Merrion 1 vs Railway Union 1 - Two teams who lost their first match of the season in the league will be desperate for a win. Railway's 1 wicket win in the Leinster Senior Cup last month was their first one wicket win over Merrion since July 1973, although they did win by virtue of fewer wickets lost in 2005. In all cricket for Railway so far this year, Kenny Carroll has been leading run scorer with 237 runs at 39.5, with their leading wicket taker being Liam McCarthy with 14 wickets at 11. For Merrion, top run scorer is John Anderson with 235 runs at 39.17, with their leading wicket taker being Tom Stanton with 14 wickets at 12.21
Malahide 1 vs Leinster 1 - Malahide beat Clontarf, and Leinster beat YMCA in their first Premier League matches last week. Leinster have not won in Malahide in a Senior match since June 2008, with six of the last seven being won by Malahide - and the other being tied. That tie saw Hugh McDonnell top score for Leinster with 37 as they were bundled out for 119 - the wicket being shared around. Joey Carroll then took 6-40 as Malahide were dismissed on the same total. They are the best bowling figures for any Leinster CC team in Malahide since our records began in 2011. Bilal Azhar needs 33 runs to reach 1000 Senior runs for Leinster, the 64th person to achieve that for the club.
The Hills 1 vs Clontarf 1 - A win for The Hills last week in the Premier League, and a loss for Clontarf. In the match between the teams in 2022, David Delany shone with bat and ball, as Clontarf won by 15 runs. Delany top scored with 65 (his brother Eoghan also scoring 61) as Clontarf made 235/9. He then took 5-40, and despite Murray Commins scoring 110 for The Hills, they finished second. Records are incomplete, but the the most famous instance of a Clontarf player achieving the feat of a 50 and 5 wickets in the same match was Deryck Vincent in August 1992, scoring 161 and 5-72 against YMCA in Phoenix in the 1992 Leinster Senior Cup final. For Deryck Vincent's (very modest!) account of that game, read here - https://www.cricketeurope.com/CRICKETEUROPE/NEWSROOM/THEVIEW/2022/000869.shtml
YMCA 1 vs Balbriggan 1 - Only the third ever Senior match between the sides, with Balbriggan winning both the matches played in 2022. In the Premier League match in July, Aaron Bailey scored 94, his second Senior 50 (and highest career score) in his 42nd senior match as YM got to 260/6. But 100/2 was as good as it got for YMCA, as Connor Fletcher (114) and Greg Ford (101*) added 161 for the third wicket to see Balbriggan home. That was the third instance of two Balbriggan batters scoring tons in the same senior match, after Muhammad Farrukh and James Warsop against Rush on June 2016, and Farrukh and Adrian Harper against Dublin University in April 2014. That latter innings remains the record Balbriggan 3rd wicket partnership (231), with Ford and Fletcher coming in second.
Cork County 1 vs Phoenix 1 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Terenure 1 vs Pembroke 1 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
North Kildare 1 vs Rush 1 - North Kildare lost to Terenure in their first Championship match, whilst Rush were good winners in North County. North Kildare lead the Senior head to head between the teams 5-3, with North Kildare winning the last three, and Rush's last win in the Maws being back in June 2016. Lynal Jansen took 4-15 as North Kildare could only make 135. North Kildare were in the match when Paul Ryan took four wickets to have Rush at 47-5, before Dean Brogan (30) and Allan Eastwood (59) saw them home, adding 91 for the 6th wicket. Jansen remains joint fourth on the all time Rush Senior wicket takers list with 173 wickets at 20.51. That 59* is Allan Eastwood's highest senior score for Rush in the 80 matches he has played for the club. Last week Asher Abbasi took 5-23 for Rush, his career best Senior figures, and first five wicket haul in his 53rd Senior match.
