All matches start at 12.30
Balbriggan v Trinity
North Kildare v Railway U
Malahide v Terenure
Rush v Merrion
In OCD2 we also have a full suite of matches. The pick of the day may well be the contest between Rush and Merrion. Merrion are of course the current holders of the Irish Senior Cup, but a poor league campaign last year resulted in relegation. Something they will be anxious to see reversed. They have been made favourites to get promotion and look to have a stronger and better balanced side from 21016. This year they do have an overases player [Jamie Brown] and also welcome back Rory Allwright, who missed all of last season due to work commitments, and Cillian O’Donoghue, who is back after injury. There are senior debuts for Bhavesh Lakhotia and Sean Stanton.
Merrion will be well aware of the challenge the first round will bring. They are up against a Rush side that has an experienced core in Jansen, Gull, Iqbal, Monks, Doheny, and Eastwood [with over 600 senior matches between them], as well as a number of promising younger players,. But they will be looking for a more consistent performance this year and will want to be at least in the frame for promotion. While they may not fancied meeting Merrion so early in the season, it may turn out to be an opportune time with home advantage over Merrion missing Tyrone Kane [touring], Max Neville [injury] and Ed Joyce [yet to return to the colours].
Rush: Lynal Jansen (C)[O], Neil Rock, Saadat (Tipu) Gull, Shahid Iqbal, Sean Monks, Stephen Doheny , Dean Brogan, Allan Eastwood, Aaron McGuire, Alex Neary, Daniel Coffey - 12th Jack McGee
Merrion: Dom Joyce [C], Bhavesh Lakhotia, John Blakeney, John Anderson, Jamie Brown [O], Michael Lewis, Rory Allwright, Cillian O'Donoghue, Tom Stanton, Sean Stanton, Ross Shivmangal.
Malahide will also be hoping to challenge for promotion this year and thus a good start against Terenure will be important. Danny O’Shea makes his debut from among a team of regular players. Terenure continue to re-build and will be hoping for a repeat of the good start they got in the first half of last season.
Malahide: A Reynolds [C], J Newland, F McAllister, C Riches , N Boyne, P Chase, K Reynolds, L Muttatothill, C Shoebridge, A Muntha, D O'Shea
Terenure: Conor Mullen (C), Ajaz Shah, Colm Morgan, Dan Van Zyl, Diarmuid Lynch, James Smith, Kenny McDonald , Michael Cotter, Mohammad Arshad, Subby Ramnathpur, Yasir Bashir Cheema
It is the nature of student sides that one never really knows what the team will be like until the the season actually starts. DU have an overseas player again this season [following Matt Petrie in 2016] and most of the key players return so there is every chance that the team will prove highly competitive and can at least match their 3rd place performance from last year.
In the first match they take on a Balbriggan side which has a lot of new faces. In fact it is easier to list the players that have played at senior level before - Duane and Adrian Harper, Ehtesham Ahmed, Cian Nulty. But from among the debutants they can call on players who have competed at a high level in New Zealand [Trent McGrath] and Adam Keefe [Zimbabwe].
Balbriggan: Duane Harper, Adrian Harper, Ehtesham Ahmed, Trent McGrath, Adam Keefe, Connor Fletcher, Cian Nulty, Ziq Mahmood , Farooq Nasr Bajwa, Mudassar Aziz, Kashif Ali
Dublin University: No team submitted
The final match-up is between North Kildare and Railway Union. The home side surprised a few teams last season and will have gained a lot from their first year in D2. But other sides won’t be inclined to take them lightly, especially on their home patch. So they can expect no complacency from Railway who will be anxious to plot a way back to D1.
A point to look out for is whether North Kildare open their bowling with schoolboy brothers Clint and Mathew Auret, as they did in a recent friendly. They will come up against the two Mann brothers [with Hanan joining from Adamstown over the winter]. Railway have a young side, with seven of the team under 21, but they are well prepared after a busy indoor season and pre-season friendlies.
Railway Union: Kenny Carroll [C], Alex Stiles, Patrick Duffy, Abdullah Hafeez, Mo Tariq, Hanan Maan, Furqan Ul Haq, Hamza Maan, Andy Jackson, Shariq Khan, Eoghan Grehan 12th Kashif Grehan
North Kildare: Neil Vorster, Sean Dalton, Clint Auret, Manjeet Singh, Imran ul-Haq, Josh Uddin, Robert Neavyn, Mathew Auret, Tom Satchwell, Paul Ryan, Wasif Ali