Phoenix 1 vs Civil Service 1 - The Phoenix Park derby is unfortunately a dead rubber, with the two matches today only being played for pride. There have been no Alan Murray matches between the sides, but Phoenix have won the last fifteen matches between the two, with Civil Service's last win being August 11 1934. Phoenix's top players in the competition this year have been Levon Shields with 58 runs at 19.33 and Daniel Sugrue with 5 wickets at 12.6. For Civil Service, the leading run scorer is Mubasher Siddique's 110 runs at 110. Civil Service have only taken two wickets in their three matches.
Balbriggan 1 vs Clontarf 1 - Two matches between Clontarf and Balbriggan today. Balbriggan's only chance of qualifying for the semi finals is to win both - or to win one match, with the other tied or rained off. All three previous Alan Murray matches between the sides were won by Clontarf, with one played in Balbriggan (in 2015). Conor Kelly scored 98 in that one off 47 balls, as Tarf finished on 237/5 from their 20 overs, a total that was 90 runs too many for Balbriggan.
YMCA 1 vs Railway Union 1 - One win for Railway in today's two games will be enough for them to qualify for the semis, whereas YMCA must not lose (a win and a tie would be enough). Since 2011, there have been six Alan Murray matches between the teams, and Railway have batted first every time - winning three and losing three. So far this season, their top performers in the Alan Murray have been Kenny Carroll (130 runs at a strike rate of 149.43) and Liam McCarthy (9 wickets, economy 4.47). For YMCA, Tim Tector leads the way with the bat with 189 runs at a strike rate of 190.91, with the leading wicket takers being Aaron Bailey (5 wickets, economy 7) and Reuben Wilson (5 wickets, economy 8.2)
Terenure 1 vs Pembroke 1 - Two dead matches in Terenure today. The last four Alan Murray meetings between the teams (dating back to August 2013) have been split 2-2. Terenure's last win saw Dave Langford-Smith score a 50 ball 100*, as Terenure chased 158 with 15 balls and 9 wickets to spare, in July 2014. Terenure have struggled with the bat in the Alan Murray this year, their leading run scorer being Donal Lynch with 78 runs. Their leading wicket taker is Mark Thomas with 4 wickets (economy 8.30). For Pembroke, the story is slightly sadder. No one has scored more than Jonathan Garth's 45 runs at a strike rate of 79, with the leading wicket takers being Paul Lawson, Zack Micklewright and Nicholas Stapleton, with three wickets apiece.
The Hills 1 vs Malahide 1 - Qualification for the semi finals is virtually out of the hands of both teams. If Rush win both of their matches against North County, Malahide will be out, and The Hills would need a massive boost to their Net Run Rate. But should Rush slip up in one match, both have a chance., with a win and a tie being enough for Malahide. They last met in an Alan Murray match in 2015, indeed all four ties since 2011 have gone the way of The Hills. The last meeting saw Fintan Mc Allister and Alan Reynolds put on 98 for the second wicket as Malahide got to 150, but The Hills go there with 17 balls to spare after 74 from Nic Pretorius.
North County 1 vs Rush 1 - A dead pair of matches for North County, but vitally important for Rush. Two wins for them guarantees a place in the semi finals. One win should be enough as long as Malahide beat The Hills once (which would should see Rush going through on Net Run Rate over The Hills). Rush won the last time the teams met in the Alan Murray, in August 2019. Steophen Doheny took 3-26 as North County were restricted to 120/8, before 47s from Neil Rock and Doheny saw Rush home with 48 balls and seven wickets to spare.
Dublin University 1 vs Merrion 1 - A win for Dublin University sends them through to the semi finals. A tie or a rained off match coupled with a win for Merrion in their second match and a loss for Trinity in their second match, and it would be down to NRR. A win for Merrion would see both sides level, depending on who does well in their second match. Swapnil Modgill has been top run scorer for Merrion so far in the Alan Murray this year with 69 runs at a strike rate of 177. Leading wicket taker has been Tom Stanton with 7 wickets, economy 3.9. For Trinity, their leading run scorer is William Todd with 79 at a strike rate of 93, and the top wicket taker is Gavin Hoey with 9 wickets at an economy of 4.44.
