Division 4
2014 Champion - Phoenix 2 (predicted "mid-table")
2014 Champion predicted - Malahide 2 (4th)
2011-14 Top run scorer: Furqan ul Haq (Railway Union , 2011-14), 1214 @ 36.79
2011-14 Top wicket taker: Manjeet Singh (North Kildare, 2011-13), 65 @ 16.02
There is one major question mark that anyone with an interest in Division 4 must be thinking as wait for the first matches this weekend. Just how good (or bad) are Greystones Cricket 1 going to be? Their ascent up from the foothills of Division 12 in 2012, over the lower peaks of Division 7 and Division 5 to where they are now.
There was a certain inevitability about Greystones' climb, but finally they have reached a point where the strong 1st squad may well have to dig deep in order to achieve another promotion. They have plenty of players who have been there and done it. Danny Barclay, Tariq Iqbal and John Fitzsimons have all succeeded at the highest level. Sukeel Venkatramani was the star of the recently concluded spring season of the Indoor Cricket Ireland league. And with John Moffat moving from Leinster, they have a player who originally came to these shores as a professional cricketer. So plenty of talent, and a big question mark. They could win the league. They could come bottom (although that is less likely). We are going to go somewhere in the middle with 4th place.
In many respects, Dundrum 1 were the Greystones of the previous era, working their way up the leagues from the very bottom. From 2011-2013 they kept climbing - from 42nd to 33rd to 29th. But then 2014 saw the first blip for the club, and from the outside it looked like the club took their eye off the ball. Things have been rectified though, with many new signings, who bring a large number of runs and wickets. But the division is pretty strong and there not too many obvious alternatives to struggle at the bottom. It seems unduly harsh to predict Dundrum as being the 8th place team for this season, but someone has to be there, and we can't work out who else it could be.
Railway Union 2's only league title was way back in 1967, which is one of the longest gaps recorded for a "major" team. It's difficult to see that wait coming to an end this year. They finished 27th in the league structure every year from 2011-2013, but then slipped to 30th last year. We think they will have a similar enough season, and are predicting 6th place again.
Like Railway Union 2, Malahide 2 are a team that really should be doing better. They have been a top half of Division 4 team recently, before having a bad season last year and slipping to 29th overall - which would be 5th this year. That looked like a bit of a blip though, and a few new signings as the 1st team strengthens in Division 1, mean that the 2nds will be a bit stronger as well. Our scribblings here say that they will finish 2nd, and whilst on reflection that seems a little high we'll stick with the courage our convictions, and say that Malahide will be runners up.
YMCA 3 have had a well documented and meteoric rise. 50th in 2011 (equivalent to Division 7), they have risen four divisions in five years. There isn't much higher they can rise (although promotion is possible this year if YMCA 2 stay in Division 2), but they are reaching the limits of a 3rd team's ambitions. But that is not to say they will self destruct either, and last year's 28th overall may well get better to a 27th this year - which is 3rd.
Merrion 3 are in a similar boat to YMCA 3, but have been at the peak for much longer, making it a bit easier to predict. They finished 35th every year from 2011-2013, before a massive improvement to 28th last year. Was that a one off blip, or a move to a higher plane? We think it may have been a bit of a one off, and will go back down to that comfortable 35th place - which unfortunately is 7th.
Civil Service 1 are currently trapped in a place that whilst bringing lots of excitement to a club, can be tough on the nerves. Too good for Division 4, but not good enough (currently) to re-establish themselves in the upper reaches of Division 3, they experience promotion or relegation nearly every year. 2011 and 2012 brought the equivalent of the bottom of Division 3 (22nd and 24th), whilst 2013 and 2014 saw them at 25th and 26th. At the very worst Service should be 26th, which is runners up. But they may be due a bad year, and the matches against Greystones will be crucial. We think the glass may be half empty - 5th place.
So that just leaves our favourites for the Division 4 title. They may not be the flashiest team around. They may not have acquired lots of new faces. But North County 2 have not become a bad team over night, and after year's of being in Division 2 and 3, they still have enough quality to be at least a mid table Division 3 team. In a difficult league to sort out, we are going to predict North County as Division 4 champions.
There are three matches this weekend, with North County 2 starting with a tough one away to Merrion 3, Malahide 2 hosting Dundrum 1 in their 10000 capacity stadium, and YMCA 3 welcoming Civil Service 1 on Sunday.