All Ireland Club Rankings

Perhaps 2007 should be know as the year in which North Down's achievements were finally recognised by these rankings. Never out of the Top 5 since it's inception, the number one team at points in 2003 and 2006 and five NCU titles in the last seven seasons (and second place in the other two years). The Comber team have been dominant in the NCU, and the only blot on their copybook has been the lack of an Irish Senior Cup since 1995.

2007 was probably even more than just another year for them. NCU double winners, runners up in the Ulster Cup and just that second round failure against Phoenix in the Irish Senior Cup as a failure. The NCU batting aggregates were led by Ryan Haire, David Kennedy and Taimur Khan the bowling, whilst not as dominant, had Mssrs Connell, Moreland and McKenna at it's forefront. A deserving number one team

Elsewhere, Rush had their best season, moving up to 5th in the country after runner's up spot in the league and an ISC semi final. Clontarf also moved up six places to 4th, and signified the strengthening of the LCU game. It was the supporting cast of clubs that saw the LCU's dominance become apparent. Nine teams in the Top 20 (North County, Rush, Clontarf, The Hills, Railway Union, Merrion, Malahide, Phoenix and Leinster) showed how much the depth of the Leinster game had improved.

Merrion deserve a closer look. They are widely acknowledged as having one of the best youth set-ups around, but yet any success they have had is based on players coming to live in Dublin. Spanner and Torissi led the first wave of success around the beginning of the decade, but once they left, the Ballsbridge clubs fortunes declined. However Mat Petrie arrived as pro is 2007 and instantly made an impact., with the club moving up 17 places to 15th

In 2004, CIYMS finished second from bottom of Section 2, and 54th in these rankings. Three seasons later, and they are a Top 20 club. A gradual improvement in their Division 2 performances finally resulted in promotion in 2007. Former Ireland international Derek Heasley was the catalyst for the 2007 success, a big season with bat and ball leading CIYMS to top spot. Holywood were also a club moving in the right direction. A team with no superstars finished third in Section 2, moving them up to 37th.

Muckamore were the biggest fallers of the year, plummetting 15 places to 39th on the back of a third from bottom finish in Section 2. Pembroke also have a tale to tell. 2007 was the lowest of the low, failing to win a game all season. In 2004 they were a Section A with John Byrne, Peter Davy and Whizz Hastie all still playing. With an aging team, rebuilding was needed, and youth was given a chance. WIth Lawson coming from Clontarf, McDonnell from Leinster and Balbirnie, Tighe and others coming from within, experience was thin on the ground, and 2007 was the neccessary nadir before growth could be seen again.

Down Observatory Lane way, it's all good news. Finally after eight seasons in Section B, the title was won. Jones, Scholtz, Lennon and Gilmore all contributed, as LCC became a Top 20 club for the first time.

The ratings are nearly up-to-date., 2008 will be available for viewing soon. If you have any comments, either mail Paul Reynolds here or make a comment on the CricketEurope forum

#	Change	Team	Played	Pts	Average
1	+1	North Down	51	5048	98
2	-1	North County	39	3668	94
3	+3	Brigade	45	4221	94
4	-1	Waringstown	45	4164	93
5	+6	Rush	37	3213	87
6	+4	Clontarf	39	3343	86
7	-2	Donemana	44	3726	85
8	-	The Hills	40	3305	83
9	-2	Limavady	50	4099	82
10	-6	Strabane	48	3807	80
11	-2	Railway Union	36	2758	76
12	-	Bready	45	3343	74
13	+2	Killymallaght	39	2867	74
14	-1	Derriaghy	40	2874	72
15	+15	Merrion	37	2624	72
16	+17	CIYMS	30	2130	70
17	-3	Malahide	41	2855	69
18	+13	Instonians	46	3112	68
19	-2	Phoenix	32	2181	67
20	+10	Leinster	37	2384	65
21	-3	Lisburn	45	2859	64
22	-6	Woodvale	35	2177	62
23	+3	Eglinton	45	2786	61
24	-5	YMCA	35	2057	59
25	-5	Bangor	39	2283	58
26	-1	Ballyspallen	23	1306	57
27	-4	Glendermott	44	2509	57
28	+13	Carrickfergus	42	2335	56
29	-8	Burndennett	36	1997	55
30	-8	Downpatrick	43	2341	55
31	+5	Cliftonville	40	2191	54
32	+6	St Johnston	36	1937	54
33	-6	Fox Lodge	40	2138	53
34	+6	Ardmore	38	2015	53
35	-7	Civil Service North	36	1887	52
36	+1	Laurelvale	35	1806	52
37	+14	Holywood	20	1024	51
38	-9	Lurgan	37	1889	51
39	-15	Muckamore	36	1744	48
40	+9	Drummond	32	1510	47
41	-7	Bonds Glen	36	1619	45
42	-7	Ballymena	33	1452	44
43	-1	Munster Reds	26	1140	43
44	+6	Sion Mills	36	1355	38
45	-1	Creevedonnell	31	1137	37
46	-	Armagh	34	1230	36
47	-	CYM	32	1121	35
48	-3	Dunmurry	36	1160	32
49	-1	Cooke Collegians	32	983	31
50	+3	Killyclooney	31	859	27
51	-7	Coleraine	38	1015	27
52	-13	Pembroke	32	821	26
53	+3	Old Belvedere	31	745	24
54	-	The Nedd	32	634	20
55	-3	Larne	19	336	18
56	-1	North Fermanagh	31	282	9