Leinster 1 vs North Kildare 1 - A series of dead matches for these two. In one remote scenario where Leinster could finish level with Trinity and Merrion, Leinster would still lose out on the points scored in matches between the teams. The two previous Alan Murray matches between the teams (this year and in 2017) have resulted in big Leinster wins. Leinster's leading run scorer this year in the Alan Murray is Monil Patel with 125 at 133 and the leading wicket taker is Jai Moondra with 4 wickets at an economy of 4.67. For North Kildare, top batter is Husnain Maroof with 89 at 84 and the top bowler is Mohammad Zaman with four wickets at an economy of 11.25.
Railway Union 2 vs North County 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
The Hills 5 vs Adamstown 8 - Not too much action so far this year in the Development League, with Adamstown winning one of their two games, and The Hills losing their one match. They teams played last week, with Peter Stead top scoring for The Hills with an excellent 49, and Nirbaan Singh doing likewise for Adamstown with 17. With the ball, there were great performances from Adamstown's Shravon Biju (2-15) and Nirbaan Singh (2-17) and The Hills' Tara O Brien (2-14) and Conor Donoghue (2-5)
Adamstown 1 vs North Kildare 2 - A cracker in store in Corkagh Park. Adamstown have had an excellent start to the season with three wins from three, whilst North Kildare are unbeaten with one win. The bowlers have done the work for Adamstown, bowling out Civil Service 2 for 144, Clontarf 3 for 94 and Rush 2 for 145. Prabhanshu Kamal, Nithin Padmaprabhu and Pomin Ponselvan have all taken at least five wickets.
Malahide 5 vs Merrion 6 - The second away game of the weekend for Merrion 6, after yesterday's trip to Slieve Bloom. Malahide are yet to win a league game this season, and Merrion may or may not be in the same position after yesterday's match. Two previous ties between the teams back in 2013 were both won by Merrion (and notable they were in Division 10, four divisions higher than today). The match in Malahide saw the home side bowled out for 73, before Merrion chased to win by 4 wickets. That is only Malahide 5's third lowest total against Merrion in the last 12 years!
Malahide 3 vs Civil Service 2 - Malahide 3 find themselves on top of Division 5 after three wins and a rained off match. Without wishing to count chickens, they last won this division in 2014. Civil Service are at the end of the scale, losing two games and sitting in sixth place. Their two previous matches were both in 2021, with the matches shared. Adam Doyle has been the star with the bat, scoring 40, 8 and 121*. The bowling has been more of a team effort, with six bowlers taking three or more wickets.
Greystones 2 vs Phoenix 5 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Merrion 7 vs Tyrrelstown 5 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Lucan 2 vs North Kildare 4 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Swords 5 vs Carlow 4 - Carlow start their first Division 20 game of the season against a Swords 5 team who have lost once. Many of the aims of Division 20 are around Development, and so mere numbers of wins and losses don't make too much difference.
Dundalk 2 vs Carlow 3 - A loss in their only game so far for Carlow, and a win and a loss for Dundalk. That sees Carlow in 9th place in Division 19, and Dundalk in 5th. There have been no matches between these teams, but Carlow 1 and Dundalk 1 played four matches between 2016 and 2018, with each team winning twice. A difficulty one to predict, as these two teams have never been entered into the Leinster leagues in the same season.
Clontarf 4 vs Longford 1 - A tough one awaits for Clontarf. After four losses, they travel to Longford, who are unbeaten from three. The sides met on April 23, when 61 from Adnan Sarfraz (the 14th time he has passed 50 for Longford 1, second on their list, behind Shamas Sarfraz with 26) got Longford to 208ao with Shahbaz Malik taking 4-52. In reply, Longford bowled Tarf out for 140, with no one taking more than two wickets.
