The best and worst of ...... Clontarf

The second in our series, "The Best and worst...." looks at the fortunes of Clontarf over the last sixteen seasons. 

It may be easy for younger readers (and those with failing memories) to think of Clontarf as being dominant since time immemorial. There has been a massive amount of success in the last twenty years, and it is possibly no surprise to see that Tarf were named as the number one team across the island of Ireland for 2016. But is has not always been so, and amidst the trophies and celebration, there were also two relegations. The more recent one was in 2012 when a flu ridden Bill Coghlan led his team in a must win last match of the season in Merrion, where Ben Ackland hit 173 to send Clontarf down. 

But the lowest rated team goes back to an earlier relegation in 2002, and it is a match against Malahide that marked the low of the low.

Clontarf's low - rating 72.372 - ranking 27th - date September 2 2002 - after 116 run loss to Malahide

The start of the 2002 shouldn't have brought any alarm in Castle Avenue. 2000 has seen Clontarf win the league and cup double, the lynchpin in that team being a certain Andre Botha. Botha finished hsi first spell in Clontarf at the end of that season, departing to become part of the great North County side. Tarf bought in fellow South African Thinus Fourie to replace Botha, and for that first season post Botha, 2001, there was no problem as Clontarf finished in the runners-up spot, behind Merrion (the Ballsbridge club's last Div 1/Senior league title).

But 2002 was a different story. The team only won two matches all season, and one of those was a dead match win over North County in September. The low point for the season (and for the entire 21st century so far) was against Malahide on August 31st.

The scorecard can be viewed on Cricket Archive here and reveals a team of Clontarf legends, very few of which played much beyond the 2002 season. The one player still playing is Bill Coghlan, who played this match as a 17 year old number nine batsman. Ireland's Greg Molins led the team, and Conor D'Arcy was still playing for Clontarf in 2015. But the rest of that team have moved on, many of who's names are still spoken of in reverential terms in Leinster Cricket - Ronan O'Reilly, Ian Synnott, Paddy Lee, Ross Maybury, Keith Spelman and the rest.

For that team, September 2nd was the low point. Promotion came about the following season, and the path to being the top club in the land started there and then (albeit one that was interupted by that 2012 relegation)

Clontarf's high - rating 133.604 - ranking 2nd - date August 22 2016 - after 28 run win over The Hills

Since being relegated from Division 1, Clontarf have slowly been building a team of the ages. There has only been one title on the national stage - the 2013 Irish Senior Cup, but a cabinetful in Leinster - an Alan Murray Cup /Senior Cup double in 2014, a league and cup double in 2015 and another league title in 2016.

And towards the backend of the 2016 season, the team were as good as at any time in the previous 16 years. Many may argue with that - both in Clontarf and beyond. The assertion of this column is that the standard of cricket in Leinster (especially in Division 1) is so much higher than it was in previous years. In some years there has been three or four decent teams in the top division - with the rest making up the numbers. At the start of the 2017 Division 1 season, all teams could win the league, all could be relegated - and all could win the Irish Senior Cup.

The eagle eyed amongst you will note that even though this is Clontarf's highest rating, they were only second in the rankings at that monent (to Waringstown). The reality is that Waringstown collapsed at the end of the 2016 season, and despite Clontarf's form also dipping, the NCU's form dipped much, much more.

The actual match that represented Clontarf's highpoint was against The Hills in Milverton towards the end of last season, and in many ways typifies the current Clontarf side. Overseas player Charlie Wakim and veteran Bill Coghlan put on 80 for the first wicket. Alex Cusack scored 31, but his dismissal left Tarf in a spot of bother at 131-4. But then Eoghan Delany entered, and there is no better man for a crisis in Leinster cricket. He scored 76 and put on 115 with Robert Forrest, to get teh champions elect to 288-7. 

The bowling attack has probably had better days than this, but only the very best bowlers come away from Milverton with good returns. Rain mad a mess of the match, and at this distance it is a little difficult to work out the intricaies of the innings, with The Hills obviously needing rapid runs at the end to reach a DLS adjusted total. But the balance of the bowling attack is a thing of beauty. The wisdom and guile of Cusack and Morrissey, the express pace of David Delany, and then the Dutt, Wakim and Islam to give a six man attack of unrivalled depth. 

Whether that mark can be beaten probably depends on the answer to one simple question. With Alex Cusack having now ledt the club, can he be replaced?