I used to dread the end of the cricket season. After a week or two on whatever cheapo was on offer from United Travel of Stillorgan or Sunway Travel of Blackrock, the Adidas boots would be retrieved from the back of the cupboard and restored to health, sometimes with a new set of studs.

Then it was the pain of the first friendly of the football season, the aches in the muscles I hadn't used since May and the realisation that either the students were getting quicker each year or I was getting slower. But once the post-match gallon was sunk I'd be able to convince myself that I could do another year of my imitation of Pat Rice.

The years passed and I had to retreat to my Bob Wilson impersonation: like Bob I was good at foiling a forward clean through with just me to beat; unlike Bob I had reasonable success saving penalties. Then I had a spell as a hockey 'keeper before finally admitting defeat and retiring to the settee to join Jeff Stelling and the boys for Soccer Saturday.

While sitting, fretting at the Arsenal's inability to put away a worse than mediocre Birmingham outfit, my mind wandered, first to how much Charlie Chan was going to have to give to Alex McLeish to assemble a half-decent football team (but anything has to be better than managing Scotland!), and then, after Arshavin did the business, how much I had enjoyed the 2009 season of Leinster Senior cricket.

Back in April there were four sides who I reckoned had a chance of winning the league: champions The Hills; runners-up Merrion; the big beasts of North County; and Clontarf. The others, Leinster and promoted Railway Union and Pembroke, would be happy, I thought, to consolidate their position in section A, knowing that one of them wouldn't make it. How will each of those clubs regard their progress – or lack of it – now that it's all done and dusted?

The Hills had the same personnel as in 2008, and the top five all scored their runs. There was a ton each for development officer Albert van der Merwe (average 40), pro Max Sorensen (ave 30), Mike Baumgart (28) and Patrick Byrne (27), and two for Jeremy Bray (ave 57), the five sharing twelve fifties. But there was a fragility to the batting, and no more than token contributions from Mark Dwyer, Michael O'Herlihy, Imran ul Haq and Tomás Murphy.

Van der Merwe (29) and Sorensen (26) took their wickets, but skipper Luke Clinton could only manage 17, Emmett Branagan and Jeremy Bray 15 each, and Mark Dwyer only 9. Without the senior Dwyer there was neither the penetration nor the control that won them the title in 2008. Sorensen pouched 12 catches, Baumgart 9 and Bray 8. James Rogan was no better than tidy behind the stumps, catching 16 and stumping just one.

Merrion, with very few changes in their line-up, were also very inconsistent in the batting department. Dom Joyce began to look more like his old self, scoring two tons and three fifties to average 41, and John Anderson averaged 33 without scoring a fifty. Nobody else averaged 25. It didn't help that Ben Ackland wasn't always available, Rory Allwright and Peter Blakeney only occasionally available, and Damian Poder was in and out of the side.

The bowling was very ordinary: pro Matt Petrie took until August to begin to get it right, ending with 30 wickets at 15; Richard Keaveney was a throwback to the 1930s, before radar was invented, and took only 15 more wickets after his early season Birmingham Six-for. Kade Beasley was his usual inconsistent self behind the stumps, but ended up with 13+4. Jeff Short took 14 catches, not one of them with a difficulty of more than 0.5!

North County were a walking disaster area: they knew that John Mooney and André Botha would be away with Ireland for half the season; they didn't know Richie Lawrence would be injured for half the season; Reinhardt Strydom and Adrian Murphy had moved elsewhere after very ordinary seasons in 2008; the official pro, François van der Merwe, didn't pass muster; and the unofficial pro, Matt Johnston, didn't pass the Senior Branch committee.

Conor Armstrong scored seven fifties and averaged 32, Richie Lawrence averaged 42 without a fifty, John Mooney averaged 38 when he was there, and best of the rest was Brian Shields with 350 at 23. The bowling was even worse, Conor Shiel the only one past twenty wickets. One bright patch was, despite his lack of runs, Dara Armstrong's keeping – 27 catches and three stumpings.

Clontarf also knew they were frequently going to be without Alex Cusack and Andrew Poynter, but didn't know they were going to lose opening bat Dom Rigby after six matches. Their pro, Rod Hokin, with 775 runs at 55, was the foundation around which the rest of the team could bat. Poynter did make 454 runs at 32 and Cusack 273 at 45, leaving Bill Coghlan (27), Joe Morrissey (29) and Greg Molins (26) to fill in the gaps.

Hokin and Morrissey were the bowling attack, each delivering close to his permitted 20% of the overs, the Aussie's leggies yielding 38 wickets at 15 and, while JoMo's trundle was worth only 24 at 19, his economy of 2.87 runs per over was outstanding, bettered only by Andrew Downton of Phoenix. Cusie, Poyntz, Conor D'Arcy and Jordan Coghlan all chipped in with a few scalps, Rod Hokin held on to 17 catches and JoMo and Poyntz eight each.

Railway Union made light of the loss of Thinus Fourie and, bar a few guest appearances, Kevin O'Brien, the absence for half the matches of Trent Johnston and the decision of pro Magnum Nanan to return to Trinidad after ten matches. At the top of the order Tom Fisher (ave 40) and Kenny Carroll (34) each exceeded 600 runs, while Conor Mullen (28), Johnston (37), Mo Tariq (23), Tim Townend (27) and Saad Ullah (22) filled in down the card.

