It wasn't the best of seasons for North Down, who finished 6th in the Premiership, and didn't put together any sort of a run in the cup competitions.

They were rarely able to get their first choice side onto the park, and suffered with the early departure of their overseas professional. 

Their Irish internationals Craig Young and Paul Stirling managed a combined total of just five matches all year which again was a big blow.

The batting was dominated by openers Ani Chore and Ally Shields, with Chore hitting 960 runs at 56.47, that included 6 fifties and two hundreds - the only ones scored at senior level for them.

Shields hit 9 half centuries in 764 runs at 40.21 which meant that between them, the pair made 15 of the 18 fifties made by the club.

Peter Eakin - Australia bound - was way back in third with 388 at 27.71 (two 50's) while others to pass 200 runs included Jacob Mulder (270 at 16.88), Peter Davison (222 at 44.40), and Ryan Haire (210 at 23.33).

Skipper Davison was the only one to pass 20 wickets - taking 20 at 32.85.

Former Irish international Jacob Mulder will have been unhappy with his return of only 18 at just under 30, while Peter Eakin's 17 at 28.06 was helped by one of the club's two five-wicket hauls.

Naushad Shaikh was the other, taking 5 for 16 in his 15 wickets at 12.87.

The standard in the top flight of the NCU is getting better and it will be an interesting close season for North Down to see if they can strengthen their squad for the 2024 campaign.

A quality professional available for the entire season will no doubt be a good starting point.

TOP RUNS

# Name Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 4s 6s
1 A Chore 21 21 4 960 137* 56.47 1040 92.31 2 6 103 14
2 A Shields 21 21 2 764 88* 40.21 865 88.32 - 9 91 12
3 P Eakin 17 15 1 388 82* 27.71 421 92.16 - 2 42 15
4 J Mulder 21 19 3 270 56 16.88 323 83.59 - 1 28 4
5 P Davison 21 13 8 222 46* 44.40 238 93.28 - - 16 10
6 Ryan Haire 19 14 5 210 48 23.33 206 101.94 - - 20 9
7 T Mayes 16 12 3 168 31* 18.67 172 97.67 - - 15 8
8 Naushad Shaikh 8 7 1 128 49 21.33 111 115.32 - - 12 3
9 S Nelson 14 10 1 119 32 13.22 160 74.38 - - 11 -
10 N Burns 10 5 - 62 31 12.40 124 50.00 - - 5 2
11 T Crothers 19 10 - 57 17 5.70 133 42.86 - - 3 1
12 D Phillips 3 3 1 27 27* 13.50 32 84.38 - - 3 1
13 B Escott 16 5 1 25 14 6.25 149 16.78 - - 2 -
14 H Coulter 1 1 1 13 13* - 18 72.22 - - 1 -
15 I Arthur 1 1 1 8 8* - 14 57.14 - - 1 -
16 Craig Young 4 2 - 8 5 4.00 18 44.44 - - - -
17 P Stirling 1 1 - 7 7 7.00 12 58.33 - - 1 -
18 T Ewart 2 1 - 5 5 5.00 15 33.33 - - 1 -
19 J McClure-Dalzell 7 3 1 2 2* 1.00 16 12.50 - - - -

TOP WICKETS

# Name Mat Overs Mdns Runs Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 5WI wds nbs
1 P Davison 21 102 4 657 20 3-25 32.85 6.44 30.60 - 20 1
2 J Mulder 21 117 4 538 18 3-33 29.89 4.60 39.00 - 5 -
3 P Eakin 17 68.4 1 477 17 5-62 28.06 6.95 24.24 1 15 1
4 Naushad Shaikh 8 50 6 193 15 5-16 12.87 3.86 20.00 1 4 -
5 A Shields 21 72 2 504 13 3-25 38.77 7.00 33.23 - 8 -
6 T Mayes 16 91.5 6 473 11 2-18 43.00 5.15 50.09 - 20 3
7 Ryan Haire 19 17 - 92 7 4-21 13.14 5.41 14.57 - 2 -
8 D Phillips 3 17.2 1 110 5 3-15 22.00 6.35 20.80 - 1 -
9 T Crothers 19 20 1 141 5 2-7 28.20 7.05 24.00 - 6 -
10 B Escott 16 31 - 215 5 3-15 43.00 6.94 37.20 - 15 1
11 S Nelson 14 10 - 60 2 1-15 30.00 6.00 30.00 - - -
12 Craig Young 4 18 1 113 2 1-29 56.50 6.28 54.00 - 7 2
13 D Parker 6 2 - 9 1 1-9 9.00 4.50 12.00 - - -
14 J Corbett 1 1.4 - 19 - 0-19 - 11.40 - - - -
15 P Stirling 1 4 - 26 - 0-26 - 6.50 - - - -
16 J McClure-Dalzell 7 5.1 - 34 - 0-2 - 6.58 - - - -