Scrapping second league is not the answer in Leinster

CRICKET: There are moves afoot within Leinster cricket to reduce the senior structure to one league, spread over the summer. What has been proposed would entail scrapping the Lewis Hohn Williams League and reverting to the old days when there was just the Leinster Senior League (now sponsored by Whitney Moore Keller).

What was also suggested at a recent meeting of the LCU executive was this league should contain 10 clubs (rather than the current 14, split into two divisions), the lowest four clubs be relegated to Senior 2 and all divisions below that contain 10 teams, with, most likely, the top two being promoted and the bottom two going down.

Thankfully, this ill-thought proposal was shot down by club representatives who realised that even if a workable solution was found to the thorny issue of promotion and relegation into the top flight, reducing the league structure to one competition would not be in the best interests of cricket in Leinster.

The LHW League is not, admittedly, the most coveted of titles for clubs to win. That said, all games in the competition (particularly early on and in the knock-out stages) are keenly fought.

But it is also a good way for players to ease themselves into the season, knowing that if they do not get off to a good start, it is not the end of the world. Many clubs rely on players who, in April or May, are still involved in other sports or have exams to think about and cannot field full-strength sides week in, week out. If one league was to prevail, you could have sides losing their first four or five games, putting them out of contention and then having to play out the rest of the season with no chance of achieving top honours, effectively creating dead rubbers from mid-July.

Also, there is the issue of Dublin University, a club that has a long and proud history and continues to contribute unique qualities to Irish cricket. Is it fair to ask Trinity to commit to a full summer of cricket when many, if not most, of their players disappear from the end of June until October? This proposal would probably force Trinity into the junior ranks, which would be a disaster for the game within the Irish universities' association.

It is clear that, with the national team in mind, it is important for the best to be playing against the best but relegating five clubs to the second division is not the way to do this. The current senior league system, with its two sections of seven teams and two teams going up and two down each year, actually offers more in the way of top competition than the proposed one.

In the upper section, the top clubs play each other twice and may only see the second-string clubs in cup competitions or the LHW League.

As we have seen, there has already been a movement of players towards those top teams, something the weaker clubs are going to have to come to terms with. Ambitious players will want to play on strong teams and there is nothing wrong with that.

That is why the present system is so good. On the one hand you have the top seven teams playing off for the senior league title while on the other, through the Senior Cup, LHW League and fluid promotion and relegation between Section A and Section B of the senior league, the other clubs are given a realistic chance of building a side that will be able to compete.

Reducing the season to one league competition of 10 teams would alienate too many clubs, create too many meaningless matches while still not achieving the aspiration of having the top players playing against each other every week.

The second annual Dáil/Seanad Charity Cricket Challenge will take place tonight in College Park, Dublin.

Proceeds will go to the Concern Sudan Crisis Appeal. Concern representatives will play with the Wilde Ramblers Cricket Club against the nation's cricketing politicians, including Eamon Ryan, Damian English, Barry Andrews, Simon Coveney, John Minihan, Conor Lenihan and Brian Hayes.

Concern is providing shelter and survival kits for at least 30,000 people in the town of El Geneina in an effort to avoid large scale fatalities. The kits include heavy plastic tarpaulins, poles, ropes and ground mats to protect the displaced from the hot sun (40 degrees), cold nights and now, heavy rains.