In this, the second of a series of articles leading up the centenary of the Leinster Cricket Union, I am tracing the development from the three league competitions set up in 1919 to the sixteen league divisions we have currently.
Some of the lower cup competitions in Leinster go back to the late 19thand early 20thcentury but in terms of organisation, cricket in Leinster at that time was somewhat haphazard. There was no overall governing body to create any form of control or management. There does appear to have been a body which organised the lower levels and rules and regulations for a competitive league structure at what were called Intermediate and Junior levels – a Leinster branch of an Irish Cricket Union. The stronger clubs just challenged each other and made fixtures. Apparently there were some attempts to form a “Senior” league but these did not succeed. Then the first world war occurred and there was little or no cricket for four years. However there were still some people determined that something should be done. On 14thApril 1919 at a general meeting in Dublin’s Central Hotel, the Leinster Cricket Union was formed and an Executive Committee elected. At the first meeting of the Executive on 23rdApril it was agreed to set up a “Senior League”. Eight Clubs competed in that first season – Civil Service, Dublin University, Leinster, Pembroke, Phoenix, Railway Union, Royal Hibernian Marine School and University College Dublin. R.H.M.S. left after 1922, U.C.D. after 1925 and Dublin University, Railway Union and Civil Service all had periods outside the “Senior” grade. The Leinster, Pembroke and Phoenix clubs can boast continuous membership over the century. Clontarf C.C. had of course existed prior to the war but did not get sufficiently reorganised to enter the league until 1920. The body that had been organising cricket before the war was subsumed into the Union and an “Intermediate” League with two divisions and a “Junior” league were set up. In all, for the 1919 season there were three league competitions catering for 20 clubs with 30 teams.
Clubs who were not seen as qualified for “Senior Status” were designated “Junior”. Somewhat confusingly, some of these would have had teams in the Intermediate League. Essentially to reach “Senior Status” a club had to be voted in by the LCU Executive Committee. This did happen, albeit somewhat infrequently, over the next 50 years. Thus, Merrion went “Senior” in 1926, YMCA in 1934, Malahide in 1953 and Old Belvedere in 1957. Increasingly though, the designations “Senior” and “Junior” clubs and having to depend on election became increasingly contentious. However Carlisle made it in 1970, CYM in 1982 and the growth in strength of cricket in the Fingal area saw The Hills, North County and Rush come up in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Although the number of teams in the “Senior” league remained fairly static through the 1920s and ‘30s there was considerable expansion at lower levels. In 1941, the first Leinster Cricket Union handbook was published with details of all competitions for the 1940 season and the fixtures for 1941. This showed 77 teams now in league competitions. A Minor league had been introduced in 1925 and the Intermediate and Junior leagues had now expanded to three and four divisions respectively with eight teams in each. The debate about access to the “Senior” league had led to the introduction of a “Qualifying league” in 1938. The idea was that this would allow relegation from the Senior league of teams who were struggling and a grade above Intermediate for first teams of clubs who had ambitions to go Senior. However this only lasted for a couple of seasons, one reason being that many felt that some second elevens of Senior clubs were stronger than some first elevens of Junior clubs. For the 1941 season therefore second elevens were admitted to this league and it was renamed the Senior 2 League. That season also saw a reorganisation/renaming of leagues which now saw three divisions at Intermediate level , four at Junior and the abandoning of the term Minor league.
As mentioned above, the first LCU handbook was published in 1941. This was seen as a “special” publication. It contained special articles and considerable detail (including full scorecards in some cases) of all league and cup matches in the 1940 season. It was not repeated in 1942. However from 1943 on an annual handbook was produced giving details of trophy winners from the previous season and club contacts, league structures, cup draws, rules and regulations for the one to come. Thus although there is somewhat of a dearth of detailed information about matters in the first twenty years of league competition, there is a much improved record thereafter. The annual handbook continued to be published until 2010 when it was felt that the availability of a website removed the need for one.
Although for many seasons the leagues below “Senior” had several divisions, there was only one league trophy in each case. For several years therefore there was a play-off system in each league between the divisional winners - a league final. This situation pertained until the 1967 season when trophies were awarded for the winners of each league division.
It terms of developments in numbers playing the game in Leinster, the 20 clubs and 30 teams of 1919 had increased to 40 and 75 respectively by 1940. Over the following forty years the number of clubs in league competition reduced substantially – the 1980 handbook shows only 23. A later article in this series will attempt to look at these “lost” clubs. Despite that decline, the numbers of teams in competitions remained reasonably static, never dropping below the mid-60s and being 76 in 1980. There appear to have been three main reasons for this number remaining stable. Firstly most Dublin city clubs saw a growth in numbers of teams. Secondly there was a substantial increase in the involvement of clubs in the Fingal area. Traditionally much cricket had been played there but no great involvement in “Dublin” leagues. Excluding Malahide, who were an established league club with several teams for a number of years, the 1960 handbook shows only 2 clubs and 3 teams from north county Dublin in league competition but by 1980, this had grown to 6 clubs and 15 teams. The third factor was an increase from other parts of Leinster. The gradual failing of the South East League saw several clubs in that area changing their focus to main Leinster competitions and there were similar increases in participation from clubs from the midlands. Improvements in roads, reducing journey times to and from parts of the province outside the main Dublin area, helped of course. Matters continued in this way and the 2000 season saw 95 teams in league competition.
Such growth also had an effect on the number of league competitions that had to be provided. For the first fifty years, the numbers of divisions hovered in high single figures with variations in the number of divisions in the Intermediate and Junior leagues which tended to go up and down from year to year. By the early years of the twenty first century with trophies for each division, this had increased to twelve but with nine or ten teams in most of the “Junior” leagues and fourteen in the “Senior League”. Various measures had been taken from the mid-90s to provide workable competitions for the fourteen “Senior” clubs. These will be recounted in some detail in a later article.
A major reorganisation occurred at the end of the 2009 season. A restructuring into 13 league divisions with 8 teams in each was introduced. The League Divisions would simply be numbered sequentially 1,2,3 etc.. With regard to promotion through the leagues, considerations such as the suitability of grounds and not having two teams from a club in the same league could be taken into account but in the main, playing records would be all that mattered. The necessity to be voted into a particular grade would disappear. The terms “Senior” and “Junior” were officially dropped as far as clubs were concerned. They still get bandied about but should not be.
Although there has been no difficulty in retaining Division 1 (now titled the Premier League) at 8 teams, this has not always been possible lower down. Particular problems have arisen in Division 2. It was originally thought that having this as a mix of first and second elevens could work but it has not. The basic problem is that there are simply currently not enough clubs with strong enough first elevens to make an 8 team league at this level and no immediate prospect of there being so. A solution is being sought.
What has been striking is the increase in the number of clubs and teams in recent seasons. This is largely due to the advent of immigrants from Asian cricket playing countries developing clubs based in public parks. The 13 league competitions of 2010, with 8 teams in each, have now become 16 divisions catering for 129 teams.
Thus from that initial meeting in 1919, where less than twenty clubs were represented and the three league competitions for thirty teams that it led to, the upcoming centenary sees huge increases in the numbers playing competitive cricket in Leinster. On the administrative side, the Leinster Cricket Union that that meeting set up is now a registered company with a board of directors, a registered office and full time staff. At national level, Irish cricket has recently been elevated to the top level of the world game bringing to mind Robert Emmett’s famous words about “taking its place among the nations of the world”. Clearly there is much to look forward to as organised Leinster cricket moves into its second century.
Michael Sharp