Irish Senior Cup holders Merrion will be playing their cricket in the second tier of Leinster cricket after being relegated on Wednesday night.

ALEX CUSACK ended his career in fitting style when he won the Division 1 league title for Clontarf with his final act.

Cork County pipped Leinster to the title on a day of high drama in the second division.

CLONTARF need a maximum of three points today to retain the Division 1 league title but if nearest challengers Pembroke lose to Railway Union on the final Saturday of the regular season, Irish Cup holders Merrion will be playing Division 2 cricket next season.

The race for the title took another twist as Clontarf imploded at North County while Pembroke fought back to beat Phoenix by one run in a thriller.

MERRION go into today’s Irish Cup final with the prospect of relegation from Division 1 still very real after picking up only one point in an eight wickets defeat by YMCA last night.

AS the 2016 cricket season winds down, no-one will have as much cause for satisfaction as John Anderson.

HOLDERS Rush retained the Irish National Cup trophy after an emphatic nine wickets win against Laois at Castle Avenue.

GEORGE Dockrell was the final day hero for Leinster Lightning as they clinched their fourth successive inter-provincial championship title — but not with the ball.

Clontarf closed in on the Division 1 League title for the second successive year with a rain-affected 26-run victory over The Hills.

Pembroke's title ambitions dealt serious blow,

KEVIN O’BRIEN has agreed to help Railway Union in their battle to beat the drop from League Division One and plays in their crucial game against Merrion on Sunday.

Leinster u-17s fought back against the North West Development XI on day 2 of their tour as they won the first of two 50- over matches by a comfortable 5 wickets at the Rectory.

The North West Development XI posted an impressive 6-wicket win over their Leinster counterparts at Strabane Park on Monday in the first of three matches between the teams over the coming days.

The NCU U11s claimed the title with a thrilling 38 run victory at Balbriggan.

Leinster under-11's proved too strong for their North West counterparts at Burndennett on Tuesday as the southerners won their Interprovincial tussle by a comfortable 8 wickets.

On Wednesday Balbriggan CC again demonstrated their commitment to spread the game of Cricket and be involved within the Local Community both on and off the field as they hosted Boys and Girls from the Special needs organisation "Remember Us"

CLONTARF celebrated their 140th birthday yesterday and can toast it with another Division 1 league title if results go their way on Sunday week.

Wins for Clontarf, Pembroke, North County and YMCA.

Leinster under 15s slide to an 11 run defeat against Munster in the opening clash at The Mardyke.

The following boys have been selected to the Leinster U15 squad for the three match series against Munster at the Mardyke on August 2nd, 3rd & 4th.

Leinster's U13 cricketers were celebrating winning the Taunton cricket festival for the second time after gaining the necessary points against Cornwall.

Ben Brownlee and Jack McGee star as Leinster beat Yorkshire to make it four wins from four at the Taunton Festival.

Leinster U13s showed their strength in depth as they won their third successive match beating Leicestershire by one wicket at the Taunton Festival.

A century from Nathan McGuire and four wickets from David Vincent led Leinster to an emphatic 103 run win over Cheshire.

LIAM KEATING took five wickets to put Kent in a spin at the Under 13 Taunton Festival.

With a series of interprovincial fixtures and tours taking place for Leinster under-age boys and girls squads currently, Cricket Leinster have received a timely boost with the news that Veolia Ire have agreed to continue to sponsor the province’s youth sides.

The Leinster Development squad departed to the North East of England earlier today to partake in a three match series of games against the NUSC, but they lost their opening game of the tour in a thrilling contest by just 16 runs.

We have run the ‘Top Class Throw’ competition again this year, we also decided to run a new event called ‘Target Hitting’ competition. Both these competitions were run in National schools all over Fingal.

Kevin O'Brien returns to the Leinster Lightning squad for their T20 clash with the Northern Knights at Merrion.

The Fingal Girls Super Cup ran for the second year where four National schools competed in a league structure finishing with a final held at The Hills CC.

Teaching is a wonderful profession. Every new day brings joy, enthusiasm and excitement. Being a teacher allows you to guide, support and nurture young learners while helping them to recognize and avail of all the opportunities that life bowls up.

