The 1st XI kicks off the season at Anglesea Road with a friendly against Leinster. It is a much changed side this year under the leadership of Sean Stanton and probably fair to say a team in transition. There certainly will be no lack of opportunity for the younger members to fully establish themselves as senior players.
In the first league game of 2026, the 5th XI travel to Carlow to take on their 2nd XI in Division 15. Today’s team includes within their ranks three of our promising young female cricketers. It used to be commonplace that part of the development path for aspiring women cricketers was to play in some open competitions cricket. It is good to see that this practice being reinstated, at least in Merrion.
Following a reorganisation of the league structure and a request from Merrion to the Open Competitions Committee to re-grade our teams, the 5th XI has dropped for Division 12 to D15. Hopefully this means it will be more competitive and prove a better development environment for our youth players.
Off the field Management has been busy over the winter improving facilities and carrying out some overdue repairs. Apart from improvements to the nets, new coaching equipment and continued work on the new grass wickets, the main pavilion has been given a massive facelift. A lot of repair work has been building up over the past few years and getting this done has taken a major effort. It has been combined with fresh painting throughout, the creation of a new club kitchen and the upgrading of the old tearoom. On the field there is a new seating area and the scoreboard is in the process of being repaired and painted. There is also freshly painted fencing being installed on both sides of the pavilion. Alongside this, for those who look carefully, you will find the communications mast has been moved.
The club starts the season with a new main sponsor, Lansdowne Corporate Finance. You will see their signs around the club and we look forward to working with them. The club is also looking for businesses, community groups or individuals, who would be interested in sponsoring a 1st XI Open or Womens match at Anglesea Road during the season. Details are set out below.
It is an exciting time for the club so make an early visit and see for yourselves all that is going on.
