The IBI Corporate Finance Championship is the equally settled as the Premier League when compared to the 2023 season, the top two divisions are the only leagues which contain 6 of the same teams as they did the year before, with the safety of both North Kildare and Civil Service confirmed due to no 1st XIs reaching the summit of Division 4 last term.
There have been some clubs which have been very busy in the transfer stakes, possibly the most notable transfer being between the two relegated clubs, as Brandon Kruger has swapped Sandymount for Skerries in a move from Railway Union to The Hills. Meanwhile Railway have been busy in their own right, acquiring seamer Piyush Sharma from nearest neighbours Pembroke. Rush have accounted for the loss of the destructive pair of Neil Rock and Llew Johnson with the signing of new Overseas man Joshua Doyle, former Railway all-rounder Hashir Sultan and Afghan-born batsman Rahmat Sahaq. Cork County remain largely unchanged however they will have to do battle this season without Byron McDonough who has moved to Pembroke. Terenure, North County and Civil Service’s squads remain relatively unchanged.
It’s 7 years this week since North Kildare hosted Railway Union in the first round of the 2017 season, when a Manjeet Singh century led the Kilcock side to victory, however the tie of the round on this occasion is almost certainly set to be the reversed fixture between Terenure and North County, this fixture was due to be played in Inch, however due to the horrendous early season weather conditions, County’s home ground is unusable resulting in a flip to Terenure. Terenure haven’t beaten North County having batted first in 24 years, however they did compile a brilliant run chase to take home the spoils in this fixture last season! The other game which has seen weather force a ground reversal is Rush vs Cork County, which has initially been scheduled for The Mardyke, however will be in Kenure due to the Cork ground being in a similar position to Inch preparation wise.
TERENURE VS NORTH COUNTY, Terenure
Terenure have won the last two league fixtures played in their home ground between these two sides, however, North County are the side who have won each of the last two white-ball games between the sides, so the form-book may be a shade iffy when it comes to what way this fixture will tilt. Terenure are once again captained by Dónal Lynch, whilst his opposite number this time around is Niall McGovern, who is back in the saddle for the away side having previously captained them in 2018, the last time they were in the Premier League.
Terenure’s top order is largely unchanged compared to last season, their batting will be led by the hard-hitting of Séamus Lynch at the top of the order, whilst number 3 Henry Dall made 90 in the return of this fixture last season. Raghav Grover and Dónal Lynch were both centurions last season and will be important players in the middle order. With the ball, Mark Thomas is missing for matchday 1, which leaves the frontline attack to be led by Dylan Cleary and Grover, with support from Kripesh Shetty and Darsh Shetty in the seam department. The spin in this side will likely come in the shape of Dall’s off-breaks. Young all-rounder Gethin Kelleher will be a player to look out for in the side this coming season.
North County have added Suliman Safi to their squad for this season, and he will likely slot into the top order of the side. Along with McGovern, Simi Singh, John Devane and Eddie Richardson, the team’s batting unit has a solid and explosive look to it, whilst beyond the top 5, the all-rounders in the side are Alan Joseph Mathew, Abdul Sattar and gloveman Luke Whelan, who all have the ability to find the boundary. With ball in hand, Richardson and Abdul Ghaffar are one of the most potent opening pairs in the league, and they will be supported by Sattar and Sean Sludds in the pace department. Alan Joseph Mathew and Simi Singh are the spinners in the team, with both bowler’s abilities to move the ball in both directions off the pitch being extremely valuable skills to help the side.
Last season’s fixtures between these two sides were decided primarily on whether Terenure’s batting was successful or not, meaning their unit is more likely to be under the spotlight once again. Number 3 Henry Dall being the staple in their effort in this fixture last season was crucial, and could well prove to be again, Eddie Richardson will be hoping to get a sight on him with the new ball early in the innings, and whoever comes out on top by the end of the Terenure PowerPlay will likely be the team who wins this fixture.
KEY BATTLE: Henry Dall vs Eddie Richardson
NORTH KILDARE VS RAILWAY UNION, The Maws
Railway Union travel to The Maws looking to get themselves off to the perfect start this season having been relegated in unfortunate circumstances at the end of last season. As mentioned already, they don’t have happy memories of the last time they travelled to Kilcock for the opening game of a season, so North Kildare will be aiming to catch them cold.
The Patch’s batting unit looks like possibly the strongest in the league this season, with Philippe le Roux, Ashil Prakash, Kenny Carroll and Liam McCarthy all being consistent across the last three seasons, whilst the apparent return of Kevin O’Brien, along with the rise into the first team of his nephew Rob O’Brien likely to strengthen them yet further. The order in which that 6 appear at the crease will probably vary in the opening couple of weeks, however once their line-up is settled, Railway look like they could be a force to be reckoned with. New gloveman Forqan Hassanzada will be the explosive ball-striker late in the innings which could also transform the side. The seam bowlers in the side are led by McCarthy, with support from Sean O’Brien, Esmatullah Ibrahimi and Zaman Safi, in an are that the away side are much improved upon in recent years. Fakhar Zaman is the frontline spinner in the team, an are where they are slightly lighter than they have been recently.