Kenny Carroll and Robert Forrest the only changes to the Leinster Lightning squad for Warriors clash.

St Matthew’s from Irishtown obtained their first victory in the Leprechaun Cup when beating Milverton NS by 19 runs at a sunny Hills Cricket Club on Monday.

FOUR days away from Ireland first one-day international of the season, Stuart Thompson was the only squad to come out of yesterday’s abandoned match at The Hills with any plus marks – and he wasn’t playing!

The selectors are delighted to be able to name a settled and consistent team and this squad reflects only a single change to that which beat the Warriors with Jack Tector returning from injury to replace Andrew Poynter.

SEAN Terry was last night threatening to break every record in the book as the Ireland A batsman finished the first day of the game against Scotland A in Ayr on 251 not out.

St Mary’s College completed an excellent victory in last week’s Leprechaun Cup ‘Super League’ final, played at Pembroke Cricket Club.

THE 21st century has seen a huge upsurge in high scoring, despite almost all cricket in Ireland being played in limited-overs format.

Results and fixtures from the Primary Schools competitions.

Willow Park beat Star of the Sea by 11 runs in a tense final at Booterstown in the Antalis sponsored 4th class cup for Leinster Primary schools.

NORTH COUNTY have signed promising Australian batsman Jordan Willoughby for their Leinster League campaign.

Further fixtures took place for the participants in the Antalis sponsored Leinster Primary school competitions. This week will see two finals being completed while the Leprechaun Cup is also nearing finals stages.

Merrion’s new Australian professional will make his debut in today’s Leinster Senior Cup clash against Malahide.

Amazing fight-back by St Andrew's stuns CUS to claim Leinster Schools Cup.

Fionn Hand is currently studying and playing cricket at Queen's College in England.

Former Hampshire player Sean Terry named in Lightning squad for clash with Northern Knights.

Another exciting week of Primary schools cricket saw further games completed within the Antalis sponsored Leprechaun Cup competition.

The Merrion cricket club legend Danny Parkinson died on Friday, aged 93. In this Irish Cricket Magazine interview by Stephen Forster from 1984, he had just retired from club cricket.

Another busy week in the Antalis sponsored Primary schools competitions saw games completed in the (1) The Leprechaun Cup (2) The Super League (3) The 4th Class Cup and (4) The Leprechaun Cup ‘Cailiní’ competitions.

Promoted clubs The Hills and Phoenix have signalled their intention to be competitive in Division 1 with big-name signings.

The Leinster Cricket Union have accepted the registration of Danish cricketer Freddie Klokker.

Jim Bennett has won the prestigious Lifetime Service Award in the ICC Global Development awards which were revealed in Dubai this morning.

Another busy week saw many new young Primary school pupils get their first chance to play hardball cricket through their involvement in the Antalis sponsored Leprechaun Cup. Fixtures have also been completed in the 2016 Leprechaun Cup ‘Cailíní’.

JOHN ANDERSON led from the front as Leinster Lightning beat Denmark by 146 runs at The Hills.

We finish our previews of the top two senior divisions with the defending champions Clontarf, who have enjoyed a roller coaster ride of emotions in recent seasons.

Denmark beat The Hills by one wicket in a low scoring affair at Milverton.

Tomas Rooney Murphy is the new skipper at The Hills who although they don't have an overseas player welcome back Albert van der Merwe and are boosted by the about turn of Max Sorensen.

Leinster will be boosted by the presence of George Dockrell and Singapore international Chris Janik.

Cork County have much to be optimistic about despite being relegated from Senior One in 2015.

Leinster Lightning have named a strong squad for their match against Denmark this weekend.

There's a new skipper at the helm at Balrothery with Jonathan Andrews at the helm for the forthcoming campaign.

The competition continues to act as the flagship for the Leinster development programme offering hardball inter-schools fixtures for boys and girls at primary school level.

2016 will be a historic year for North Kildare with preparation for the season in full swing. There is an excitement in the air within the Kildare region and the club is ready to embrace Senior Cricket for the first time.

