Irish League Youth Cup S59-date *** PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ***

[crackit]

Welcome to the Irish League Youth Cup.

• All, and only, teams in the Irish League receive an invite.

• Teams are invited in the order or their One Day ranking at the end of S62

• There will be 32 teams in the cup, or 64, if sufficient numbers accept.

• So the top 32 (or 64 teams) that accept are guaranteed place in the draw.

Later, all Division 3 and 4 sides that not making round two of the cup are invited to the Irish League Youth Plate.

Competition Details:

• It is a knock-out cup.

• The draw is random (there is no seeding).

• Games are played on a Wednesday.

• Games played are T20 friendlies

• Games do not impact player fatigue for league matches.

• Local weather conditions are applied

Pitch preparation is at the whim of the home team’s groundskeeper (random).

What's the catch?

• There is none, entry is free.

• We ask, but don't enforce, that those who can pull Irish youth players as a contribution.

• Both finalists win an award of Pavilion membership.

Then why?
As always, my hope is to:

• Develop a sense of identity, belonging and community to the Irish league setup.

• Support the Irish national side by encouraging youth pulls where possible.

• Offer teams in lower divisions the chance to test themselves against higher league opposition.

• Have fun.

It would be great if you would join in by hitting the accept button when you receive your invite.

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Timeline

• w/s Sunday 12 October: All invitations will be sent in rank order. Note: You may accept right up to the deadline, the top ranked teams accepting are included in the draw.

• 12 November: Acceptance deadline

• 19 November: Round of 64 / 32.

• 26 November: Round of 32 / 16.

• 3 December: Round of 16 / Quarter-finals.

• 10 December: Quarter-finals / Semi-finals.

• 17 December: Semi-finals / Final.

• 24 December: Final / nothing.

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Team Roll of Honour

Season 62:

• Winner: Staindrop Lordies

• Runner-up: Hunslet Parkside C.C.

• Semi-finalists: kato xi; Woodlands CC

Season 61:

• Winner: Chester Ducks

• Runner-up: Staindrop Lordies

• Semi-finalists: Ella XI; Hunslet Parkside C.C.

Season 60:

• Winner: Spinney Wanderers

• Runner-up: Celtic Wolves

• Semi-finalists: Meeting Mr Miandad; Shaktar Senseless

Season 59:

• Winner: The WaddiWallas

• Runner-up: Spinney Wanderers

• Semi-finalists: kato xi; Royal Eleven

Individual leaders
Player of the Tournament, for most fantasy points:

• S62: 387 - Mark McDermott (Hunslet Parkside C.C.)

• S61: 510 - Malcolm Sartori (Chester Ducks)

• S60: 410 - Senan Scannell (Celtic Wolves)

• S59: 433 - Joost Brentjens (Spinney Wanderers)

Golden pads, for most runs scored by a batter:

• S62: 273 - Mark McDermott (Hunslet Parkside C.C.)

• S61: 359 - Malcolm Sartori (Chester Ducks)

• S60: 222 - Christian Tynan (Meeting Mr Miandad)

• S59: 279 - Joost Brentjens (Spinney Wanderers)

Golden cap, for most wickets taken by a bowler:

• S62: 10-109 Tshepo Matsikenyeri (lf, Staindrop Lordies)

• S61: 9-94 Randall Norris (lfm, Chester Ducks)

• S60: 8-64 Taral Soni (rws, Corleone)

• S59: 10 – 141 Desmond Depay (rfm, Spinney Wanderers)

Golden gloves, for most dismissals involving the keeper:

• S62: 6 in 3 games (5c, 1st) - Philip Burke (The Cross Lances)

• : 6 in 4 games (6c, 0st) - Dave Tone (Woodlands CC)

• : 6 in 4 games (6c, 0st) - Eric O'Leary (kato xi)

• : 6 in 5 games (6c, 0st) - Jonas Wilkes (Staindrop Lordies)

• S61: 8 (6c, 2st) - Dinny Taylor (Staindrop Lordies)

• S60: 11 (9c, 2st) Diarmuid McGrath (Meeting Mr Miandad)

• S59:12 (10c, 2st) Dogo Kiribui (The WaddiWallas)

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First Round
Note: Rankings used are as of the start of the season.
#035 Woodlands CC ( Youth 3.2 ) vs. #015 The Cross Lances ( Youth 2.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 4-2]
#040 Belmont CC ( Youth 3.2 ) vs. #003 kato xi ( Youth 1.1 ) [Youth Rivalry:0-0]
#022 Royal Eleven ( Youth 3.3 ) vs. #002 Marching On Together ( Youth 3.4 ) [Youth Rivalry: 8-12]
#001 Vegas Venoms ( Youth 1.1 ) vs. #033 Billericay Bluebirds ( Youth 2.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-2]