North Kildare are bouncing off the back of a really poor showing in 2023, however they have managed to recruit on one hand and see players return on the other which will strengthen the side somewhat to a more competitive level. Abidullah Taniwal is the new man in the side and they will be hoping his all-round skills make the side much deeper. Imran Ul-Haq, Wasif Ali and Waqar Azmat are three men who return, and the additions of a spinner, seamer and hard-hitting batter are all sure to be more than welcome to the side which struggled with controlling and matching their opposition’s scoring rates last season. 2023’s star man was Husnain Maroof and the all-rounder will once again be a vital cog with bat and ball for the home side. Sayed Medhi Shah and Badeeu Zaman will likely appear in the top 6 having been mainstays in the side last season, whilst Josh Uddin behind the sticks is well known as an excellent player of spin in their middle order.
North Kildare will need to make a good start with the bat in this fixture, and in order to do so will have to negotiate Liam McCarthy’s opening spell, Waqar Azmat will likely try to get on top of Railway’s South African opening bowler and whoever comes out on top in that battle will put their team well ahead in the game.
KEY BATTLE: Waqar Azmat vs Liam McCarthy
RUSH VS CORK COUNTY, Kenure
Rush’s off-season loss of Neil Rock and overseas man Llew Johnson has been offset by new professional Josh Doyle, who currently plies his trade in South Australia, and Rahmatullah Sahaq, meaning the batting, although somewhat unknown, should be more than competitive once again. Adding that pair to Nathan McGuire, Hashir Sultan and the McGee brothers Jack and Finn, gives the look of a side which will be hard to get on top of. With the ball, the two tall seamers, Jarred Barnes and Allan Eastwood are back once again, and this year will have support from new signing Nasir Totakhil, who is fresh off a fine season in England last term, as well as Asher Abbasi, whilst both Doyle and McGuire provide excellent off-spin options, although as with any bowler who is fresh in to Kenure, Doyle may well take some time to adjust to how to restrict batters in their unique home ground.
Cork County meanwhile have had the usual changes to their unit, with last season’s overseas man Stefano di Bartolomeo being the main outgoing of note aside from the already mentioned McDonough. Mark Andrianatos and Brian Upman are the two new names to note within their ranks for this coming season. The batting unit will likely have a rather familiar look to it, with Ross Durity an endless force at the top of the order along with Syed Aiman. Thorne Prophet came into the side last term and added his all-round prowess, whilst the up-and-comer in the side is still Ehsan O’Sullivan who’s batting and off-spin bowling will prove important throughout this season. The experienced campaigners continue throughout the spin attack, Diarmuid Carey and Abubakar Saddique have been consistent at this level for a number of years and will need to use their abilities to tie down the Rush batters this weekend, in a ground where many of the visitors bowlers would have little to no experience bowling in.
In Josh Doyle, Rush look to have found themselves a really high class cricketer and his wicket will be crucial to Cork County to give themselves a chance in this game, they’ll likely look to Abubakar Saddique, who for a long time has been their star man with the ball, to give them that prized wicket and a big chance in this game.
KEY BATTLE: Josh Doyle vs Abubakar Saddique
THE HILLS VS CIVIL SERVICE, The Vineyard
The Hills were dealt a hammerblow this week with the departure of Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, however they’ve been boosted by the arrival of Mubeen Ali, who will fill the gap behind the stumps which had been until now been left vacant by the absence of Mark Donegan. They have also added Brandon Kruger from Railway Union who is a fine operator with bat and ball and should be a strong addition to the side. Nicolaj Damgaard Laegsgaard and Nathan Rooney are two of the most explosive batsmen in the league and the shift to white ball will no doubt assist their chances with the bat no end. With the ball, Muzamil Sherzad and Matthew Weldon will lead the way on the pace bowling front, whilst Cian Nulty’s extra yard of pace will more than likely see him used as a strike bowler, and the control of skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy will make him a vital cog in the wheel. The spin will come from their pair of all-rounders, Kruger and Damgaard, giving the hosts an excellent 6 man attack which they should be able to restrict most teams with in the coming season.
Civil Service meanwhile are near enough to entirely unchanged compared with last season, they have to do without Rajath Parashurama who has moved on ahead of this season, however their batting unit still plays host to two centurions from last season in the shape of Simranjeet Singh and Arjun Chandrasekar, with the batting bolstered by Junaid Altaf, Binson Thambi and Nilesh Joshi, they are an extremely dangerous unit who all have the ability to put bowlers right on the back foot. With the ball, Mubasher Siddique and Naveed Khan were both extremely consistent throughout last season, whilst Aamir Bafanda will support them, Thambi and Chandrasekar are two more men who have bowled plenty of overs last year and will likely be needed to roll the arm over again in the beginning of this term.
Naveed Khan’s opening spells providing wickets were the moments which provided Civil Service with their best chance of victories last season, and as a result, it’s likely that his battle with the hard hitting top order of The Hills will be crucial, if he can dismiss Nicolaj Damgaard Laegsgaard early in the piece, it could provide Service with the boost they need to potential roll over The Hills’ strong line-up.
KEY BATTLE: Nicolaj Damgaard Laegsgaard vs Naveed Khan