February 2023 was a very dry month, whereas February this year was also very wet.
To compound matters for grounds people, sunshine values have also been below average for March so there has been less drying than there normally be.
All that said, let’s just focus on the cricket fixtures for Saturday as currently scheduled:
Sandyford 3 vs DLR County 2, Div 16 – Marlay Park
The first tie of the season in Marlay Park pits two 2023 league winners against each other, as Division 17 Champions DLR County 2 travel to face the Division 18 Champions Sandyford, with the latter having received a double promotion for their comprehensive title charge last season. Neither of these sides lost a game throughout the campaign last year, making it a wonderfully apt curtain raiser for the first official day of the 2024 season!
Swords 1 vs DLR County 1, Div 8 – Newbridge Demense
Swords’ first game since opening their fantastic new training facility will see them play host to DLR County 1, who last season finished 3 places ahead of them in the league. Last season saw just one of the two ties between the sides completed, with this particular fixture being a No Result. That one game saw DLR County convincing winners, as having bowled Swords out for just 58, they won by 8 wickets in facile fashion.
Carlow 3 vs Leinster 6, Div 19 – St Patrick’s College
Just one league position separated Carlow 3 and Leinster 6 in the 2023 campaign, and that sees both sides competing in Division 19 yet again in 2024. With the home tie for Leinster falling foul of the weather, the only result between the teams saw Carlow run out 247 run victors having run up 315 in their 40 overs with 4 batters scoring in excess of 41 but none passing 60!
Clondalkin 3 vs Finglas 3, Div 18 – Tymon Park
Tymon Park’s first action this season will feature two sides once again closely matched on last year’s league placings, however not necessarily on form with the home side finishing just above the relegation zone, and Finglas three agonising points short of the second promotion slot. Finglas won both fixtures between the sides last season, completing some tense run chases by 6 and 7 wickets.
Phoenix 5 vs Adamstown 4, Div 12 – Phoenix Park
Phoenix and Adamstown were both somewhat lucky to avoid relegation from Division 12 last season, Adamstown finishing just clear of the relegation zone by a margin of just three points, whilst Phoenix survived thanks to a reshuffling of the league standings having finished at the foot of the table. Last season’s games saw Adamstown chasing down 237 in Phoenix, before the second game fell foul of the weather in late August.
Tyrrelstown 3 vs Malahide 5, Div 13 – Tyrrelstown Park
Newly promoted Malahide travel to Tyrrelstown for their opening Division 13 game, and the away side look to have their work cut out in this step up, having won 8 of their 14 games last season they saw off the challenge of Clondalkin and North County to secure the second promotion slot. Tyrrelstown won 6 games last season and just lost out on something of a private battle for fourth place in Division 13, having finished well clear of the three potential relegation candidates.
Clontarf 7 vs Athlone 4, Div 21 – Castle Avenue
Castle Avenue hosts the first Division 21 game ever as the expansion of the Open Competitions leagues continues at a huge rate. Clontarf 7 finished 2nd in the Development League last season, and take on the brand new Athlone 4 side in this opening fixture. The hosts won 4 games on the field in the league last season, each time when batting first, so it’s highly likely the toss will be important in this game.
Pembroke 3 vs Civil Service 3, Div 7 – Sydney Parade
Seventh in 2023’s Division 6 faces seventh in 2023’s Division 7 in the curtain raiser for this season’s Division 7, Civil Service actually won more games than Merrion who finished above them last season, and just two fewer games than the two teams at the top of Division 7, Adamstown and Castleknock, showing how competitive this league was last season. Pembroke meanwhile won 4 games and were unlucky to have one more No Result than Railway Union did which ultimately saw them swap positions towards the end of last season and condemned their side to relegation ahead of this campaign.
Castleknock 1 vs Leinster 3, Div 6 – Porterstown Park
Another battle between sides who were in Division 6 and 7 last season, Castleknock welcome Leinster having managed to regain Division 6 cricket in Porterstown Park for the first time since 2019, winning 7 and losing just 4 of their completed fixtures. Leinster meanwhile secured a fourth placed finish in Division 6, winning 5 and losing 5 games, having at one stage towards the back end of the season looked like they were potentially getting into a relegation dogfight.
Ongar 1 vs Clondalkin 2, Div 13 – Ringcommons
Ongar’s opening season in Cricket Leinster competitions saw their 1st team romping to Division 14 glory, alongside cup glory for their 2nd team, they come into 2024 looking to build on that clubwide momentum, they won 10 games from 14 on their march to the title last season, finishing 41 points clear of their nearest rivals in an otherwise quite tight league. Clondalkin too were in Division 14 last season and having finished third have benefitted from an extra promotion slot. The games between the two teams last year were split one win each, with Ongar pulling off a spectacular chase in excess of 230 in their victory, whilst it was Clondalkin’s prowess with the ball that set them up for a 7 wicket win chasing just 72 in the return tie.