Civil Service 1 vs North County 1 - Losses for both teams in their first Championship matches, with the teams meeting today in only the second ever Senior match between the clubs. The previous match was a League Cup game in 2007, with Service being bowled out for 175, a total that County passed for the loss of three wickets. Eddie Richardson's three wickets last week moves him to 368 Senior wickets for North County, second to Joe Murphy's 415 at 18.18
Knockharley 1 vs Cork Harlequins 1 - A tough start to the Division 4 season for both of these teams. Knockharley are 0-2 and Cork Harlequins 1-2. The team's previous meeting was in Division 4 in 2021, when Knockharley recovered from 51-7 to post 147, with Daneyaal Janjua scoring 40 and Sohail Qaisar 29. The match looked all over when Harlequins were 107-3, but Kamran Mirza dismissed Ruadhan Jones for 23 to spark a collapse. Mirza took 4-44 as Harlequins fell to 122-9, before the final twist as Adam Hickey (15) and Max Egan (9) added 28 for the last wicket to win by 1 wicket. That is Cork Harlequins' only one wicket win in Leinster and their highest 10th wicket partnership in a winning cause.
Railway Union 4 vs Balbriggan 3 - Third in Division 10 hosts the leaders. Balbriggan have won four and lost one and have a good lead in the table, but Railway have three games in hand and will close the gap with a win today. In all matches, Railway are 4-1 this year, with Balbriggan being 4-2 - it all points to a close match. Balbriggan's leading run scorer this season is Brian Dunphy with 183 runs at 30.5 and he is also their leading wicket taker with 11 wickets at 17.45. For Railway, watch out for Khizar Khan (133 at 33.35) and Maninderjit Ghai with 9 wickets at 11.56.
Ongar 1 vs Clondalkin 2 - A treat in store in Ringcommons, as the top two in Division 14 meet. Ongar have only lost one of their first five games, but Clondalkin are unbeaten with two games in hand in second place. It has been a fairly successful first season for Ongar, with a 7-1 record so far. Clondalkin are 5-1, losing their last match to Adamstown 5 in the Junior Cup. Zeeshan Saleem's 206 at 51.5 lead the run scoring charts for Clondalkin, with Nayemur Rahman being leading wicket taker with 10 wickets at 5.2. For Ongar 1, Purushotham Kalle has 172 runs at 28.67 and Santosh Kumar and Kartheek Reddy Podduturi both have 11 wickets.
Castleknock 2 vs Civil Service 4 - Division 9 is another tight league. A win for Castleknock today could move them from 8th to joint 2nd and Civil Service could move from 6th to top. If history tells us anything about this match, then it should be close. Their first match in Division 14 in 2012 resulted in a 1 wicket for Castleknock, chasing 153. And their second match, in July last year, resulted in a tie, with Civil Servoce being bowled out for 143, and Mohd Waris Khan being run out off the last ball left Castleknock on 143/8 from 20 overs.
Rush 3 vs Finglas 1 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
DLR County 2 vs Athlone 3 - The leaders of Division 17, DLR County 2 have got off to a great start, winning five matches with a further one rained off. Athlone haven't been mugs themselves, winning three and losing one. DLR County finally lost a game last week (to Finglas 3 in the Minor Cup), ending a run of seven wins - their best ever run. Only Amalraj Selvaraj has got to 100 runs for the season for Athlone, with 110 runs at 55. Top wicket taker for them is Manish Choudhary with 7 wickets at 15.14. For DLR County, Chhandak Barman has 195 runs at 32.5, and Manoj Jacob, 9 wickets at 10.67.
Tyrrelstown 1 vs Phoenix 3 - It is tight in Division 7 with 10 points covering the top four. Tyrrelstown are 3-1 in third place and Phoenix have the same record in fourth. Tyrrelstown are 5-2 (also playing in the Middle Cup) in all matches this year, with Phoenix being 4-2 (also playing in the higher YMCA Salver). Tyrrelstown 1's highest run scorer this season is Yashwanth Kamma Venkata with 114 at 19, with their leading wicket taker being Rajkumar Koka with 14 at 12.29. For Phoenix 3 their leading bowler is Aaron Joseph with 10 at 11.8, and their top run scorer is Bijesh Bhaskaran with 200 runs at 40.