#006 The Hurlutown Partnership ( Youth 3.4 ) vs. #025 Blwe Scavengerz ( Youth 2.1 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-2]
#009 Staindrop Lordies ( Youth 1.1 ) vs. #044 Dublin Devils ( Youth 3.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 3-0] [Youth Cup Rivalry: 1-0]
#041 Dunbrody CC ( Youth 3.1 ) vs. #039 Insane Inglewood Posse ( Youth 3.3 ) [Youth Rivalry: 0-0]
#018 Leinster Lightning ( Youth 2.1 ) vs.#008 The New Originals ( Youth 2.1 ) [Youth Rivalry: 0-1]

#026 kilkenny ( Youth 2.2 ) vs. #024 Chester Ducks ( Youth 3.3 ) [Youth Rivalry: 8-4]
#016 Rebel Spinners ( Youth 3.4 ) vs.#036 Celtic Wolves ( Youth 2.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 7-4-1]
#007 The WaddiWallas ( Youth 1.1 ) vs. #014 Donna's Kebabs ( Youth 2.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-2]
#011 Ella XI ( Youth 2.1 ) vs. #034 Applewood Crossing ( Youth 3.4 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-1] [Youth Cup Rivalry: 0-1]

#027 Corleone ( Youth 2.2 ) vs. #030 Crzy Tornadoes ( Youth 3.4 ) [Youth Rivalry: 0-0]
#005 Cork City Cobra's ( Youth 1.1 ) vs.#028 Meeting Mr Miandad ( Youth 3.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 25-7]
#021 Weston Super Mud CC ( Youth 3.1 ) vs. #013 Ballingeary Lakers ( Youth 2.2 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-3]
#038 Spinney Wanderers ( Youth 2.2 ) vs.#020 Shaktar Senseless ( Youth 1.1 ) [Youth Rivalry: 2-0]

[Krishna18]

I would love to participate. Let me know how to take part. I am training 2 youth Irish players and will be willing to scout from Ireland also. Thanks!

[crackit]

I would love to participate. Let me know how to take part. I am training 2 youth Irish players and will be willing to scout from Ireland also. Thanks!

Apologies Krishna18 but all, and only, teams in the Irish League receive an invite to the Irish League Youth Cup.

I see that you are a senior national assistant to DEVI, I wish you and the best in the upcoming Twenty20 games. Cheers Crackit

[crackit]

First Quarter of the Draw
The first thing to say is that the top-half of the draw contains six of the top eight ranked teams; the top three are in this quarter.

• #1 Vegas Venoms

• #2 Marching On Together

• #3 kato xi

Given how stacked this quarter is, it is surprising to discover there are no previous finalists; kato xi (twice), Royal Eleven and Woodlands CC have all made the semis. Assuming they do march on together, the top two will meet in Round Two, and the winner play kato xi in the Quarters. Take your pick.

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Second Quarter of the Draw
As already hinted at, there are some highly ranked teams here too, including the reigning champions:

• #6 The Hurlutown Partnership

• #8 The New Originals

• #9 Staindrop Lordies

The Lordies begin their defence against the Dublin Devils, who they knocked out in the first round of the cup in Season 60.

The highly ranked. but lowly tiered, Partnership have never progressed beyond the first round in four attempts. They will be hoping to break their duck against the Blwe Scavengerz from Division 2.

The New Originals will be hoping to make it a hattrick of quarters, having been there twice before. Fellow Youth 2.1 side, Leinster Lightning stand in their way, but the Originals won their only previous meeting earlier this season by 8 wickets.

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Third Quarter of the Draw
The #7 WaddiWallas won the inaugural version of this cup in season 59; Celtic Wolves were runners-up the following season and the Chester Ducks won the season after that. Ella XI have made the semis and kilkenny the quarters; so there is a lot of cup history in this quarter.

kilkenny and Chester offer a great first round match-up; Ella XI should beat our own Applewood Crossing but we sprung a surprise on them in the cup last year. #14 Donna's own Kebabs provide a tasty dark horse and it would go down a riot if the #16 Rebel Spinners progress. This section looks quite interesting, to me at least.

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Fourth Quarter of the Draw
#5 ranked Cork City Cobra's run to the semis looks probable. It looks quite open behind them, the question is whether any of the others could setp-up to cause an upset.

• The Ballingeary Lakers are the nearest ranked opponent

• The once mighty Spinney Wanderers (runners-up the first season, winners the second) might make a return

• Both Meeting Mr Miandad and Shaktar Senseless have both have reached the semis before

The Cobras meet Mr Miandad in round one and have met Mr Miandad quite often before; the 25-7 record suggests all these meetings have not gone well for Mr Miandad previously.

#027 Corleone versus #030 Crzy Tornadoes is my pick for game of round one, looks like it may be a close one.