LHK INSURANCE ALAN MURRAY CUP PREVIEW – MATCH DAY ONE (8TH JUNE)

This Saturday sees the LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup taking over from league action for our Senior clubs, as the next three weeks will feature the group stages of the premier T20 competition in the province.

The format is broadly the same as what was played last season, with the exception being that all game days are double headers, with teams taking each other on twice on the same day on the same ground. The participating teams include the 14 Leinster clubs in the Premier League & Championship, with Dublin University and Adamstown added to make 16 participating teams and therefore four groups of four teams each.

Balbriggan are the holders having won this historic trophy for the first time in 2023 when they defeated The Hills in the Final at Sydney Parade. In the all-time listing, Clontarf lead the pack with 10 titles followed by Pembroke, Merrion and YMCA who have each lifted the trophy on 9 occasions. On the other end of the scale, Adamstown, Civil Service, Dublin University, North Kildare and Rush will all be in search of their first Senior T20 title

The team which finishes top of the group in each instance will progress to Finals day on July 6^th, which will see the semi-finals taking place concurrently in Sydney Parade and Anglesea Road at 11am, followed by the final at 4pm in Sydney Parade.

There are however three match days before the finals stage, and we kick off our preview of this week’s action with the fixtures in Group A, where College Park and Jack Harper Park play host to a brace of interesting match-ups.

Group A

Dublin University vs North County

Starting off with the Students, they have endured an abject set of results in the District Series, failing to win a game, meaning realistically any advantage they could have gained by having already played some T20 cricket at this stage of the season is out the window. Their main players are top quality, with the likes of Gavin Hoey and Matthew Humphreys both top-level IP spinners, whilst Mikey O’Reilly is Merrion’s main new ball threat, and Nicolaas Pretorius is one of Phoenix’s leading batters. If those four players are on-song and in the game, then Dublin University could be a difficult prospect to face up against. Their main issue however is undoubtedly their lack of depth, beyond the four men already mentioned, many of their players would be no more than bit-part members of their club 1^st XIs and that has shown in some of their batting collapses over the opening month of the season.

North County meanwhile have racked up some really good efforts with the bat in the opening few weekends, and will really fancy their chances of translating that into a strong T20 campaign. Suliman Safi has shown his credentials as a strong ball-striker and will be the fulcrum of the batting unit, whilst skipper Niall McGovern is in good form along with talisman Eddie Richardson, however it’s their lower-middle order that has really given them a huge boost in recent weeks, with the likes of Alan Joseph Mathew and Abdul Sattar showing off the ability to clear the ropes at will and allowing them to run up big scores. If they can compress their 50 over efforts into T20 format successfully, they’ll be really competitive. With the ball, Richardson and Abdul Ghaffar could find enough in the College Park deck to cause some early problems, however once again Mathew’s spin could prove to be decisive, he’s had a couple of decent outings on the ground so far this season and will be looking to replicate that form once again. Tanvir Hasan’s leg-breaks and Sean Sludds’ accurate seamers round off what’s overall a well-rounded bowling attack.

College Park has turned all season, and whilst North County arrive with two very strong spin options in their side, it’s the home team that are likely to have the ace up their sleeve here with Gavin Hoey’s leggies. His record against left-handers however isn’t as good as he would like, and with Suliman Safi leading the charge with the bat for the away team, that could be a battle which goes a long way to deciding the outcome of the match.

KEY BATTLE: Gavin Hoey vs Suliman Safi

Balbriggan vs The Hills

Two sides struggling for real consistent form face off here, with Balbriggan in particular off the back of a brace of below-par performances with the bat last weekend. The holders have greatly missed Connor Fletcher so far this season and are likely to feel that pinch even more so in the T20 format, although they may hope that the more free-flowing nature could allow Chris de Freitas and Greg Ford to open their shoulders and play with slightly more freedom, and also bring the ball-striking of Cameron Rowe and Sebastian de Oliveira into the game a bit more, after both have shown the ability to be destructive in the District Series this season. Jordan Hollard also proved to be able to clear the ropes during last week’s fixtures and could be another to possibly cause some trouble for the bowlers. With the ball, spinner Dylan Lues has proven himself to be an excellent T20 bowler this season, whilst Sam Willemse and de Oliveira have both found movement early on which should make scoring more difficult. The attack is rounded off by Kashif Ali and Hollard, which should give skipper Ford more than enough options to trouble The Hills.