The wicket taking, particularly at home, relied more on boring the oppo to death with accuracy than any devilment: Carlo Rendell's left-arm trundle yielded 30 wickets and Greg Lambert's offies 28; Saad and Mo took 19 apiece, Nanan 15 and Johnston 12. The catching was good: Fisher held 12 (plus eight behind the stumps) and Mullie and Mo 9 each; Sam Farthing behind the stumps dropped a lot (when I was watching) but hung on 18 catches and six stumpings.

Leinster looked forward to scoring loads of runs, particularly at HQ (as the late Gerry Lyons always called Rathmines), and this they duly did, although only skipper Anton Scholtz could be completely happy with his 750 at 38. Pro Carlos Brathwaite averaged only 25, Mark Jones 24, Craig Mallon 21, and Ian O'Herlihy 24 from 14 matches and JP O'Dwyer 42 from 6. Poor Jason Molins couldn't buy a run when he was over from London.

The bowling centred on Brathwaite, who took 33 wickets for 14 apiece at less than 3 runs per over. Hugh McDonnell (20), Chris Byrnes (18) and Rob Miley (17) ran up to the stumps for their wickets, while Scholtzy (29) and George Dockrell (16) ambled in and took the pace off. O'Herlihy (15+9) was good behind the stumps and Scholtz (16) good anywhere in the field.

Pembroke knew they were going to have to battle for runs, particularly at home, and pro Anthony Brooks (705 at 39) and Andrew Balbirnie (554 at 35) did that to great effect. Unfortunately, the rest of the team weren't as good: Graham McDonnell averaged 28 and Brian O' Rourke 22, but nobody else got above 20.

Taking wickets shouldn't have been a problem, particularly by the medium pacers at home, but it was left to the spinners to do the needful: Brooks took 34 and Balbirnie 28, both at under four an over, while Andy Leonard's leggies yielded 22 wickets at fives. Allan Eastwood (25), Bill Whaley (23), Graham McDonnell (16) and Barry McCarthy (15) took wickets, but only Bill went at less than fours.

The only really satisfactory aspect of the 'Broke's game was the fielding: Brooks and Bill Whaley took 11 catches each and O'Rourke 10; even Theo Lawson behind the stumps held 20 (+2), and he can't keep chickens, let alone wicket!

Down in the Senior basement of Section B, the withdrawl of Munster Reds meant there were four clubs chasing two promotion slots to Section A – just relegated Malahide and Rush, and the once mighty but now long-term denizens of B, Phoenix and YMCA. Old Belvedere are Section B “lifers”, and CYM have been locked up as much for their own protection as for cricket's safety and the plastic key thrown away.

Malahide showed little change in the personnel that had led them to do an alternating whore's knickers dance with Railway over the past few seasons – up, down, up, down. The differences were that pro Matt Daykin was an excellent acquisition and that Jimmy Govan was regularly available. And boy, did the Village People use them.

Daykin scored 622 runs at 52 and Govan 329 at 47, over half the runs off the bat scored when they both played; nobody else threatened 200. And they both bowled close to their permitted 20% of the overs, Daykin taking 28 wickets and Govan 17; Steve Smith took 16, Callum Riches 15 and skipper Phil Markey 13. Newly-acquired development officer, Fintan McAllister, had a season to forget, scraping past a hundred runs and holding 13 catches and a stumping. Great white hope Shane Getkate did nothing.

Rush had lost McAllister, but hung on to the rest of their motley crew and produced another son of the subcontinent in Amir Iqbal. They were led in every respect by Nazeer Shoukat, with 599 runs at 55; Saadat Gull averaged 32 and Shahid Iqbal 26. Pro Lionel Jansen only played 9 matches, in which he averaged 32; Patrick Sheridan too played 9 matches and averaged 53 – but he only scored 106 runs! The Naz Dog also took 30 wickets at 14, the Iqbals 19 apiece, and Jansen and Gull 13 each.

Phoenix made a big effort to gain promotion and sort the club out of its long-gone and unlamented superiority complex (“come up to the Park and get your cap”) by hiring a non-playing coach plus a top-notch pro in Andrew Downton. David Langford Smith led the way with 453 runs at 32, followed by Downton with 450 at 32 and Conor Kelly with 328 at 23; there were glimmerings from Matt Plunkett-Cole, Paddy Conliffe, Corie Dickeson and Graham Flanagan, but too few,

The bowling department featured Langford Smith with 24, and Downton and Kelly with 22 – haven't I said that before? Graham Flanagan had thirteen victims behind the stumps when he was injury-free, and Lanky caught 11 in the field.

YMCA also made a big effort to shake themselves out of their rut. They obtained the services of Reinhardt Strydom and hired a good young groundsman/pro in James Parkinson. “Rainy” Strydom certain earned his peppercorn, scoring 642 runs at 49, backed by solid contributions from Alan Lewis (ave 31), James Parkinson (27), Paul Beacroft (29), Stu McCready (20) and Gus Dunlop (29).

