Division 6
2014 Champion - Phoenix 3 (predicted 7th)
2014 Champion predicted - Railway Union 4 (4th)
2011-14 Top run scorer: Srikanth Boddu (Sandyford, 2011-14), 1109 @ 30.81
2011-14 Top wicket taker: Aaron Joseph (Phoenix, 2012-14), 65 @ 13.78
Division 6 promises to bring heartache and elation in equal measure this season. That is a colossal cliché to start this review with, but there is an alluring mix of ambitious first teams, along with powerful lower teams that should throw up some fascinating cricket.
There is also a good chance that there will be several people that play league cricket in both Division 6 and Division 1, as players from Clontarf 3 and North County 3 force their way into their respective 1st teams. Quality in Division 6 will not be lacking.
The make up of this league also generated a good bit of controversy over the winter, as Knockharley 1 felt they should have been put in Division 5 on the back of being runners up in Division 6. They finished in 43rd spot in the league ladder last year - this year's Division 6 winners will be in 41st, with last place in 48th. To see how we think Knockharley will get on, along with the other seven teams, read on.
Sandyford 1 have slipped a little bit from their glory years of the 1990s and 2000s - they won four league titles in the thirteen seasons between 1990 and 2002. Things had been looking quite rosy, with a steady rise from 46th place in 2011, up to 39th in 2013. However last year's 46th took them back to 2011 levels, and they need a big improvement this year to avoid relegation. With some very strong teams in this division, they are going to have to beat the weaker ones (perhaps obviously) in order stay up. They have attracted a good few new players, but countering that is the loss of Boddu and Padmanaban to Dundrum - two players who scored the bulk of Sandyford's runs last year. The new members may make up the difference, but we think they may not, and are predicting 8th.
Railway Union 4 experienced a massive boost in their fortunes in 2013 with a big influx of new players from Leinster. Ranked 84th and 82nd in the two years before that, they rocketed to 41st and then 45th last year. But as we mentioned in our end of season review last year, many of the stars on Railway 4ths were also stars on Railway 3rds. Assuming the same doubling up doesn't happen again, last year's 45th may take a bit of a dip. It only needs to go down two places to get to the 7th place that we think they will finish.
Longford 1 experienced heart break in the first match of last year, as Imran Mohammed's miraculous 160* not for Railway Union 4 took a match away from Longford that they must have thought was won. After that, it was a rollercoaster of emotions, before they finally escaped the fall at the end of the year. 45th in 2013, they went down to 47th last year, and need to rise up the rankings to reach safety. A 0-4 record against Railway Union 4 doesn't inspire confidence, but we think results will be just about good enough to finish 6th.
For some reason, all of Rush's teams are massively consistent. Trophies may be comparatively rare, but then so is relegation. Rush 2 personify that trait very well - since 2011 they have two 44th place finishes and two in 46th place. In the new league structure that implies somewhere between 4th and 6th, and with not too many player movements in (or out) of Kenure, and their youth structure finally starting to pay off, we think 5th place is about right.
For years Adamstown 1 have been the new kid on the block, doing well in the lower divisions. Now however things have changed. There are only five clubs in the province that enter more league teams than Adamstown (Leinster, Merrion, Pembroke, Phoenix and Railway Union), and Adamstown 1 are now on the verge of the top levels of league cricket. So can they achieve yet another promotion? They have improved every year - 66th in 2012, then 57th in 2013 and 50th last year. Another 10 place improvement is a big, big ask, and with the best will in the world, it would be a miracle to achieve it. So we'll predict 4th place, which is another six places up that league ladder.
Knockharley are another club with big plans and lots of ambition. Taking advantage of the big increases of population in Navan and Johnstown, they have crept up the leagues, finishing in 43rd last year, up from 54th in 2011. But can Knockharley 1 find that extra gear to press for promotion again? Our guess is that even though they may be stronger this year, and even though they may play better than last year, the teams that have come down from Division 5 may be too strong. So we're predict the same position as 2014, 43rd in the ladder, which is 3rd in Division 6.
North County 3 had a poor season last year, and if truth be told, never really threatened with anything other than relegation. But County are a big club, who are once again moving in the right direction. Even though last year was bad (and their worst finish since our detailed records began in 2011), they have never been worse then 40th, and in fact finished 37th in the structure each year from 2011-2013. With lots of quality players to choose from, they are going to be a serious proposition in Division 6, and should be 2nd - at worst.
That just leaves Clontarf 3. As with other Clontarf teams, the number of new players in the 1st team squad is going to make the lower sides much stronger. In 2013, they were 32nd in the league - equivalent to a Division 4 side this year. They haven't become bad over night, and despite a shocker in 2014, they are sure to bounce back. That stronger squad is going to make them very, very hard to beat, and they are our favourites for the Division 6 title.
Clontarf face a tricky opener this weekend, when they travel to Newtownforbes to take on Longford.