The latest iteration of the Senior [Alan Murray] T20 Competition, sponsored this year by LHK Insurance, is upon us. As Michael Sharp wrote in his article yesterday it is a competition with a venerable heritage. Beginning in 1952 as an unofficial [and for the time quite unusual] competition organised by Pembroke CC, it was taken over in 1977 by the Leinster Cricket Union and became part of its stable of offerings every year since.
Last year the format of the competition changed to one more in keeping with modern trends. A part of the season was reserved for the main ‘Round Robin’ matches which are played at weekends in tournament mode. This proved popular and has been continued this year. Unfortunately difficulties arising from the withdrawal of North Kildare means that the carefully worked out choreography of the event has been compromised. This will have to be looked at again next season. But for the moment let us see at what we have ahead of us.
The Competition Playing Regulations are available on the Cricket Leinster Website. A few key points to note - strict time limits for bowling overs apply, DLS kicks in at 5 overs [minimum five overs per innings to constitute a match unless team bowled out in that time], no more than four overs per bowler, a tie is possible [Super Overs used in later stages] and Free Hits for No balls. Following the Round Robin stage the top eight teams go through to the Quarter Finals. The procedure to separate teams ending on equal points is first the result of the head to head if two teams involved and if more than two then Net Run Rate. The QF draw is seeded - 1st [Home] v 8th and so on. The Semi and Finals are played out on a single day.
Today matches take place in four venues - The Vineyard, Malahide, and Rathmines. The first series of matches [assuming they are not delayed by overnight rain] starts at 10.30. The second and third series are 14.00 and 17.30 respectively.
The schedule for the day:
| Venue | First Game | Second Game | Third Game |
| Malahide | Malahide v Pembroke | Pembroke v North County | Malahide v North County |
| Kenure | Rush v Railway Union | Railway Union v Phoenix | Rush v Phoenix |
| Rathmines | Leinster v YMCA | YMCA v Balbriggan | Leinster v Balbriggan |
| Vineyard | The Hills v Clontarf | Terenure v Clontarf | The Hills v Terenure |
The teams [as submitted] are as follows:
YMCA: Jack Tector [C], Sam Murphy [W] Oliver Gunning, Sam Streek, Harry Tector, Bobby Gamble, Jarred Barnes, Padraic Flanagan, Asher Abassi, Aviral Shukla, Tim Tector, Jay Shelat
Terenure: Michael Cotter [C], Josh Uddin [W] Dylan Cleary, Aidan Doyle, Brandon Graber, Liam Harris, Zeeshan Khudabuksh, Diarmuid Lynch, Dónal Lynch, Seamús Lynch, Kenny McDonald, Patrick Ryan.
Railway Union: Ciaran Divney [C/W], Alex Stiles, Abdullah Hafiz, Ranil Dhammika, Dharm Singh, Hashir Sultan, Andrew Jackson, Shariq Khan, James Smith, Niall Hunt, Ross Nichol
Rush: Neil Rock [C/WK], Stephen Doheny, Allan Eastwood, Conor Mullen, Sean Monks, Aaron McGuire, Nathan McGuire, Daniel Coffey, Daniel Thorne, David Carthy, Alex Neary, Conor Armstrong, Jack McGee.
Pembroke: Fiachra Tucker [C], Lorcan Tucker [W], Theo Lawson, Paul Lawson, Jack Balbirnie, JJ Garth, Josh Little, Scott Ruttle, Alex Ridley, Alec Barrett, Ryan Hopkins.
Clontarf: Joe Morrissey [C], Robert Forrest [W] Declan Gallagher, Shariful Islam, Waqar Azmat, David Delany, Ian Dent, Sameer Dutt, Bill Coghlan, Andrew Poynter, Obus Pienaar.
Phoenix: Tom Anders [C], Richie Lawrence, Louis McDonough, Rory Anders, Adam Chester, Reinhardt Strydom, Ben White, Sine Tsotsa, James Maginnis, Brad Kneebone, Fletcher Coutts.
The Hills: Max Sorensen [C], Mark Donegan [W], Kilian Everard, Sean Terry, Nicolaas Pretorius, Tomás Rooney Murphy, Andrew Kavanagh, Harry Archer, Cian Nulty, Daya Singh, Nazeer Shoukat.
North County: Niall McGovern [C], Jamie Grassi [W], Malcolm Nofal, Jonathan Andrews, Eddie Richardson, Tomas Sheil, Terry Richardson, Andrew Sheridan, Adam Coughlan, Craig May, Cian Mulvaney, Sean Kingston.
Balbriggan: Ehtesham Ahmed [C], Connor Fletcher [W] Adrian Harper, Farooq Nasr, Timcen Maruma, Adam Keefe, Kashif Ali, Abdul Samad, Justin Martin Kavanagh, Syed Haris, Nathan Rooney, Tariq Faheem, Duane Harper.
Keep sending in the scores to the Match Centre so we can follow the progress of teams during the day.