Rush 3 vs Naas 1 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Mullingar 1 vs Pembroke 3 - Pembroke sit bottom of Division 6 after a single loss, whilst Mullingar look good after a couple of wins. There have only been two matches between the sides in St Finian's College, with both sides having a win. In the match in August 2013, Mullingar were bowled out for 120, with David Poff taking 4-35 (he later took 7-37, which remains the third best bowling since 2011 for Pembroke 2). Max Byers then hit 53 as Pembroke romped home by 5 wickets, despite 4-17 from Woody O'Neill.
Finglas 2 vs Tyrrelstown 3 - The top two in Division 13 clash in Poppintree Park, although don't read too much into that. Finglas have been given a walkover in one match, and won another, whilst Tyrrelstown have not even taken the field yet, with one walkover win to their name. The head to head between the two clubs stands at 10-1 in Finglas' favour, but all the matches have been Finglas teams playing against lower Tyrrelstown teams.
Clondalkin 3 vs Finglas 3 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Civil Service 4 vs The Hills 3 - Another division where the top two meet. Civil Service's record is based on two good wins over Dublin University 2 and Adamstown 3; The Hills' is based on two matches being rained off! This is another match where the teams haven't met since 2011. In the early 80s, there would have been plenty of matches between them in Junior B. But Civil Service dropped out of the league, and when they returned in 2004, they were over 50 places behind The Hills' third string. Since Covid, that gap has reduced rapidly, and the rivalry can resume after a forty year gap.
Athlone 2 vs Clontarf 6 - Clontarf 6 have lost their first three league games, and travel to Athlone 2 side who won their first match. Clontarf's bowling has been pretty ok - Lachlan Honan has 7 wickets at 14.43 and Shahzad Mustafa has taken 6 wickets at 6.33. But the batting is where Tarf's problems have been. In their three league matches, they have been dismissed for 87, 63 and 148 (at home to Athlone on the first weekend of the season)
Tyrrelstown 4 vs Greystones 3 - Two teams with a 1-1 record meet in Tyrrelstown Park. Tyrrelstown 4th's first season saw them as runners-up in Division 16, which they won in 2022. Greystones are playing their tenth league season, but have yet to get a league title. Their best finish was 6th in Division 13 in 2017.
Laois 3 vs Civil Service 5 - Division 15 is taking a while to work out who should be top and who should be bottom. Laois are currently second, but with five matches played, and three of those losses. Civil Service are down in 4th with a 2-1 record. The only two previous matches were last year (both in Stradbally), with each side winning one. Nothing of note happened in those two matches, but the second match was Dave Nugent's 148th match for Civil Service (2011 onwards). He has since gone on to clock up 160, placing him fifth on the Civil Service list behind Nilesh Joshi (161), Sachin Mistry (172) and Mubasher Siddique (174)
Merrion 4 vs Adamstown 2 - Adamstown 2 are 2-1, travelling to Anglesea Road to a Merrion side who are 1-2. Merrion play their second match of the weekend, and could end up in any league oposition between 1st and 7th depending how results go. Kunal Nagare has been the leading run scorer for Adamstown 2 this year with 120 runs at 40, whilst their leading wicket taker is Bradley Fernandes with 7 at 7.43. Fernandes stands at number 22 in the list of alltime Adamstown wicket takers, with 72 wickets at 18.36.
Bagenalstown 1 vs Swords 1 - Bagenalstown have lost their first two matches of the season, and have a chance against a Swords 1 side who have managed the same feat (before this weekend - yesterday Swords played Clondalkin 1). Teams from Swords have lost the last three times they have played in McGrath Park, with their last win being back in 2015. In 2019 Swords were bowled out for 99, with Bagenalstown winning by 6 wickets, and then in 2022, Swords were bowled out for 92, but did better with the ball - Bagenalstown won by 2 wickets.
