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The 2010 season in Leinster was the first to be played with a dozen divisions of league competitions.  The top two divisions comprised thirteen clubs from the 2009 Senior A and Senior B leagues plus Cork County, Dublin University and The Hills 2nd XI.  In Division 2 Dublin University and Cork County were to play each other side only once, the Munstermen playing only away.

Division 1 quickly sorted itself out into a Premier League, comprising North County, The Hills and Railway Union, and a Championship made up of Merrion, Clontarf, YMCA, Leinster and Malahide. Division 2 took a little longer to develop a pattern, but by June the awful Dublin University were on their way to Division 3, beating only Old Belvedere.  The nearly as bad Old Belvedere appeared to be going the same way, while Phoenix and Pembroke strung together series of league wins.

Matches between the “big three” in Division 1 were highly competitive and often saw the bowling in the ascendancy: The Hills defended 110 against North County at Milverton; North County struggled to 208 at Park Avenue, only to win by a distance.  None of the “little five” could generate any momentum.

Toward the end of the season Railway Union and The Hills slipped away leaving North County to steam to the league title, their bowling based on pro Jimmy Boyland and local hero Eddie Richardson more than making up for the frequent absences of Andre Botha and John Mooney.  At the other end, Leinster and Malahide had the odd false dawn, but lost out to YMCA as Merrion and then Clontarf made themselves safe from relegation.

Phoenix dominated Division 2 and, after a nasty wobble, Pembroke followed them to promotion.  Terenure (formerly CYM) and Cork County played some good cricket and will be hoping to progress further in 2011.  Rush, like Terenure, have some excellent youngsters, most of whom need another couple of years before they're ready for Division 2, let alone Division 1.

The Hills 2 were highly competitive, and Old Belvedere finished with three wins to give themselves some hope for 2011.  They managed to avoid relegation because Leinster 2 won Division 3 but couldn't be promoted into the same division as their Firsts.  North County 2 replace Dublin University in Division 2.

A lot of good cricket was played in the 60-over Senior Cup.  In the first round Leinster's 261 at Milverton wasn't enough to beat The Hills, but Rush's 360 at Kenure was enough to beat Pembroke, just.  Had The Hills known they were going to draw Clontarf in the second round they would probably have conceded the tie to Leinster: The Hills can't beat Clontarf at all, while Leinster can, but only in cup matches!

In the semi finals, both severely rain interrupted, Railway Union got the better of North County and Clontarf eased home at Malahide.  The final, at College Park to celebrate Dublin University's 175th anniversary year, was very dramatic, often the case when a very poor pitch dictates poor cricket.  Clontarf nearly came back from the dead to defend 134, but lost by 2 wickets.

The hospitality tent must have got the better of several luminaries, who were advocating “big” matches being played in College Park.  Whether it was the Chassagne Montrachet or the St. Emilion Grand Cru or, more likely, the Paddy, there is no way you're going to host internationals on a cow-pat you can't fence off and charge into.  Erstwhile LCU President Matt Sheridan doesn't take alcohol, so I can only speculate how he blew his mind.  Secretary Mary Sharp doesn't have the sort of mind that can be blown.

Leinster cricket's personal property this century is the Irish Senior Cup, apart from a lapse in 2003.  It was deja vu all over again in 2010, the cream (whey, more often) of the United Kingdom being clotted by the sheer excellence of Leinster club cricket which, be reminded, doesn't allow first class professionals.  (OK, OK, apart from Trent Johnston, not to mention Andre Botha and Dan van Zyl – and John Anderson played one first class match; Tipu Gull and Shahid Iqbal were first class when they played in the NWCA, but not when they moved to the LCU!)

The period of Leinster dominance follows the eighties, when NCU sides ruled the roost, and the nineties, when it was the NWCA's turn.  There are several reasons for it, one of them being the continued excellence of the North County side, five times winners.  But Clontarf have been as successful as County in Leinster competitions, yet have never featured in the Irish Senior Cup.

My own opinion is that it is due to the large number of non-Irish playing the game in Leinster, nearly all of them amatuers and less than Senior standard.  They have given strength in depth to many clubs, meaning that first teams now carry very few, if any, passengers – players who are neither Senior batters nor Senior bowlers.  Most first teams have a sixth or even a seventh bowler, numbers 7, 8, 9 are no mugs with the bat, meaning that there is plenty of cover if some of the star players have an off day.

NCU connections in particular are prone to whinge about the many non-Irish in Leinster cricket, but they miss the point that it makes the local players better because they're fighting for their places and having to play harder cricket.  As a very senior Ireland and NCU player once said to me, “If we had them, we'd use them.”  But I digress.

In the preliminary round the less than ordinary Old Belvedere conceded home advantage and won a thriller at Downpatrick, while the new, improved, Terenure easily beat Cork Harlequins, and Rush overpowered Lurgan.  In the first round proper the UK representatives weren't much better.  Only Coleraine (at home to Clontarf), Waringstown (at home to Old Belvedere) and Glendermott (away to Phoenix) overcame Leinster opposition.

Malahide won at St. Johnston, YMCA won at Bready, Merrion won at Strabane, The Hills won at Carrickfergus, Pembroke beat North Down at Oak Hill and North County beat Eglinton at the Inch.  Waringstown's teigue-slaying continued as they beat Malahide next round, and holders Leinster lost to the Foxies in Ballymagorry, but North County beat Limavady and Merrion beat CIYMS, both at home.

In the quarter finals Waringstown were too good for The Hills at Milverton, Railway Union won away at Coleraine, and in a thriller Merrion nudged home at North County.  The semi final presented no problem for Railway Union at Fox Lodge, but at The Lawn Merrion recovered from 16-4 to post 202, which Waringstown couldn't threaten.

The final, at The Inch, saw magnificent batting from both teams.  Irish internationals Kevin O'Brien (76*) and Trent Johnston (71*) smashed Merrion's bowling to amass 317-3 in 50 overs.  In reply, Merrion pro Greg Clarence blasted 80* and former Irish international Dom Joyce accelerated to 72* to bring Merrion to 164-1 after 26 overs, 36 runs ahead on D/L as the match finished at 7:40 p.m.

The Duckworth/Lewis method is supposed to take into account interruptions in both innings and compute a target score which is fair to both sides.  Its application in the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup Final didn't do that, and there were several instances in Divisions 1 and 2 when its application gave only one team the chance to win.

If there were a Leinster Cricket Supreme Court to which match results could be appealed, and there were any judges sitting on the panel who had three digit IQs and any vestige of impartiality, let alone competence, highly unlikely, I know, Leinster might well be interested in a review of YMCA's win over Railway Union.