Last Friday we introduced our new All-Ireland rankings, which have moved to cricketleinster.ie after years of being on Leinster CC's site. The rankings use the same method as the ICC's rankings, to rate and rank all club 1st XI's across the three main provinces. A full explanation of the rankings can be found in last week's article here
Last week's article looked at who the best sides in the 32 counties had been over the last decade, but now we are going to bring the rankings right up to date, with the newly published 2013 rankings. These are the rankings up until September 22nd, and below we will give a few details of how the rankings changed over the season, as well as looking at how each of the sides in the LCU faired.
First, there is a minimum qualification of matches, so a side must have played ten "matches" over the previous three years to qualify (older matches count for less.) If a team played six matches every year, they would qualify. So Dublin University, Cork County, and those LCU teams in the National Cup such as North Kildare, Mullingar, Dundrum and Laois do not appear - yet. As they play more qualifying games over the next few years, they will appear.
So how did the season unfold? The rankings are calculated on a daily basis, so let us look back at a few highlights of 2013
Start of season - The top five is quite tight ,with the NCU triumvirate of Waringstown, North Down and Instonians leading the way, with Brigade and Leinster following close behind.
Early season - The first few rounds of matches have a big impact. Leinster's bad season sees them drop away quickly. Several Leinster sides show great form, but it is The Hills who dominate, and on June 8th, they beat CIYMS in the Irish Senior Cup, and move into 1st spot - the best club in the land for the first time in their history.
June 15th - In other unions, a few clubs tend to dominate. Cup matches rarely produce upsets, as the major sides make their way steadily to the final. Due to the strength in depth, Leinster is different. A great example of this can be seen in the second round of the Leinster Senior Cup, when Clontarf (ranked 12th) beat The Hills (now ranked 3rd), YMCA (11th) beat North County (7th), Pembroke (20th) beat Railway Union (9th), and Malahide (37th) beat Merrion (5th)
June 22nd - It remains very tight amongst the top five, and when Waringstown lost to Lisburn, Instonians reach top spot.
July 26th - Waringstown win the NCU Challenge Cup final to go back to number 1, before Instonians grab it back in the weeks afterwards.
August 18th - A famous day in Claremont Road, as YMCA beat Pembroke in the Leinster Senior Cup final. Coupled with Instonians losing to Waringstown in the league, YMCA take the number one spot for the first time
August 24th - Instonians beat North Down to move back to number one. The LCU has three teams in the top 5
August 25th - Before the next day, Instonians lose to Civil Service North, and YMCA are back on top
August 31st - An amazng few weeks continues as Instonians lose to CSN again, The Hills beat YMCA, and Waringstown beat Lurgan. Waringstown top
September 1st - North Down lose to CSN, moving Clontarf up to 6th. The LCU has four sides in the top 6 (The Hills, YMCA, Merrion and Clontarf)
End of season - The Hills clinch the league crown, but cannot quite grab number one spot, which belongs to Waringstown. YMCA's bad end of the season drops them down to 4th. Instonians complete the 1-2-3.
Many might wonder how Waringstown come to be top of the tree. For those who don't spend too much time concentrating on cricket up the M1, it is worth looking at their performances over the last three years. League - 1st (2013), 5th (2012), 2nd (2011), Cup - Won, QF, Won, Irish Senior Cup - QF, SF, Won.
So how did the LCU sides fair in 2013? A short glimpse through the eyes of the rankings.
The Hills - (Ireland - 2nd, Leinster 1st). Another great year for the Skerries side, and despite giving up the Bob Kerr, they grabbed the league and moved up a fantastic 6 places, from 8th in 2012 to 2nd. Would have been number 1 in Ireland but for a mid-season wobble
YMCA - (Ire - 4th, Lei - 2nd). A powerhouse, who had a bad end to the season. Senior Cup winners, moving from 11th to 4th in the year.
Merrion - (Ire 5th, Lei - 3rd). Another solid year. No silverware, but one of the most consistent clubs in Ireland. Up two places from 2012.
Clontarf - (Ire 6th, Lei 4th). For a Division 2 side to be so high in the rankings is unprecedented. Proud Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup winners. Were 17th after their disappointing 2012
North County - (Ire 12th, Lei 5th). Not the powerhouse they were, but still a major presence in the country. Most clubs would be pleased with 12th place
Pembroke - (Ire - 13th, Lei 6th). The rise of Pembroke continues. A young club getting better, and has slowly risen up the rankings in recent years (they were 21st in 2011)
Leinster - (Ire 14th, Lei 7th). A massive disappointment in 2013. Their high ranking mainly due to their 2012 season!
Railway Union - (Ire - 15th, Lei 8th). Not up to their previous high standard, dropping 5 places from 2012.
Phoenix - (Ire 25th, Lei 9th). A long drop down to Phoenix. Their poor cup record over recent years, especially the Irish Senior Cup compounded by their league form in 2012. A drop of three places on the season
Malahide - (Ire 27th, Lei 10th). A season moving in the right direction for Malahide. The cup win against Merrion, as well as the National Cup triumph see them moving up six places to 27th.
Rush - (Ire 29th, Lei 11th). Some pluses to be gained, and another National Cup run certainly helped their ranking. Up 5 places
Terenure - (Ire 35th, Lei 12th). It may be something of a surprise to see that Terenure dropped seven places in 2013, despite being promoted. A lack of cup wins, as well as a failure to beat top sides means they drop from 28th to 35th
Balbriggan - (Ire 37th, Lei 13th) - A disappointing season for Balbriggan, newly entered on these rankings, The only way is up though!
Next week, we will look at how the three unions have compared historically. The full 2013 end of season can be seen below.