THE Leinster clubs will vote next week on a proposal that one of their number drop down to the junior leagues for the 2008 season, which started yesterday. CYM, who have lost seven senior and senior 2 standard players since Christmas, have asked to be allowed to opt out of senior competitions but maintain their teams in Senior 2 and Intermediate B. They hope to resume at the top level in 2009.
"We believe this is in the best interests of the club and of Leinster cricket", club secretary and former interpro bowler Ken Brennan told Inside Edge this weekend. "It won't do anyone any good if we have to give multiple walkovers in Senior 2."
It is a proposal that has been greeted with sadness around the clubs, but CYM may not find the sympathy extending to support for their proposal. Talking to three senior members of rival clubs last week, I found a surprising lack of support. "CY have been indulged for many years by the LCU," said one, "their ground is a disgrace and they have made little or no effort to change that situation. Lots of other clubs have worked very hard to upgrade their facilities but I see no evidence of that in Terenure. They are paying the price for that now because it is not a club that senior players would move to."
Harsh words, but they were not a unique opinion.
CYM's accession to senior status was a long, hard fought, and, at times, difficult process. The square is too small to sustain enough grass pitches and the club installed an artificial pitch - the first in Leinster - to solve the problem. There was much resistance to the mat and its fair to say it is unloved by most senior cricketers.
CYM made an unsuccessful bid to merge with Phoenix over the winter, with the proposed name of Phoenix-CYM proving a sticking point for members of the Park club. CYM have discussed other possible mergers but do not see that as solution to the immediate difficulty.
The winter saw the loss of the promising Conor Kelly to Phoenix and last year's captain Mike Baumgart to The Hills, and there were a few new faces on the team that played Malahide at Terenure yesterday. The 1st team squad are willing to forego senior cricket this year to help out, and none will be going elsewhere.
"We're just asking for a dispensation from the LCU", insisted Brennan, "if it doesn't succeed then we'll take it from there and consider our options".
It is a difficult juncture for the club, who have a thriving underage session which in the 1980s produced the best talent in the country, including Ireland bowlers Conor Hoey and Eddie Moore. "The future of cricket in Leinster will inevitably mean some teams dropping out or merging", said Brennan. "At the very least we need to look at changing the structure. There's too much cricket and players have to consider their work-life balance. At the élite level we need more of the best playing the best. With no sign of interpros that's even more important to bridge the gap to the Ireland team."
Wisden's Cricketers Almanack is out now, and there's a new name on the extensive contributors list. Vanessa Johnston, wife of the former Irish captain Trent, has penned an explanation of her husband's celebratory 'chicken dance' and Dave Langford-Smith's 'ferret'. Therein she describes her husband as "a big foot-stamper with no co-ordination and all elbows". The ferret dance apparently derives from an Australian TV comedy show called 'Fast Forward' in which a character called The Ferret pranced in a manner that inspired a revival by the Phoenix bowler many years later.
Another former Irish skipper, Jason Molins, resumed his senior league career yesterday when turning out for Leinster CC against Old Belvedere in the DGM league.
Molins, who will play a number fixtures for the Rathmines club - is keen to show Phil Simmons that he is still capable of taking apart professional attacks having seen his Irish career end ingloriously after the 2005 ICC Trophy. He - and his brother Greg - have a chance to sample international cricket once again in July when he turns out for an Israeli Invitational XI against India 'A'. The game is part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the founding of Israel, and the Molinses join five other overseas players in the XI: South African former Test player Adam Bacher, ex-Dutch captain Roland Lefebvre and Australian state players Steve Herzberg, Jon Moss and Michael Klinger. The Molins brothers - with father Rodney and uncle Stephen - played in Israel as part of the Ireland team that competed in the 1995 Maccabiah Games, an Olympic style event for Jewish athletes.