North Kildare 6 vs Kilkenny 3 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
North Kildare 5 vs Wexford Wanderers 2 - North Kildare 5 play their first league match of the season, hosting a Wexford Wanderers side who have lost once (to Dundalk 1 last week). Teams from Wexford Wanderers have traveled four times to The Maws, but have yet to win. Three of those were matches between 2011 and 2017, when Wexford 1 lost to North Kildare 2, and then last year Wexford 2 lost to North Kildare 5 on the North Kildare second pitch. Vishal Venkatesan, Ankit Rana and Tarik Ullah all scored 50s as North Kildare ran up 285ao, before Mohammed Muzammil took 5-4 as Wexford were bowled out for 63.
Adamstown 6 vs Wicklow County 2 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Ongar 2 vs Halverstown 2 - The top two in Division 19 meet, with both teams having a 2-1 record. There has never been a match between the two clubs, so presumably a big presentation of pennants before the game. The star for Ongar this season has undoubtedly been Adithya Annam who has scored 53 runs at 17.67, but more importantly, 11 wickets at 5.36. His Ongar 1 debut surely awaits. Halverstown 2's performances this season have been more of a team effort, with Desmond Drumm, Junaid Khan and Ahsan Syed all taking four or more wickets, and Sean Conroy and Junaid Khan scoring 40 or more runs.
Kilkenny 1 vs Phoenix 3 - Phoenix 3 are top of Division 7 after three solid wins, and they travel to third place Kilkenny 1, the first time they have played each other. For Phoenix, their leading run scorer this season has been Bijesh Bhaskaran with 186 runs at 46.5 (currently the 12th highest total across the province), with the leading wicket taker being Graham Morris's 8 wickets at 6.75. For Kilkenny 1, their leading wicket taker is Zeeshan Mumtaz with 11 wickets at 9.64 (7th in the province). He is also their leading run scorer with 241 runs at 60.25 (2nd in the province)
Sandyford 3 vs North County 6 - No preview, as previous matches this season involving at least one of these teams still to be processed.
Pembroke 5 vs Terenure 4 - Terenure 4 play their second game of the weekend after hosting Malahide 6 yesterday. Despite only playing two matches for Pembroke 5 this year, Bhushan Baviskar is by far the highest run scorer with 135 runs for one dismissal. Graham Mooney has been the highest wicket taker with 6 wickets at 7.67. For Terenure (and before yesterday's match), their highest run scorer this season has been Manav Sarvaiya with 86 runs at 86, with leading wicket taker being Gethin Kelleher with 4 wickets.
Knockharley 2 vs Laois 2 - Inter Cup Group D is wide open with only two matches being played so far. Laois beat Civil Service 4 with 35 balls to spare, whilst Service beat Knockharley by 10 runs, suggesting a Laois win today. The Middle 2 Cup final was between these sides in 2015 (played in North Kildare). Laois made only 122, with Muhammad Tahir Rasheed taking 6-22 (which remains his best bowling in Leinster, in 223 matches). But an allround performance by the Laois bowling attack saw Knockharley dismissed for 110, giving Laois the Middle 2 Cup for the first time.
Castleknock 2 vs Railway Union 4 - The first game in this year's Group A of the GS Cricket Intermediate Cup. There isn't too much between the teams in terms of league position, with Castleknock 2 in 7th place in Division 9, and Railway Union 4 in 3rd in Division 10. This exact match (in the same venue and the same competition) also took place last May, with Castleknock winning by 4 wickets. Railway finished four runs short of Castleknock's 120.
Dublin University 1 vs North Kildare 1 - A vital game for Dublin University, but only pride to play for for North Kildare. No matches between the pair previously in the Alan Murray (the first match this year was rained off). They played matches in the Championhsip in 2016 and 2017, with big wins in both matches for Trinity, with North Kildare being bowled out for 49 and 63 in the two matches.
Leinster 1 vs Merrion 1 - A crucial game for Merrion (depending on how the morning matches went). Five previous matches between the teams have resulted in three wins for Merrion. The top score in those matches was Thomas Ritchie's 103 for Leinster in July 2015 (although Merrion still won by 6 wickets), whilst the top bowling is Dom Joyce's 4-11 in July 2013 (Merrion won that match by 6 wickets as well!)