Merrion 6 vs Ashbourne 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Clontarf 3 vs Malahide 3 - Clontarf should be massive underdogs today in this Division 5 tie. They have struggled so far in the league (0-4), whilst the same can not be said for Malahide, who have won all four of their completed league games, to sit proudly top. Malahide 3 have not won in Castle Avenue since June 2014. Chris Siddell and Hamish Manks (both 3-26) bowled out Clontarf for 123, before a nervy response saw them edge home. Vidy Shettu took 4-25 for Clontarf, but a 47 run partnership for the 8th wicket between Benlee Muttahottil (15) and Richard Brown (30) saw them home. That was Shettu's best bowling in his 41 match Cricket Leinster career (2014-2018). Manks is one of two bowlers to have passed 100 wickets for Malahide 3 since 2011 (129 wickets at 19.19). The other is Conor Gibbons with 149 at 20.34.
Mullingar 3 vs Balbriggan 4 - Very much a mid-table tie in Division 17. Mullingar are 2-3 in third place, with Balbriggan in 4th place with a 1-2 record. The teams met four times between 2018 and 2021 (Balbriggan winning three). In the 2018 Russell Court Trophy T20 tie in St Finian's College, Balbriggan made 119/8 with Adam Tantas top scoring with 36 and Robert Ashley taking 4-14. That was far too many for Mullingar, as Eoin Birch took 3-15 as Mullingar were bowled out for 46. That was the lowest total that Balbriggan have bowled a side out for in 92 matches played.
Adamstown 8 vs Carlow 4 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Lucan 1 vs North Kildare 3 - Division 9 is shaping up to be a classic, with all teams already having lost a match, and only 21 points separating top from bottom. This might be a mid table clash, but both sides could go up or down. The sides haven't met since 2017, a year they met three times, with Lucan winning all three. In the first match between the teams, Ali Hashmi scored 100 as Lucan were bowled out for 171, Shahid Khan taking 5-23. Khan completed a fine match with 59 runs, but wickets kept falling, North Kildare finally falling one run short. That was one of five one run wins in the history of Division 11, and three of them have seen Lucan 1 winning!
Longford 1 vs Railway Union 3 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
North Kildare 5 vs Finglas 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Adamstown 2 vs Castleknock 1 - Division 7 is another league where all teams have lost at least one game, but Castleknock's position of second isn't as good as it looks. They have already lost four matches, and Adamstown have a game in hand and only three points back. Despite that, whoever wins today, will move to the top. Castleknock have lost both of the previous matches played in Corkagh Park, with last year's T20 YMCA Salver match being a record breaking run fest. Castleknock made 228/4 from 20 overs, with Nurul Boda scoring 103 from 60 balls. But that ended up being perhaps 30 runs short of par, as 89 from 55 balls by Lucky Sharma and 91* from 34 balls by Umar Bashir saw Adamstown home by 8 wickets and with 2 overs to spare. The two innings are the highest T20 totals recorded in Corkagh Park.
The Hills 5 vs Clontarf 7 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Wexford Wanderers 2 vs Halverstown 1 - Halverstown and Wexford Wanderers lying mid table n Division 13. No meetings between the two teams in the past, so not too much to go on aside form their form this year. Wexford are 2-2 in the Junior Cup and Division 13, with Halverstown being 2-1 across their three league matches. The leading run scorer for Halverstown is Christopher Hamilton-Fowle with 108 runs at 54, with their top bowler being the unstoppable Neville Case with 9 wickets at 5.33. Of the 25 bowlers to have taken at least 250 wickets in Open Competitions since 2011, no one has a better average than Case's 13.24 (266 wickets). The leading run scorer for Wexford Wanderers this year is Prasanth Pillai with 129 runs at 43 - no bowler has yet gone passed 5 wickets.
