Beginning
The previous article in this series outlined the creation of the Leinster Cricket Union in 1919, its setting up of league competitions and the increase in number of these over the ensuing hundred years to the present day. While the basic top league competition continued through those years, the precise format changed several times and saw various league type competitions at this level being played. This article will trace those changes.
The basic format of the competition in the early years was that each side played two matches (home and away) against each other, although as now, Dublin University played only one round of matches. The basic laws of cricket for a one innings match applied. There were no overs restrictions. The side batting first continued until they were bowled out or declared their innings closed. The side batting second then attempted to pass their score. However if they did not do so and were not bowled out, the game was deemed a draw.
Early Years
It took some years before adherence to regulations, timekeeping etc. became good practice. In the early years most clubs did not complete a full programme of matches. No newspaper ever printed a league table and the LCU minutes from the time are not particularly informative. Diligent research by such administrators as the late Derek Scott has managed to establish that the system was probably two points for a win and one for a draw. This lack of detail bedevilled the first three seasons but it has been established that under any system, Leinster won the first competition in 1919 and Phoenix those of 1920 and 1921. Things became more organised thereafter but the withdrawal of the British Military and Civil Service after the 1922 season affected the playing strength of several clubs and brought the dropping out of one of the league’s founder members - the Royal Hibernian Military School. However, although the total memberships of most clubs decreased , it also led to numbers being more manageable – in winning the inaugural league in 1919 Leinster had used 46 players.
Trophies
Also in 1923, six clubs and two individuals subscribed a total of £28 to purchase and insure a trophy. Pembroke were the first winners of the trophy. As mentioned in an earlier article in this series, it is not clear what happened to this trophy. It appears that at some point it was replaced by a new one, which survived until the mid-1970s. For the 1977 season, the Clontarf club presented the union with a new trophy in memory of their then recently deceased distinguished member Alan Allen O’Donnell. He had been a Clontarf stalwart for many years and President of the LCU from 1961 – 63. This has become the Division 1 (now the Premier League) trophy.
First Fifty Years
With regard to the points systems etc. these varied between total points obtained and percentages at various times but essentially the system of each team (apart from Dublin University) playing home and away against all the others remained until the 1970s. There was some movement of clubs in and out of the “Senior League” in the first twenty years. Clontarf joined in 1920, Merrion in 1926, YMCA in 1934 and Co Kildare competed for five seasons 1920 – 24. Of the “founder” members, RHMS left after the 1922 season, UCD after 1925, Railway Union dropped to “Junior “ level from 1931 to 1944, and Civil Service went in and out a couple of times, before finally departing “Senior” level in 1944. How a club could move from “Intermediate” to “Senior” level appears to have become a matter of debate and in the late 1930s a “qualifying league” was established. This was not particularly successful and it was abandoned for the 1941 season. The “Senior 2 league” was formed. This comprised second elevens of some “Senior” clubs and first elevens of those clubs strong enough to play at this level. For some reason Carlisle, the winners of the final “Qualifying League”, turned down the opportunity to move into the “Senior League” and then had to wait until 1970 before they got enough support to be voted in.
The 70s and 80s - “Highest Runs Wins”
The first major change in competition structure occurred for the 1974 season. In the “Senior League” clubs would now play each other once only and the league would be completed by the end of June. In the second half of the season, the “Senior” clubs, excluding Trinity, would play in a new league type competition sponsored by the Wiggins Teape company. Each club would play all others once but the format would be that each innings had a maximum of 50 overs and “ highest runs wins” i.e. no draw irrespective of whether a team had been bowled out or not. This reflected the increasing popularity of this form of the game following the introduction of the 60 over a side “Gillette Cup” in English county cricket in the early 1960s. In fact the Leinster Senior Cup had already moved to this format. The history of that competition will be dealt with in a later article.
In 1983, Wiggins Teape extended their sponsorship to cover both league competitions. The “Senior League” played in the first half of the season would now be called the “Belvedere Bond” league, that being the name of one of their major brands of stationery. It would now also be a limited overs competition – a match of 110 overs. It would normally be 55 overs a side but if a team was put in, they could bat for 60 overs. Draws were still possible if the side batting second was not bowled out and there was quite a complex system of points allocation in such cases. The league would however be in two sections following an open draw. Teams played the others in their section once and the highest points scorers played a final.
The following year saw some further changes. For the Belvedere Bond League, played in the first half of the season, the 110 overs format was retained but it reverted to a normal league format with each team playing all others once. The Wiggins Teape league in the second half of the season would be a straight 50 overs a side but with sections and an end of season final.
The 90s - “Too Many Senior Clubs” – Promotion/Relegation – More Sponsors
The next major development came in 1991, brought about in part by the increase in the number of “Senior” clubs. The issue of promotion to “Senior” status became quite a bone of contention in the 1970’s. There had been little or no change in the number of “Senior” clubs from the 1930s to the 1960s. After an outstanding record at Senior 2 level, Malahide had been voted in in 1953 and the Old Belvedere club, formed in 1948 and having attracted quite a few players of considerable ability was accepted in 1957. By the 1970s several longstanding Dublin city clubs and others in the Fingal area who had developed considerably in terms of playing strength and facilities had serious ambitions and were expressing considerable dissatisfaction. Over the 1970s and 80s, Carlisle, CYM, The Hills and North County made it through the system. This gave fourteen clubs and it became clear that they could not play in one division. It was decided therefore that results for the 1991 and 1992 seasons would be combined to give a ranking whereby for 1993, there would be seven team Sections A and B with promotion and relegation between them.
