There were a number of new faces at Belmont for the 2023 season as they challenged on most fronts, but had to be content with an all-Ireland T20 trophy.
International commitments meant they rarely had their full line-up available, so an early Irish enior Cup departure was not entirely a shock.
They won the bowl-out to go forward to the aforementioned All-Ireland T20, beating Balbriggan in a Super Over, but were beaten in the NCU T20 final by Waringstown in the last over when it did eventually get played.
They will go forward in 2024 to be Ireland's representative at the European Cricket League in Spain.
Ross Adair topped the batting chart with 906 runs at 43.14, followed by Jason van der Merwe - 879 at 51.71 including two of the six hundreds at senior level.
Others worthy of mention are skipper John Matchett (628 at 34.89), Chris Dougherty (606 at 25.25), and Tyron Koen (541 at 33.81).
Theo van Woerkom's form saw him top the bowling as he took 32 wickets at 22.09 and will probably see him earn an Ireland cap this month against England.
John Matchett claimed 31 wickets at 18.16, while Tyron Koen (29 at 21.14), Allen Coulter (28 at 19.71), and Ed Nuttall (23 at 22.57) all passed 20.
Carson McCullough offered a glimpse of the future with the youth international having a five-wickets haul in his 16 at 12.94.
Mark Adair only bowled 8.1 overs in the entire season due to international commitments, and it's likely that CIYMS will see much more of him in 2025 - although he would certainly be a revelation if allowed to go to Spain.
No doubt there will be a few more personnel changes over the close season, adding to an already talented squad that will never be too far away from silverware.
TOP BATTING
| # | Name | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ross Adair | 24 | 24 | 3 | 906 | 184 | 43.14 | 638 | 142.01 | 1 | 6 | 84 | 65 |
| 2 | J van der Merwe | 24 | 23 | 6 | 879 | 129 | 51.71 | 655 | 134.20 | 2 | 6 | 74 | 45 |
| 3 | J Matchett | 24 | 23 | 5 | 628 | 107 | 34.89 | 646 | 97.21 | 1 | 4 | 73 | 15 |
| 4 | C Dougherty | 25 | 25 | 1 | 606 | 69 | 25.25 | 789 | 76.81 | - | 2 | 64 | 21 |
| 5 | T Koen | 25 | 20 | 4 | 541 | 102 | 33.81 | 532 | 101.69 | 1 | 3 | 47 | 20 |
| 6 | T van Woerkom | 25 | 19 | 6 | 274 | 54* | 21.08 | 384 | 71.35 | - | 1 | 17 | 8 |
| 7 | Mark Adair | 9 | 7 | - | 172 | 104 | 24.57 | 127 | 135.43 | 1 | - | 12 | 11 |
| 8 | A Coulter | 22 | 12 | 5 | 112 | 34 | 16.00 | 132 | 84.85 | - | - | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | M Best | 14 | 6 | 1 | 83 | 36 | 16.60 | 111 | 74.77 | - | - | 6 | 2 |
| 10 | C McCullough | 21 | 11 | 2 | 75 | 26 | 8.33 | 157 | 47.77 | - | - | 6 | 1 |
| 11 | A Kennedy | 17 | 7 | 2 | 51 | 27* | 10.20 | 61 | 83.61 | - | - | 4 | 1 |
| 12 | J Beattie | 12 | 7 | 2 | 34 | 18 | 6.80 | 68 | 50.00 | - | - | 2 | - |
| 13 | C Robinson | 3 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 20* | 21.00 | 22 | 95.45 | - | - | - | 1 |
| 14 | E Nuttall | 22 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 10* | 4.20 | 43 | 48.84 | - | - | 1 | - |
| 15 | Mark Cleghorne | 1 | 1 | - | 14 | 14 | 14.00 | 18 | 77.78 | - | - | - | - |
TOP WICKET TAKERS
| # | Name | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | Ave | Econ | SR | 5WI | wds | nbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T van Woerkom | 25 | 149.3 | 7 | 707 | 32 | 5-20 | 22.09 | 4.73 | 28.03 | 1 | 10 | - |
| 2 | J Matchett | 24 | 102.2 | 1 | 563 | 31 | 4-7 | 18.16 | 5.50 | 19.81 | - | 25 | - |
| 3 | T Koen | 25 | 119.2 | 12 | 613 | 29 | 4-47 | 21.14 | 5.14 | 24.69 | - | 33 | 2 |
| 4 | A Coulter | 22 | 110 | 7 | 552 | 28 | 3-19 | 19.71 | 5.02 | 23.57 | - | 68 | 5 |
| 5 | E Nuttall | 22 | 119 | 17 | 519 | 23 | 3-30 | 22.57 | 4.36 | 31.04 | - | 17 | 1 |
| 6 | C McCullough | 21 | 46.4 | 4 | 207 | 16 | 5-31 | 12.94 | 4.44 | 17.50 | 1 | 6 | - |
| 7 | A Kennedy | 17 | 57 | 4 | 333 | 8 | 2-8 | 41.62 | 5.84 | 42.75 | - | 8 | 1 |
| 8 | Ross Adair | 24 | 10 | - | 58 | 4 | 2-29 | 14.50 | 5.80 | 15.00 | - | 6 | - |
| 9 | A Farrell | 5 | 8 | - | 33 | 2 | 2-9 | 16.50 | 4.12 | 24.00 | - | - | - |
| 10 | Mark Adair | 9 | 8.1 | - | 56 | 1 | 1-29 | 56.00 | 6.86 | 49.00 | - | 4 | - |
| 11 | M Best | 14 | 20 | - | 154 | 1 | 1-18 | 154.00 | 7.70 | 120.00 | - | 3 | - |