Picking at the Entrails [of the Senior League Cup]

With five rounds of the IBI Corporate Finance Leinster Senior League Cup completed we can now see more clearly the way forward and can also look back at what has been a very interesting first few matches of the season. 

Although The Hills have won all five of their matches to date, there is still all to play for at the top of Section A. Looking at the remaining two rounds of fixtures, any two of The Hills, Phoenix and Malahide can make the semi-finals. There may also be an interest in coming first to avoid Merrion in the SF [although that could depend on whether Pembroke are able to qualify with their full squad for the SF]. 

The qualification for the Premier League later in the season will likely depend on the outcome of the match between North County and YMCA. YMCA are six points ahead and could just about afford to lose this game and then take advantage of a final round slip up by NC to slip past them. 

In Section B Merrion have already qualified as winners and go through to the SFs. But four teams are still in the hunt for the second SF place - Leinster, Pembroke, Balbriggan and Rush. It is also tight for the places in the Premier league with all four still in contention. Neither Clontarf nor Terenure can qualify even if they win their remaining games. 

Looking at the season so far, the first thing to say is that despite the early start only one match has fallen foul of the weather. The bare statistics show that 205 players have taken part, over 13,000 runs scored at an average of 22.28 per wicket [down on the average for recent seasons so the bowlers have been doing well overall] and at an average scoring rate of .71 per ball. We have passed the 250 mark for sixes [including 31 in the game between Rush and Clontarf at Kenure]. There have been 9 centuries scored, 43 half-centuries and five times bowlers have taken 5W or more. 

The best individual performance with the bat was the innings of 178* by Jurie Snyman for Rush v Clontarf. The best bowling performance was Luke Clinton’s 7/13 for The Hills against North County. Taking the season so far Daya Singh [The Hills] has figured prominently with ball and bat. He has most wickets [13] and is one of three players with 10 or more. The other two are Ehtesham Ahmed [Balbriggan] and Max Sorensen [Merrion] both on 12. On the batting front Singh is one of four players with 250 plus runs. Topping the table is Michael Lewis [Merrion] on 308. John Anderson [285], also Merrion, and Eoghan Delany [253] for Clontarf make up the list. 

The adjusted tables for individual performances for the first part of the season reflecting the importance of scoring quickly and the economy rates for bowlers.