The Skerries outfit meanwhile were the runners-up to Balbriggan in last year’s competition, and are sure to take some solace from that, not least due to the make-up of their side being geared up far more powerfully for T20 cricket than it is for the more balanced 50 over format. Nicolaj Damgaard’s strike rate is generally speaking exceptionally high, and if there’s someone who can certainly set up the game and put pressure onto their hosts, it’s him. Whilst further along in the order the likes of Brandon Kruger, who has shown himself to be The Hills’ premier batsman this season, along with the stroke play of the likes of Yaseen Sherzad and Cian Nulty should offer the side enough fire-power to be competitive. With the ball, the return of Sean McNicholl, having missed the first few weeks of the season, along with Tómas Rooney-Murphy and Nulty gives them some very good pace options, with Damgaard and Kruger’s respective left and right arm off-spin options both very accomplished and relatively tight in this format.

The Hills’ key man throughout more or less their entire T20 campaign last season was Nicolaj Damgaard and if he can get himself in and flying at the start of the innings again they will take a lot of stopping, Balbriggan’s best T20 bowler is Dylan Lues and if he can knock Damgaard over early in his spell, it will be advantage to the home side.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Lues vs Nicolaj Damgaard

Group B

Malahide vs Civil Service

Malahide are still one of two teams across the top two leagues not to win a fixture in the league, so this pivot to T20 format is sure to suit them down to the ground. Their batting unit can be explosive, featuring Younas Ahmadzai and Matt Ford who are two of the hardest hitters around the province at the best of times, whilst Jeremy Martins is an extremely innovative stroke maker alongside Ali Frost who will be one of the many batters around the province looking to use the freedom of the T20 format to get himself back into good nick again. With the ball, Mike Frost’s left-arm spin was excellent in the IP20 festival at the start of the month, and he has bowled well consistently since for both Malahide and Fingal, so he is likely to be the main man with the ball once again. Kelvin Donnelly will be important first up to disrupt the Service batsmen, whilst James Newland’s relentless lengths and ability to nail yorkers could prove crucial to the 2019 champions hopes of making a run at this competition. Martins and Andrew Sheridan round off a strong bowling unit with their respective right-arm seam options.

Civil Service meanwhile have a number of fine stroke makers in their top six, any of whom could find the ropes and get on top of the Malahide bowling unit if having a good day out. Nilesh Joshi and Arjun Chandrasekar are two who have been in the runs of late, however Junaid Altaf, Deepak Jayachandran and Simranjeet Singh have all shown the ability to string together a dynamic innings, in the main when the Service batting line-up gets moving, they tend to score the majority of their runs in boundaries, which obviously could work quite well to their advantage in this instance. With the ball, their key men remain the early spells of Naveed Khan and Mubasher Siddique, with early wickets likely to be vital in order to stem the scoring rate, whilst through the middle overs the pair of spinners in Asadullah Ahmadzai and Aamir Bafanda are the two men who will be tasked with keeping the run rate at a manageable level, Digamber Mishra is the regular third seamer who is likely to provide some good control.

For Service, the reality is they need to dismiss Malahide’s main destroyer Younas Ahmadzai early in the game if they’re going to have a chance of victory, meaning Naveed Khan’s opening spell will be as vital in these games as it has been in any other so far this season.

KEY BATTLE: Younas Ahmadzai vs Naveed Khan

Clontarf vs North Kildare

Clontarf have a very strong record in this competition and have won it three times in the past 10 years, no doubt having been knocked out in the first round of the Senior Cup, they will be looking to start well here to put themselves into the picture for a finals day appearance. With the bat, they’ll likely rejig their order to get the best out of the innovative Fionn Hand and their overseas man Rahul Dalal, whilst David Delany is sure to want to show off his ability to clear the ropes in T20, the Thompson brothers, Mitchell and Henry, were both in the runs in last week’s league fixtures at both 1^st and 2^nd team levels, so will also come in full of confidence. With the ball, Delany and Hand, along with Reuben Wilson, make up a dynamic seaming trio, whilst Cillian McDonnell has proven in recent times to be an excellent T20 operator, their 5^th bowler could well be off-spinner Paul Ryan who will need to use all of his experience to fox this strong-striking North Kildare batting unit.

That Kilcock batting unit features several players who would doubtless admit that T20 is their preferred format as it plays to so many of their strengths. The likes of Josh Uddin, Waqar Azmat and Husnain Maroof have all made their names either in the T20 competitions, or with explosive, fast paced knocks in the longer format. That ability to flip the game on it’s head is likely to prove vital to them, as should they survive the opening spell form Clontarf’s pacemen, they will need to take advantage of the change in pace to post competitive batting efforts. Abid Taniwal is another clean ball striker, however his main role will be to lead the charge with the ball, most likely in tandem with Maroof, whilst there’s also Mohammad Zaman who’s seamers offer a good option, before mentioning the excellent spin of Bakhtyar Nabi, who has consistently taken wickets in all spells which he has bowled so far this season.

