RAILWAY UNION
- Captain: Liam McCarthy/Philippe Le Roux
- Overseas professional: none
- Players in: Brandon Kruger, Rishabh Sukrit, Punya Mehra
- Players out: None
- Young players to watch:
It's a return to the top-flight of Premiership cricket for Railway Union this season and the Park Avenue side have assembled a very useful looking squad for the most competitive division in the country.
The club are splitting the captain's role between Munster Reds interprovinical player Liam McCarthy (pictured) and Ireland Under 19 international Phillipe Le Roux.
The teenager is doing his Leaving Cert exams so McCarthy will be at the helm for the first five or six weeks until he finishes, then he will take over.
The club has no overseas professional as such, but have acquired the services of Brandon Kruger from Cork Harlequins. He will add some power hitting to an already strong middle-order, as well as further strengtening a quality spin attack with his off-spin.
Hamza Maan (pictured) and Alan Matthew were both in fine fettle as Railway gained promotion last season. The latter looked destined for a move to pastures new, but the club persuaded him to stay as well as Hashir Sultan, so the pair staying put is great news.
UAE Under 19 international Punya Mehra has joined, and he has pleasant memories of Ireland, scoring an unbeaten 48 against them in the U19 World Cup last year in the West Indies. He's studying in Dublin and will be all the better for the experience.
They have also picked up another youth international who is studying in the capital, with Malaysian teenager Rishabh Sukrit at UCD. He is a medium-pace bowler who has enjoyed domestic success, as well as making useful late order runs.
Ireland's most capped player Kevin O'Brien is Head Coach and can't wait for the season to get under way.
"I'm Head Coach this year at Railway and am very excited by that," 'Kev' told CricketEurope.
"We have a good young squad, with a nice sprinkling of experience with the likes of Kenny Carroll still around.
"In terms of young players to watch, I think Punya Mehra could have a great season for us. Watching him in the nets he looks a talented, compact player.
"Also keep an eye on my nephew Robert O'Brien who could make an impression and push his way through the ranks for senior honours. He is making huge progress in his cricket and development."
Railway start their season on Saturday April 29th when they entertain Pembroke and Terenure in the T20 Cup at Park Avenue.