Clontarf

  • Skipper - Eoghan Delany
  • Overseas player - Zander van der Merwe is returning as overseas professional 
  • Players in - None
  • Players out - Andre Botha (returned to South Africa), Amir Anwar (emigrated to South Africa) and Dom Rigby (retired)
  • Young players to watch: Adam Craig, Colin Currie, David Delany

It'll be hard for the Castle Avenue side to repeat the highs of 2013, but skipper Eoghan Delany is hoping the memories of the pain of relegation in 2012 continues to serve as a motivating factor for the campaign ahead.

"There's great anticipation within the club about the coming season," said Delany. "It's of the highest significance for the club to be playing year in, year out in Division 1 and so it's fantastic to be back where we feel we belong.

"We're under no illusions as to how competitive it's going to be this time round but to compete and succeed in such a league is a compelling challenge.

"The next few seasons will be a changing of the guard without doubt. The "Rod Hokin generation" are beginning to come through and there will be great interest and excitement amongst members as they find their feet and develop.

"Adam Craig turned an entire cup fixture on its head last year against The Hills with three wickets in 11 balls. David Delany has the kind of action that will lend itself towards genuinely fast spells of bowling and in Colin Currie I think we will find our most natural home-grown run scorer since Deryck Vincent.

"The proper development of these guys, amongst many others, will be of huge importance to me. That said, the wealth of experience throughout the rest of the squad is considerable, enough to see us challenging for trophies throughout the season.

"With Alex Cusack taking over duties as club head coach we can expect to reap the benefits of his knowledge and talent more so than in previous seasons, both on and off the field. Zander van der Merwe will return as our overseas professional to renew his prolific new ball partnership with Joe Morrissey.

"There will be the usual depth to a batting line-up that will be fronted by Bill Coghlan and Andrew Poynter. Andre Botha showed us a way back from a very forgettable 2012 and, having righted our wrongs, I'm keen to use 2014 to build for the future. It'll certainly be interesting regardless of all outcomes!"