North County 5 vs Leinster 5 - North County are 2-1 in Division 14 and solidly in fourth place, but it hasn't been the best of starts to the season for Leinster 5, with losses in each of their first three matches. The teams have never met before (the first year both teams were entered in the leagues was 1988), and they have never been particularly close in the league. But Leinster's league position has been quickly dropping in recent years, leading to his first opportunity for the teams to face off.
Phoenix 5 vs Adamstown 4 - It seems as if Adamstown's teas have either had dreamlike starts to 2023 - or complete nightmares. The 4ths are in the nightmare category in Division 12, losing their first three matches to currently sit in 7th place. Phoenix have also lost three matches, but three wins as well have lifted them to second place. At the end of April, Phoenix won their first game against Adamstown since June 2018. In a match reduced to 15 overs, Vignesh Kannan top scored for Phoenix with 36 as they made 122/6. Rajesh Malik set the scene for the Phoenix defense, taking 3-7 from three overs, as Adamstown never got close, ending up with 66/7.
Athlone 1 vs Bagenalstown 1 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Swords 5 vs Malahide 6 - The first of two matches today between these two teams in the Minor 2 Cup. To be honest, group A has been something of a disaster, with only one match completed on the pitch, and combination of rain and forfeited matches accounting for eight more. Malahide have been the recipient of a couple of those forfeits and so look to be in a decent position in the group. Historically there have been very few games played by these sides - Malahide 6 have a 2-7 record (2-6 this year), with Swords 5 5-8 across 2022 and 2023.
Wicklow County 1 vs Leinster 4 - Wicklow County are at the bottom of Division 10 with two losses. Leinster are down in 6th place, but only three points separate them from Railway Union 4 in 3rd in the Division 10 table. Wicklow County have lost their last three matches against Leinster 4, with their last win being in Division 8 in May 2016. Matthew Sisley took 3-17 and Shawaiz Chaudhary 3-15 to bowl Leinster out for 128. At 50-7 in reply, it wasn't looking good, before Thejas Sreedharan (22) and Khalid Chaudhary (51*) added 77 for the 8th wicket and Wicklow County won by 2 wickets. It remains the team's second highest 8th wicket partnership (and highest at home) after Shaun O'Reilly and David Rice's 96 in Dublin University in 2015.
Carlow 3 vs Sandyford 4 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Malahide 4 vs Laois 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Pembroke 5 vs Adamstown 6 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Kilkenny 1 vs DLR County 1 - All four teams in Group B of the Middle Cup have lost one match, so the group is wide open. Kilkenny have won all three of the previous matches between the teams, all three being played in 2021. One of those three was a T20 match played in Castleblunden. DLR County made 164/6 from their 20 overs with Aditya Nayak top scoring with 43. Kilkenny got home with four balls and five wickets to spare, Zeeshan Mumtaz top scoring with 54. He currently has 325 runs for the team this season. The highest ever number of runs for Kilkenny 1 in a season is his 573 in 2021. The second best is also by Zeeshan - 554 in 2022!
Greystones 3 vs Swords 3 - Swords 3 are already out of Group B of the Russell Court Trophy. Greystones will join them unless they win today. No previous meetings between the teams, so a look at their form this year. Greystones are 3-5 (and 1-3 at home) in this competition and Division 15. Swords meanwhile are 2-6 in the Russell Court Trophy and Division 16. Everything points to a Greystones win.
Pembroke 3 vs Terenure 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Naas 1 vs Gorey 1 - A loss today in Group B of the Whelan Cup would mean Gorey cannot make the semi finals. Naas have only played one match so far, beating Gorey on May 13. That match was the only time the sides have faced each other with Gorey being bowled out for 50, with Naas easing themselves to an 9 wicket victory in 11.1 overs. That was the joint lowest total that Naas have bowled a side out for (after Railway Union 4 in April 2022), but only the fifth lowest total recorded in the Whelan Cup.