Despite continuing concerns about the drop in the number of players in their 20s taking part in competitive club cricket, this should not lead us to lose sight of the very real expansion of the sport in recent years. This is well illustrated by the developments in league structures as well as in the number of teams and clubs.
In the heyday of club cricket in Ireland in the second half of the nineteenth century there were a great many more clubs in Ireland. But in most cases these clubs consisted of a single team, often taking part in only a few friendly games each season. A better picture is got from the growth of club competitions from around the start of the second decade of the twentieth century.
As can be seen from the graph below there has been a steady growth in the number of leagues. Changes in league sizes can give false indicators but with all leagues now made up of eight or nine teams a clearer picture emerges. The figures would point to a dip in the popularity of the sport in the 1970s which took about a decade to recover but thereafter a steady growth in the sport.
The positive trends are confirms by the figures on the number of clubs and teams taking part in league competitions. The numbers of both has been growing for the past twenty years, accelerating from about 2005. Of course some well established clubs have lost during this period, with the sad loss of grounds for example in Carlisle and Old Belvedere, but these have been replaced by new clubs.
This year for the first time ever there are 40 clubs who have entered teams in league competitions. At 130, this is also the highest number of teams ever.