IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – JULY 22ND!

After a total washout at the top of the tree last weekend, the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League kicks off the second half of its season with no change to the league table. However the complexion of this weekend’s fixtures could mean massive changes to the table, with some very competitive cricket set to be played out!

BALBRIGGAN VS MERRION

Jack Harper Park sees Merrion the visitors, as two of the sides on three wins look to push themselves away from the bottom of the table by pushing themselves into the battle for the league title!

Balbriggan have a couple of men in great form off the back of this week’s successful Lightning Bolts’ trip to the North West, Chris de Freitas made an unbeaten century whilst Dylan Lues took four wickets both in Thursday’s 50 over victory, this pair will be looking to lead the way for the side. Elsewhere Samuel Willemse returns, and will likely share the new ball with Matt Pollard, with Andy Darroch the next seamer up in the line-up. Whilst with the bat, de Freitas will find support from Greg Ford, Connor Fletcher and Cameron Rowe.

Merrion welcome seamer Max Neville back to their side for the first time in a couple of seasons, with the former U19 international coming off the back of a torrid spell with injuries, he adds to a seam attack featuring Max Sorensen, Samuel Harbinson, Hugh Kennedy and Muhammed Sinan, who have all bowled well in spells this season. Left-arm spin options for the side continue to be Tom Stanton and Daniel Forkin, whilst with the bat, there will be plenty of attention on Swapnil Modgil who made another half-century for the Bolts on Wednesday afternoon, as well as the usual expectations on Stephen Doheny, Jack Carty and John Anderson.

This game looks to be something of a battle between two out of form sides, so the in-form players in the line-up will be vital, if Max Neville’s return for Merrion was to see the wicket of Chris de Freitas fall, it would be a massive boost to the visiting side.

KEY BATTLE: Chris de Freitas vs Max Neville

YMCA VS LEINSTER

A replay of the first round of the Leinster Senior Cup sees Claremont Road host the top of the table clash between YM and Leinster. The home side feature one of the most in-form batsmen around in Adam Rosslee, with the South African having also added an unbeaten half-century this week during the Lightning Bolts tour, he remains the backbone of their unit, with several around him in the top order struggling for form. With the ball, the side will miss Reuben Wilson who is absent through injury, however Mikey O’Reilly and Olly Riley have both been bowling well in recent weeks, added to the other seam options including Ash Burton and Tom Anders, the side should have plenty of bowling to account for the absence of their star seamer.

Leinster’s batting unit has been in fine form this season, Michael Hogan, Joey Carroll, Monil Patel, Saqib Bahadur and Pete Francis have all been in the runs consistently throughout the campaign and if they continue in that vein will be set to run up a big score this weekend. Bilal Azhar and Paddy Lynch have both also contributed half-centuries meaning the whole top 7 has put their hand up at some stage this season. With the ball, Francis and Azhar are a potent opening pair, with Mark Tonge and Carroll also providing very useful seam-up options. The spinners however have been the game breakers for the side, with Bahadur and Dev Ranolia both bowling tight spells of late.

Adam Rosslee’s form will be key to this fixture, if he is in early against Leinster’s pacy openers it will be a massive challenge, however if he gets through the opening spell of Pete Francis, it’s another big chance for the YM gloveman to make a game-changing contribution.

KEY BATTLE: Adam Rosslee vs Pete Francis

MALAHIDE VS CLONTARF

The Village plays host to a fascinating match-up between two sides who on paper look extremely strong. Malahide have an enviable wealth of riches in their seam attack, with skipper James Newland, Peter Chase, Kelvin Donnelly, Andy Sheridan and Ali Frost all in the team this weekend, then in the spin department, they have Matt Ford and Mike Frost, both of whom have had great success in their spells this season. With the bat their gem is undoubtedly their number three Younas Ahmadzai, he bats behind Jamie Grassi and Hunter Kindley, who have shared some excellent partnerships to set up games.

‘Tarf meanwhile are at what appears to be full strength for the first time this season, their all-rounder core of Fionn Hand, David Delany, Ruan Cronje and John McNally are all game-breaking match winners in their own right, with even more strength in the batting line-up in the shape of PJ Moor, Ryan Karunakaran and ‘Bobbo’ Forrest. With the ball, Cillian McDonnell and Luke Thomson appear to be the only two in the side who wouldn’t be considered as frontline batsmen, no doubt giving skipper Eoghan Delany a headache in how to balance out his side this weekend.

Coming off the back of a strong performance for the Lightning Bolts, John McNally could well be a key man for ‘Tarf this weekend, having shown game-breaking ability with both bat and ball, he’ll probably have to face the left-arm spin of Mike Frost in this game, and if he can put together a good innings could take the game away from Malahide.

KEY BATTLE: Mike Frost vs John McNally

THE HILLS VS RAILWAY UNION

The battle between the bottom two could see Railway Union doomed if they don’t get a result in Skerries this weekend, the home side are without their big hitting Dane Nicolaj Laegsgaard who is on international duty this weekend, however they welcome back Irish international Murray Commins to the side. He’ll slide into a batting unit which has gone well in patches this season, with Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Mark Donegan scoring plenty of runs and transferring their form to IP level, whilst Bhavesh Lakhotia and Nathan Rooney have both made half-centuries in recent weeks. With the ball, Laegsgaard will again be missed however Jonathan Tall returns as the main spinner, likely to see support from Athar Farooqi. The seam attack remains strong, and although Matthew Weldon is missing, Tómas Rooney-Murphy, Cian Nulty and Sean McNicholl are still a strong trio for any side to face up to.

Railway Union are nearing full strength again, with Liam McCarthy’s bowling load set to increase. However their pair of spinners in Hamza Maan and Brandon Kruger will be key to the side once again. Zaman Safi and Sean O’Brien will be the likely support for McCarthy in the seam attack, and wickets for that pair early in the piece will be vital. With the bat, Riley Mudford is the main man and they will look to him for inspiration once again, runs for him will take pressure off the likes of Kenny Carroll and Ashil Prakash at the top of the order, whilst the likes of Punya Mehra in the middle will be gunning for some runs after a lean couple of weeks in the side.

In the absence of Nicolaj Laegsgaard, Murray Commins’ return is vital for The Hills, he will need to negotiate Liam McCarthy’s spell to give the side a chance of a victory.

KEY BATTLE: Murray Commins vs Liam McCarthy