Premier League and Championship Preview
The LHW Financial Planning Premier League and Cricket Leinster Championship get underway on Sunday June 9th with full rounds of fixtures in both leagues.
The Premier League comprises the eight clubs who finished in the top four spots in each of the two groups in the Leinster Senior League Cup. In effect Malahide and Rush who finished first and second in Division 2 in 2018 confirmed their promotion, with Clontarf and North County the clubs they have replaced in the top division.
The Premier League will see a round robin of games over seven match-days with the top four being involved in the play-offs for a place in the League final on September 7th in Merrion Cricket Club.
The first round of matches on Sunday sees matches taking place in Malahide, Skerries, Rathmines and the Phoenix Park.
The Hills, who play in the final of the Leinster Senior Cup on Saturday, will have no time to get used to the red ball and white clothing as they host Rush in a Fingal derby on Sunday in The Vineyard.
Similarly, Phoenix play in Saturday’s final and will have to switch immediately to the white clothing on Sunday when Pembroke visit the Park.
Last season’s champions Merrion travel to Observatory Lane to take on Leinster. Meanwhile in Malahide, YMCA travel across the city to face a Malahide side who won every Division 2 match last season and beat them by 7-wickets in the League Cup earlier in the season.
To open the top-level red ball season, our reporter Peter Boyd will be at The Hills versus Rush but will be keeping a close watch on all seven matches in both the LHW Financial Planning Premier League and the Cricket Leinster Championship.
In the Championship on Sunday there are three matches. The most eye-catching of which is the meeting of Clontarf and North County in Castle Avenue, after both missed out on the top four positions in the League Cup this season.
Terenure, who had a morale boosting victory over Leinster on the final day of the League Cup group stages, host Balbriggan in game 2 of the Championship. Balbriggan, themselves, started strongly in 2019 defeating Clontarf before being beaten by Rush on the final day to miss out on the Premier League.
In the final game in the Championship on the opening day, Cork County entertain Railway Union at the Mardyke as they replace Dublin University for the second half of the season.
As with the Senior Cup, stay tuned to the match centre on www.cricketleinster.ie, watch out for tweets on both @cricketleinster and from reporter Peter Boyd (@fibrofella), with a full match report and images to follow at the close of play in The Hills.
LHW Financial Planning Premier League
June 9th, 2019
All matches begin at 12pm
| Malahide v YMCA |
| Phoenix v Pembroke |
| The Hills v Rush |
| Leinster v Merrion |
Cricket Leinster Championship
June 9th, 2019
All matches begin at 12pm
| Clontarf v North County |
| Cork County v Railway Union |
| Terenure v Balbriggan |