All Ireland Club Rankings

So this is it. After several months of staring at a screen and entering 5000 results, we are now at a stage to view the current All Ireland rankings. Who is top, who are the challengers, and how realistic is it?

Firstly a bit of parochialism. Did Leinster's march to the Bob Kerr in 2009 propel them into the Top 10? Well the shortt answer (and probably the long answer as well) is no. Despite beating four of the top 5 (Limavady, Clontarf, Donemana and North County) during the season, LCC also lost to The Hills (twice), Railway Union (three times), Merrion (twice) and Malahide, North County and Clontarf (once each). So a three place improvement to 14th is the result.

At the top of the table, it's all change in 2009, and that end of an era feeling I mentioned in 2008 has come to fruition. North County's dominance crumbled, ending the season trophyless an dthey dropped to 5th place as a result. Clontarf won the double in Leinster, and moved up to 2nd as a result. It was Limavady that finished the season top (the first time they've done that since 2001). Consistency has been the name of the game for Limavady. (Shared) league winners, semi finalists in Irish Senior Cup and North West Senior Cup, and profiting from other sides slipping away. Donemana and North Down didn't have great seasons either, letting Limavady nip in at the top.

Further down, there were some big movers and fallers (as always). Probably the highest profile side in the doldrums was Brigade. A perennial Top 5 side for most of the decade, they have recently fallen away, currently residing at 19th in the country. It's always the problem that for sides who rely on buying in talent (and in fairness, that applies to most of the top sides over the last 10 years), once the money dries up, the talent drifts away, and the results deteriorate. Recent signings though (as of Jan 2010) seem to ensure that they will be back on the up. Another poignant faller is Killymallaght in 39th place. At the end of 2007, they were up to 13th, but have fallen away in the last couple of years, and are now lost to Irish cricket for the foreseeable future.

On a positive note, fomer ISC winners St Johnston are up to 16th on the back of their run to the top of Senior 2 and Pembroke have rocketed up to 23rd. A dramatic run to the Irish Senior Cup semi against Donemana was the highlight, and they were unlucky to be relegated. Definite candidates for the Division 2 LCU title.

So where does the balance of power lay in Irish cricket? The LCU is still the strongest province, with five of the Top 10 clubs, but where as it also had nine of the Top 20 in 2007, it's now down to seven (the same as the North West). With the dominant North County team seemingly breaking up, the mantle in Leinster maybe passing to the other Top 10 clubs - Clontarf, The Hills and Railway. Limavady and North Down are sure to be up there in 2010, with maybe Donemana having one last crack at top spot before the twins retire. Brigade are surely too far down to get back to the Top 5 in one season, and I'm not convinced that Civil Service have enough strength in depth to move up much more. My prediction for 2010 (for what it's worth) - 1. Clontarf 2. Limavady 3. The Hills.

As the 2010 season progresses, I will be keeping the rankings as up to date as possible. Keep an eye on these pages for updates.. If you have any comments, either mail Paul Reynolds here or make a comment on the CricketEurope forum

#	Change	Team	Played	Pts	Average
1	+2	Limavady	52	5198	100
2	+3	Clontarf	36	3599	99
3	-1	North Down	56	5341	95
4	-	Donemana	52	4871	93
5	-4	North County	38	3485	93
6	-	The Hills	36	3269	92
7	+4	Railway Union	34	3075	91
8	+4	Civil Service North	50	4493	90
9	-1	Merrion	34	3096	90
10	-3	Waringstown	50	4434	89
11	+4	Instonians	49	4336	88
12	+1	Bready	45	3761	83
13	+1	Strabane	48	3952	82
14	+3	Leinster	39	2978	76
15	+4	Lisburn	45	3294	73
16	+10	St Johnston	36	2652	73
17	-8	Rush	29	2098	72
18	+5	Fox Lodge	41	2816	69
19	-9	Brigade	43	2969	69
20	-4	Ballymena	36	2468	68
21	+12	Lurgan	35	2256	65
22	+2	CIYMS	43	2782	64
23	+22	Pembroke	37	2353	64
24	+7	YMCA	32	2069	64
25	-	Carrickfergus	42	2627	62
26	-6	Eglinton	41	2523	61
27	-9	Woodvale	33	1964	60
28	+1	Malahide	30	1803	59
29	+5	Downpatrick	36	2069	58
30	+2	Burndennett	34	1874	56
31	+11	Ardmore	38	2088	55
32	-10	Glendermott	45	2467	55
33	-3	Phoenix	28	1483	52
34	+3	Holywood	32	1634	51
35	+4	Muckamore	36	1765	49
36	-8	Derriaghy	39	1901	49
37	-16	Bangor	40	1934	49
38	+13	Killyclooney	30	1413	47
39	-12	Killymallaght	39	1817	47
40	-4	Laurelvale	34	1475	44
41	-6	Cliftonville	34	1448	42
42	+1	Bonds Glen	36	1482	41
43	-2	Dundrum (NCU)	29	1173	40
44	+5	Creevedonnell	30	1194	40
45	+2	Coleraine	35	1335	38
46	+4	Old Belvedere	28	1039	37
47	-1	Saintfield	13	492	37
48	+7	The Nedd	34	1222	36
49	-5	CYM	31	961	31
50	-12	Drummond	31	965	31
51	-11	Sion Mills	31	852	27
52	+2	Armagh	18	481	27
53	-	Cooke Collegians	23	498	21
54	+2	North Fermanagh	25	483	19
55	-3	Dunmurry	22	269	12

Munster Reds dropped out from the 2008 rankings