Simply, North Kildare must attack with the bat to give themselves a chance here, and Abid Taniwal could match up well in the middle overs against Cillian McDonnell’s left-arm off-spin, however if McDonnell can get on top of him early, it will help Clontarf block too much momentum being gathered by the away side.

KEY BATTLE: Cillian McDonnell vs Abid Taniwal

Group C

Leinster vs Terenure

Group C kicks off with the Dublin 6 derby, and Leinster’s record against Terenure in recent times is very good to say the least. The last ten fixtures between the sides have seen 7 Leinster wins, a tie, and 2 Terenure victories, both at home. The Rathmines side have a dynamic batting unit, with the likes of Monil Patel having impressed on Lightning debut during this week’s IP20, Joey Carroll, Matthew Vercoe-Curtis who likes to heave over the legside, and his opening partner Bilal Azhar who hits powerfully down the ground, those four, as well as the middle order where Tristen de Beer and Tom Johnson are both capable of clearing the ropes, give them a very strong unit to build an innings around. With the ball, they’re likely to be without Luke Callanan who picked up an injury last weekend, meaning their seamers will be led by Jai Moondra and Azhar, with support from Carroll and Mark Tonge. Johnson’s left-arm spin offers good control, and he’s backed up by Saqib Bahadur who has the ability to bowl some sensational spells in T20 cricket.

Terenure meanwhile boast one of the most explosive T20 batters in the league in Séamus Lynch, and they’ll be looking for him to get the side off to a flying start, whilst left-hander Henry Dall is in fine form at the moment, and will look to carry that on to this competition. The other boundary hitters in the side feature Raghav Grover and skipper Dónal Lynch, who are two more batters who, as referenced earlier, could see the freedom of T20 cricket helping them to get into a good run of form. With the ball, the pace of Kripesh Shetty and control of Dylan Cleary make for a good opening pair, whilst Grover and Darsh Shetty are solid change bowlers as long as they keep their lines and lengths consistent. The spin comes from Dall who’s efforts this season have come as something of a bonus to the side after he didn’t do any bowling at all in the 2023 season.

Leinster will be all to aware of the firepower of Séamus Lynch and desperate to stop it early in the piece, Bilal Azhar could be the man to challenge him, and if he can do so it will be vital to Leinster’s cause.

KEY BATTLE: Bilal Azhar vs Séamus Lynch

Phoenix vs Adamstown

Phoenix host Adamstown in the Park in their visitors’ second foray into this competition, the home side feature some excellent ball strikers in the shape of Tyrone Kane, Adam Chester, Shane Getkate and Jack Lalor, and are an extremely tough test for their opponents on a day like this. They are without Nicolaas Pretorius, as mentioned earlier he’s featuring for Dublin University, however the likes of Levon Shields and Johit Munjal are two more men who will be relishing the chance to play their shots and get a chance to post some imposing batting efforts. With the ball, Lalor is in fine form and has taken a hatful of wickets in the last few weeks, however the most consistent performer for Phoenix have been their two left-arm spinners, Lightning bowler Amish Sidhu has enjoyed great success opening the bowling for his club, whilst Dev Ranolia took 5/8 last weekend in their victory over Railway Union, they are backed up by seam from Kane and Ash Bain, giving the side a very well rounded look to it.

Adamstown meanwhile are somewhat of an unknown coming into this season’s competition, they are a league higher up the ladder than when they last participated, and have shown some decent form in progressing to round 2 of the National Cup. Last weekend saw them running out convincing 82 run winners against Phoenix 2, Prabhanshu Kamal leading the way with the bat, with support from Vipul Kashyap, both of whom have played in this competition previously, with Railway Union and YMCA respectively. They’ll be hoping the experience of that pair can help the side, which features promising younger players such as Arvind Olaganathan and Sidharth Biju, to get up to the standards required as quickly as possible. It remains to be seen whether they may call on the likes of Bradley Fernandes in the side, who, in spite of not being a 1^st team regular anymore, has shown the ability to compete at this level in the past.

Prabhanshu Kamal is the clear class bowler in the Adamstown side, and they will need him to make inroads if the side are to have any chance of controlling Phoenix’s batting efforts, the obvious big wicket is Jack Lalor, and it will be interesting to see does his 50 over form carry into the T20 block of games.