It had also been increasingly recognised that the system of having to be voted in by a majority at an Executive Committee meeting was unsatisfactory. It was felt that it led to “stacking committees, PR campaigns and personal views rather than serious appraisal and more seriously that aspirant clubs had no clear guidelines as to what was required of them. Accordingly it was agreed that in future if the team winning the Senior 2 league came from a non-“Senior” club, they would be promoted to Section B of the “Senior” League and the bottom team in that Section relegated. This actually happened a year later. At the end of the 1994 season, Rush had won the Senior 2 league and under the agreed regulation would replace Merrion who had finished last in Section B. At the Executive meeting, the change was implemented and Merrion were relegated. The club had however noticed quite astutely that while the promotion/relegation system had been written into the regulations , the facility of applying for Senior status had never been abolished. Accordingly they had an application on file and after some discussion, its approval was proposed, seconded and agreed.
For several years, Sportsgear Ltd had sponsored the Senior Cup but when they dropped out it became the “Conqueror Cup”, the Wiggins Teape company extending their sponsorship to cover all three main competitions. It was obviously too much to expect that such a situation would continue and in the mid- nineties they decided to concentrate on the cup competition. A hunt for replacements was successful and Lewis Traub Insurances (subsequently Lewis Hohn Williams, Whitney Moore and Keller and Dublin Grass Machinery all gave generous support over a number of years in the 1990s and 2000s. The highest runs wins 50 over a side competition moved in 1995 to the first half of the season with the “Senior League” (which still had 110 overs a side and provision for drawn matches) played in the second half. It was agreed in 2003 to reduce this league to 50 overs a side and to abandon the draw with uncompleted games decided on run rate. The early season league was subsequently reduced to a 45 over a side format to ensure some difference between the two competitions.
The 21st Century – No more “Senior/Junior”
There was increasing debate at that time that a major review of the structure of Leinster league competitions was necessary. It was increasingly felt that calling clubs “Senior” and “Junior” was outmoded and in fact could hold back healthy club development. Furthermore it was felt that at the top level, a move to a single league run through the season with the format and regulations as close as possible to One Day International cricket would improve playing strength and competitiveness. In the 2008/9 close season it was agreed that the finishing positions in the 2009 season would be used to move to a system of eight team leagues with straightforward promotion and relegation between them from the 2010 season on. The only barriers to automatic promotion based on achievements on the field would be firstly that one would not have two teams from the same club in the same league and secondly that a club’s ground was of satisfactory standard for the league in question. The terms “Senior” and “Junior” would no longer apply. Unfortunately one still hears them on occasion. League divisions would simply be numbered 1,2,3 etc.
In 2010 therefore some clubs that had been “Senior” found themselves in Division 2. However each cup competition essentially covered two league divisions. They remained in the Senior Cup therefore and performances in Division 2 could see them achieving promotion to Division 1. Since 2010 some tweaking of the situation has occurred based on experience. Centralised fixture making applies in Divisions 1 and 2 with all teams playing on the same day. It was agreed that since Dublin University only play half as many games as other teams in their Division, they should not be eligible for promotion to Division 1. Instead of automatic promotion/relegation of two teams in the eight team Divisions 1 and 2, there is an end of season play-off between the second last team in Division 1 and the second team in Division 2. It was originally thought that Division 2 could contain a mixture of first and second elevens. This has not worked. Clubs feel that they are simply not strong enough to maintain two teams playing in the top two Divisions on the same day. This has led to a situation that in the current season Division 2 contains only seven teams playing only eleven matches. Obviously this is not desirable and discussions are continuing as to what is to happen for the future.
Winners
Counting only the main league competition and more recently Section A and now Division 1/Premier League the record is as follows
23.5 Leinster (Shared in 1944)
15 Phoenix
13 Clontarf
12.5 Pembroke (Shared in 1944)
6 YMCA
5 Dublin University
Merrion
North County
4 Malahide
3 The Hills
Railway Union
2 Carlisle
Old Belvedere
Leinster’s lead comes mainly from a period of dominance in the 1930s. They won eight in a row from 1928 -36 and a further two in the following four years. Phoenix won the league in four of the first seven years, had a further golden period winning five between 1978 and ’87 but have had no success since. Clontarf, by contrast, won their first title in 1926, only two more between then and 1990 but ten since 1991. Carlisle and Old Belvedere are the only clubs to have won the league but are sadly no longer in existence.
The Present
The most recent development has seen sponsors (LHW Financial Planning and Mason Alexander) obtained for the top division and it being renamed “The Premier League”.
In summary, from the disorganised situation that was addressed one hundred years ago by the creation of a league competition, we have a Leinster Cricket Union organised as a company with a board and active committees in various areas. We can say that the league competition started then is in good health and providing competitive cricket to prepare Leinster cricketers well for the challenges at higher levels that have also developed significantly over the years.