Phoenix have strengthened their playing ranks with a number of high quality signings which will help them be competitive in the dog eat dog world of top flight Leinster cricket.

It's the turn of Malahide who have a new skipper and a high profile coach at the helm for 2016.

Balbriggan hope to put the batting woes of 2015 behind them and push for promotion this year.

A new professional, new players and a new sponsor all add up to an exciting new season at Terenure.

A very busy summer lies ahead for the Leinster under-age boys and girls squads.

It promises to be an exciting season at Trinity who have recruited a top overseas player in Matt Petrie and also Isobel Joyce as their new coach.

It's the turn of the National Cup champions Rush.

2015 looked like being a year to remember for Merrion, but they tailed away badly leaving them to ponder on what might have been.

It's been a lean time for Railway Union in recent seasons, but with a new season dawning there's fresh hope at Park Avenue.

Leinster Lightning have announced John Anderson as the captain for the 2016 season.

Can Pembroke turn talent into trophies? It promises to be an exciting 2016 at Sydney Parade.

TERENURE have signed former first-class quick Usman Malvi for their Leinster Cricket Union campaign.

A new professional and the signing of former Hampshire player Sean Terry adds up to exciting times at Claremont Road.

Following the Christmas break, the competitions are back in full flow with 48 classes and 1163 children participating from all around Fingal

Clontarf have signed Australian Charlie Wakim as their overseas professional for the forthcoming campaign.

Trent Johnston will be the guest speaker at a cricket evening on Monday the 11th April in the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey. The event will start at 8pm.

Former Irish international all-rounder Albert van der Merwe is rejoining The Hills from YMCA.

At 23 years old he is one of the up and coming players of the strong Ragama Cricket Club squad that is competing across all formats in the Sri Lankan domestic circuit.

Malahide have signed former England international Colin Wells as their Head Coach for the 2016 season.

The Leinster coaching clinics commence again on Friday, March 11th with the third and final block of sessions taking place at venues in both West and South Dublin.

As we are now half-way through the whole trip, it seems as if home isn't far away but I think it's fair to say we are all loving it out here.

Blignaut (20) is currently enjoying a barnstorming season in Australia, playing for Brighton Districts in the Senior Division of the Victorian Turf Cricket Association in Melbourne.

For the past two months I have been playing cricket for Menlo Park High School in Pretoria.

As part of an exciting new development in the Leinster coaching programme – 40 players within the Under 13 boys’ age-group took part in skills screening sessions on Jan 15th & 22nd at North County Cricket Club.

A training squad has been selected for winter coaching sessions currently being held at North County cricket club.

Ted Williamson has been re-appointed as Leinster Lightning coach for the 2016 season.

There was no tap water or shower water in Uitenhage from Saturday evening until Wednesday morning.

This week we started our coaching sessions at the local primary school, College Hill in Uitenhage, the feeder school to Muir College.

Railway Union unveil Kevin O'Herlihy as first team coach for the upcoming season as they begin preparations for the 2016 campaign.

A training squad has been selected for winter coaching sessions currently being held at North County cricket club.

It was a long flight to Port Elizabeth, taking three flights to get there. We were met by school staff Mr Suti and Mr Du Ploy. Mr Suti is the coach of the first team and Mr Deploy coaches the u15’s and he also stays in the school hostel with us.

White (22) is a stand-out batsman on the Sydney Grade circuit, who was recently rewarded for his run scoring exploits with ACT Comets selection in Australia’s Futures League competition.

Eleven Leinster schoolboys are currently residing in South Africa taking advantage of their school Transition year spending time in schools and playing cricket at a high standard.

The Hills women's section are seeking a skilful and qualified coach, to help their ambitious and vibrant cricket club further improve it's performance.

A training squad has been selected for winter coaching sessions currently being held at North County cricket club.

A training squad has been selected for winter coaching sessions currently being held at North County Cricket Club, St Columba’s College and King’s Hospital School.

No fewer than nine of the 15 man squad are from the region.

CIYMS are on the look-out for another Irish-qualified player after Ireland international Max Sorensen told them “home is where the heart is”.