KEY BATTLE: Jack Lalor vs Prabhanshu Kamal

Group D

Railway Union vs Merrion

The final group sees three Dublin 4 clubs drawn with Rush, however the first game we get to is the local one as Merrion travel to Park Avenue to face Railway Union. The away side have a good record in this competition, however they haven’t won the Alan Murray Cup itself since 2015. Their batting unit is strong, and they’ll be hoping that Adam Rosslee can return from illness to be a major part of it, whilst the likes of Swapnil Modgill and Stephen Doheny are excellent aggressive stroke players who should have no issue transitioning into the shorter format, whilst Pete Francis and Sam Harbinson are both capable of clearing the ropes in the second half of the innings. With the ball, they will miss Mikey O’Reilly who is with Dublin University, however Melvin Christopher Devaraj has shown himself to be a fine operator at this level already this season. Harbinson and Max Sorensen are the other two seamers in the side who could open the bowling, whilst Hugh Kennedy is likely to bowl in the middle overs. Tom Stanton will more than likely be the only spinner use with his left-arm offies.

Railway Union meanwhile will be looking for the likes of Hedayat Khogiani and Liam McCarthy to lead the way with the bat, with that pair being the two of their top 6 with the best strike rates this season so far. Ashil Prakash has shown the ability to go through the gears on occasions, whilst Zaman Safi and wicket-keeper Forqan Hassanzada would be less consistent but still capable of causing their opposition some issues with bat in hand. It remains to be seen whether the tactic of batting around Rob O’Brien at number 3 will be continued into this format, however it may well be a prudent one. With the ball, McCarthy’s first up spells will remain as important as they have been throughout the season so far, whilst Sean O’Brien will need to keep things tight at the other end, Zaman Safi is the third seamer in the side and again will have an important role to play, depending on whether they go with a fourth seamer, the likes of Piyush Sharma bowled well last weekend, or two spinners, Fakhar Zaman returned to the bowling crease also.

The key to this game more than likely lies with Merrion’s opening batters, as if Railway can expose their power hitters earlier than is ideal it will give them a great opportunity to keep the total below par. That means Liam McCarthy’s first spell to Stephen Doheny is a vital point in the match, if Doheny gets off to a flier, Merrion will be very hard to peg back.

KEY BATTLE: Stephen Doheny vs Liam McCarthy

Rush vs Pembroke

Rush come into this game off the back of running up a big score last weekend, and will have overseas man Josh Doyle full of confidence off the back of that knock. He along with Nathan McGuire at the top of the order will aim to give the home side a flying start, and set the game up for the power-hitting of the all-rounders in the middle order including Hashir Sultan, Rahmat Sahaq and Nasir Totakhil, they will need to finish with a flourish to out-gun this Pembroke side which has shown it’s own depth to work right in it’s favour throughout the opening weeks of the season. With the ball, their trump card is Totakhil’s left-arm spin, whilst both McGuire and Doyle offer very good right-arm off-breaks which will no doubt be used both at the top and throughout the middle overs. Jarred Barnes and Alex Neary were two of the seamers used last weekend and they are likely to continue in Allan Eastwood’s absence.

Pembroke meanwhile have an excellent batting unit, weakened ever so slightly by the loss of Gavin Hoey’s explosive boundary hitting in the middle order, however especially in T20 cricket they should have more than enough depth to still make up for that. Tim Tector is one of the form players in the country and has had a fine IP20 campaign for the Leinster Lightning, whilst JJ Garth alongside him at the top is another fine stroke-maker, Jack Tector and Fiachra Tucker in the middle order alongside Nick Stapleton add depth and experience, and if they have any of those five batting after fifteen overs of the game they could post some huge totals. With the ball, they will be hoping Byron McDonough can overcome his illness too, after he bowled the house down against Clontarf last Saturday, whilst it’s believed Stapleton won’t be bowling in these fixtures. Paul Lawson’s spin becomes even more important in the absence of Hoey, and he’ll likely be supported by Fiachra Tucker, Olly Riley’s seamers will also be crucial to the cause if they are to restrict Rush’s top order to a slow start.

Considering his overall form this season, Tim Tector will be vital to the start of Pembroke’s batting innings, as if he can get them off to a flying start, the scoring options in Kenure will suit the visitors middle order in terms of allowing them to set up a big total. Nathan McGuire has done a good job opening the bowling for the side in recent times and the change of pace at the top to Tector could be a good move for the home side.

KEY BATTLE: Nathan McGuire vs Tim Tector

LHK INSURANCE ALAN MURRAY CUP

All Double-Headers, Start times 12:00 & 16:00

Group A

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs The Hills

At College Park, Dublin University vs North County

Group B

At The Village, Malahide vs Civil Service

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs North Kildare

Group C

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Terenure

At Phoenix Park, Phoenix vs Adamstown

Group D

At Park Avenue, Railway Union vs Merrion

At Kenure, Rush vs Pembroke