Sprint Coatings Division 1 Review

Consistency was key for Leinster CC who set out to retain the Sprint Coatings Division 1 Trophy. With a number of Ireland players and overseas professionals unable to come to Ireland for the condensed season due to the pandemic, it was a challenging time for all clubs but also an opportunity to blood new, younger players.

The holders set out their stall early in the season with strong wins over their two main challengers Merrion CC and Pembroke CC. In the first of the two encounters, Merrion set a slightly under par target of 132. Leinster batted around Laura Delany (60*) to win by six wickets with five balls to spare. And Pembroke will also feel like they didn’t score enough runs. Leinster bowled very tightly, youngsters Katie Dillon (3-0-16-1) and Maria Kerrison (3-0-14-1) impressing as they restricted the Park Avenue side to 108 in their 20 overs. Leinster chased in the 19^th over, losing only one wicket with Sophie MacMahon (33) and Rebecca Rolfe (41*) scoring most of the runs.

Next up, the Rathmines side took on Malahide who were the surprise package of the campaign. They had started strongly with convincing wins over Clontarf (10 wkts) and The Hills (52 runs on D/L) and put up a tough fight against the top team, Caoimhe McCann’s 62 ultimately in vain as they were defeated by 12 runs.

Leinster continued to conquer all before them, defeating The Hills by 10 wickets after chasing down 125 and Clontarf by 24 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Sterns method – the only game of the round to be played and giving Leinster an edge over any potential challengers.

On the last day of the league, YMCA had the opportunity to spoil Leinster’s party if they beat them and other results went the right way, but with the game washed out and Merrion beating Pembroke, Leinster retained the Sprint Coatings Division 1 Trophy.  

The League was won on the back of tight bowling performances and the runs were shared around. Rebecca Rolfe was a key player as she finished fifth in the run scorers charts, her four innings accounting for 141 of Leinster’s runs at an average of 70. Sophie MacMahon sits two places below her with 131 at 65 and Laura Delany is in 9^th, impressive considering it was from just three innings. She scored 127 runs and doesn’t have an average as she was not dismissed in the 2020 season.

No Leinster bowler features in the top 10 wicket takers, but they do have four bowlers in the next 10 on the list. Sue O’Connor does feature in seventh place in the best bowling figures in a season charts with 2-6 against Clontarf.

Merrion CC followed up their loss to Leinster on the first day of the season with an early scare in their fixture against Clontarf who had them 44/5 before Sadhbh Breslin (20), Emma Paul (31) and Julianne Morrissey (17) rescued the innings to bring their total to 113. A tight bowling display meant Clontarf only managed to make 81 in their 20 overs.

The Anglesea road side followed that fixture with victories over YMCA and The Hills before their game against Malahide was washed out. A win over Pembroke by 7 runs on the last day of the season ensured they beat that opposition to second place. Their top performer was recent transfer Rebecca Stokell who came second in the top run-scorer’s chart with 267 at an average of 53.4 and her highest score of 107* came against The Hills, with her opening partner Leah Paul just behind her in third with 2019 runs at 52.25. The former Leinster player came fourth in the top wicket-takers charts along with her teammate Celeste Raack, each taking six. Newcomer to the team Niamh MacNulty is one to watch, she took five wickets at an average of 14.8 – impressive for a player with another couple of years of U15 to come.

For Pembroke CC it was a case of what might have been. After beating YMCA in their first match, their second match against Leinster was the definitive one in the season – one poor batting display costing them a chance at dethroning the champions. The loss on the last day against Merrion could have gone either way, Clare Shillington getting them ahead of the rate early, but Merrion getting back on top as the teams played in very dark and wet conditions.

Orla Prendergast impressed, coming second in the wicket-takers table with seven and 12^th in the run-scoring charts with 94 runs at just over 31. Hannah Little was also in the top five wicket takers with six at an average of 16. Anna Beale was a key bowler for Pembroke, despite the fact that she is surrounded by international bowlers; she took five wickets at 16 and came seventh in the table.

Malahide won their first two matches before losing their third to Leinster but any hopes of a chance at the title were completely dashed the following week when Pembroke handed them their second loss, the Park Avenue side chasing down 108 in the last over with just four wickets in hand. YMCA lost a thriller in Malahide to give them their third win of the season, Robyn Lewis’ 90* not enough to prevent The Village side winning by seven wickets.

Amy Hunter (269) was the league’s top run-scorer and impressed hugely across the season for Malahide, her average of 89.67 coming from five innings with a high-score of 91*. Malahide also had the league’s top wicket-taker in Anna Kerrison who took nine at an average of 10 runs and an economy of 4.29. She also had the best bowling in an innings with 4-16 against Clontarf.

YMCA will be disappointed with their final league position of fifth, but having only managed one win out of four played – two were rained off – they just managed to keep themselves out of the bottom. A convincing win over Clontarf, when Gaby Lewis scored an unbeaten 121, was the bright spot of the season. The tight loss to Malahide, perhaps, the low point.

Nonetheless, an impressive Division 2 win for their second team bodes well for the Claremont road side. Coach Robyn Lewis saw a return to form this season, finishing fourth in the run scorers’ charts despite only batting four times, her 142 coming at an average of 71 and young seamer Kate McEvoy impressed during the season with her three wickets coming at an average of 24 and an economy of 5.54, she was 16 in the wicket-taker charts.

The Hills and Clontarf propped up the bottom of the table, The Hills having two games rained off in comparison to Clontarf’s one meaning they finished sixth and Clontarf finished last. Top performer for The Hills was Tess Maritz who made 90 runs in three innings with a high score of 35*, putting her in 14th place in the top scorers list. Clontarf’s Aoife Brennan finished three places below her in 17^th with 74 runs in five innings with her teammate Anna Kirk one spot lower at 72. Clontarf fared better in the bowling, sisters Molly and Emma Butler finishing ninth and tenth in the top wicket-takers charts, Emma claiming second best figures of the season against Merrion with 3-10. Indeed, Molly had the fourth best figures in the same match with 3-26.