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Review of Divisions 3 & 4 for the weekend 25th September

Division 4 was finally resolved last Sunday at Anglesea Road, where the rain was much less and passed over much more quickly than forecast, enabling Merrion 2 to play a 48 over match against YMCA 2.  Merrion asked the visitors to bat, and had them in trouble with three early wickets for Jeff Short.  With Chris Minch out for 23 and Sean Mcauley for 15, YM were 57-6, when Jonny Harte (24) and David Streek (38) put on 60 for the seventh wicket.  Yaqoob Ali came in at ten and thrashed 51 off 29 balls (4x4, 4x6) to lift his team to 198 all out in 41.1 overs.  Short finished with 3/31, Rex Walsh with 2/22 and McGrath 2/29.  Chris Allwright (54) and Robbie Stanton (26) put on 94 for the first wicket, on which score both were out.  Alan Parkinson made 21 and McGrath 18, and there was a bit of a middle order wobble before Matt O'Driscoll's 40* saw his team to the Division 4 title with two overs and four wickets to spare.

YMCA 2 accompany Merrion 2 into Division 3, where they join Pembroke 2, Clontarf 2 and North County 2 along with Balbriggan, Old Belvedere and Civil Service in what should be quite a strong league.  It would be even stronger if Clontarf and Pembroke didn't lose half a dozen players to Dublin University for the first four weeks of the season.

I've followed the debate on the cover-point website about Dublin University in Division 2 next season with great interest, and I still don't believe that Leinster cricket is in any way augmented by the inclusion of Dublin University in its league structure.  College Park is a very mediocre cricket facilty – the square is poor and the fixtures and fittings no better than moderate.  Yes, it's a beautiful setting and yes, the mobile scenery is first rate, but I go to a cricket match to watch cricket.  If I want to see pretty girls, lightly clad, against a backdrop of interesting architecture, I can go to Barcelona, Rome or Florence, or even London!

All bar three of Dublin University's players last season turned out for other LCU clubs, quite often in the same division.  I'm sure several Dublin clubs would have been willing to offer places last year to Messrs Bouch, Pike and Pursehouse for as long as they were in town, so nobody would have missed any cricket.  The University players would still be free to play in College Park in intervarsity competitions and in friendlies, which is about what it's fit for.

Bending the rules for participation in league competitions can only be justified if the competition is thereby enriched.  Throwing the rules out of the window, as we do by allowing Dublin University to play, can only be justified if there is a massive and blindingly obvious benefit.  There isn't.  It's an anachronism which must be got rid of.