Parkinson went through the cream of Section B's batsmen (and a lot of whey) to take 40 wickets, followed by Rainy with 30, Beacroft with 19, McCready with 16 and skipper “Wazza” Armstrong, also with 16. James Shortt held 12+1 behind the stumps and “Mucker” McCoy 8+1.

For the sake of completeness: for Old Belvedere Yogesh scored 333 at 24 and took 18 wickets; Saadaf Raza took 27 wickets at 14 - those two should find a proper cricket club to play for – and Peter O'Donnell caught nine and stumped nine behind the wicket; and for CYM pro Brad Rasool looked a decent bat with 520 runs at 58, while Ken “Plates” Brennan can still bowl.

Moving on to the various competitions, in the DGM 45-over curtain-raiser, Railway came through a tough group (Merrion had a win and two no results), Pembroke and Leinster each won both their group matches, and YMCA progressed at North County's expense (a sign of things to come?). In the semis Leinster and Railway had big wins over Pembroke and YMCA respectively. In the final Railway were too strong for Leinster.

In the Lewis Hohn Williams Senior Cup there were easy first round victories for Railway (at Dublin University), Rush (v CYM), Clontarf (v Phoenix), Pembroke (at YMCA) and The Hills (v Old Belvedere), and at the Village Mark Jones scored a ton for Leinster but so did Jimmy Govan for the winners, Malahide.

In the second round there was an early scare before North County hammered Malahide at Inch, a late scare for The Hills before they beat Railway, and more straightforward wins for Clontarf at Merrion and Pembroke over Rush. The semis saw easy wins for Clontarf at Milverton and North County at Pembroke. The final, at Inch, was in the balance until the last ten overs of 'Tarf's innings, when Joe Morrissey (50+) and then Rod Hokin (120+) went big and County were thereafter a distant second.

The pyjama game, aka The 4FM Alan Murray Twenty20 Cup was won in emphatic style by Leinster. After Max Sorensen had blown Phoenix away in one semi and Jason Molins and Mark Jones had put Railway to the sword in the other, Jonesey was assisted by Carlos Brathwaite to set the Wilberries 10 an over to win – they were only 24 runs short!

The Irish Senior Cup showed the gulf in strength in depth between the Dublin clubs and our northern colleagues - no section A side lost to an NCU team. In the quarter final Pembroke, already relegation certainties, edged home against the holders, North County, and then gave Donemana a run for their money at The Holm before losing out.

Meanwhile Leinster, only safe from relegation because the 'Broke were so bad, saw off 'Tarf at Castle Avenue, Lisburn at Wallace Park, shaded it over Limavady in the semi at Rathmines before a famous victory at the fourth time of asking over Donemana at Milverton.

In the league, Pembroke, after a good start to the season, forgot how to win and quickly were marooned in the relegation slot. North County fell foul of the regulations by playing Western Warrior Matt Johnston against Merrion of all people – before moving to Brisbane, Matt Petrie used to play with him for Willeton in the WACA and recognised a familiar face! Johnston followed up his 138* with 2 against Railway the next day before County were punished by forefeiting points.

The Hills, Merrion, Railway and Clontarf each had good spells as the season progressed, and by late August a good run for any of the four would win them the league. Merrion blew it when they tried very hard on a Thursday to let Pembroke beat them and then managed the feat at the weekend. Railway lost to The Hills but then won their remaining matches.

In the end, Clontarf beat The Hills to put the Wilberries out of contention and leave themselves a trip to Rathmines to win the title. Leinster did their usual trick of getting into strong positions and then failing to capitalise, twice batting and once bowling, and at the death two 'Tarf youngsters, Eoghan Delany (son of Leinster's Gerry) and Richard Forrest (son of Phoenix's Dick) saw them home to another cup and league double.

In Section B, YMCA quickly got themselves into pole position and watched Malahide and Phoenix scrap it out for second place. Then Phoenix, having already lost at home to Rush, were beaten in the Park by Malahide. Rush lost to Phoenix in Kenure, but the party poopers of Old Belvedere won in the Park, and then Malahide saw off Phoenix to end their interest. Rush's chance disappeared when Malahide beat YMCA the following day and then survived a scare the next week against Belvo.

Now, a topic close to my heart, the umpires: great enthusiasm, but far too few of them know anything about the game other than what's written in the little blue book, and far too many of them have excessively inflated opinions of their own (and their mates') abilities as umpires.

Once upon a time the executive of the umpires' association was dominated by highly graded umpires, and it was relatively easy to maintain some sort of standard, but no longer. Now inexperienced and/or quite ordinary umpires run the show and appear to give themselves as many top matches as they can. Will the top eight umpires stand in the vast majority of Section 1 fixtures next year? I shall be amazed (and delighted) if that's the case.

But ever since I realised in 2006 that my maker had absolutely no interest in meeting me (like many others I could name), I've been constantly amazed and delighted just to be alive, to be watching the game I love played by people I really like in the best of company at the most pleasant of places.

I would be even more amazed and delighted if the Arsenal won something, anything!  

Cheers,

Stu.