The management and members would like to wish Max Sorensen all the best of luck as he heads to Australia tomorrow to join up with the Irish squad as they start an exciting 10 weeks or so in Australia and Dubai and finally India for the world T20 cup. God speed bru to you and all the boys.

The Hills Cricket Club Ladies  are seeking to fill the role of Coach and or Player for their Ist and 2nd teams for the coming season.

With a successful women’s section fielding two sides  in Div 1 and 2 with a large number of talented younger players and a well  established junior section, The Club has achieved a number of promotions over the last couple of years and is aiming to develop further.

The successful candidate will be able to plan and deliver enjoyable and effective coaching sessions for both adults and juniors.

Coaching times – Mondays 6.30 – 8.30pm with Thursday night games, home & away.

How to apply – Please contact Bobby Swarbrigg @ bobswarbrigg@gmail.com p: 087 2277563

Written by Ian Callender for Sunday Life.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART

CIYMS are on the look-out for another Irish-qualified player after Ireland international Max Sorensen told them “home is where the heart is”.

The 30-year-old South African-born all-rounder signed a three-year contract with the Belmont club in October but, four months before the start of the new season, he has changed his mind and decided to stay at The Hills, his only club since moving to Ireland in 2008.

“I can’t really commit to it,” Sorensen told me yesterday. “After thinking about it long and hard, it was going to be tough. The Hills is my club, I’m with my mates every week and playing for CIYMS just didn’t feel right.

Halfway through the season it could have become tough with all the travelling. The money was the only attraction when I signed, so I told CI my heart wouldn’t be totally in it.

“The Hills have done a lot for me over the last eight years, I have an extremely strong tie and loyalty to them. That’s the way I feel, I enjoy playing for them, they are a great club. It’s hard for me to leave, so don’t think I’ll be leaving now.

“Home is where the heart is and I’m happiest when I’m playing at The Hills

“CIYMS are obviously disappointed but I’m grateful that things have ended on a good note.”
Revealingly, Sorensen also said he was given no encouragement that he would be welcomed into the Northern Knights squad if he had moved.

“I spoke to Kyle McCallan (chairman of selectors) before I had confirmed the move telling him I would be keen to play for the Knights but he said he didn’t want ‘blow-ins’, staying for a year and then going, so that was another factor in my decision not to move.”

Sorensen’s first target is to get a regular place in the Ireland team – he played in only six of the 30 internationals last year – starting this month in Australia when Ireland resume their Intercontinental Cup campaign against Papua New Guinea and then make the World Twenty20 squad that plays in India in March.

The Hills 1– Champions – (Predicted 1st) – Batting Rating 138 – Bowling Rating 145 – Overall Rating 283 – All Ireland Ranking 10 (-3 on year) – Leinster ranking 6 (-2 on year)

Whilst it was not the biggest surprise of the 2015 cricketing season, The Hills won Division 2 by a convincing margin, lifting their 10th league title in total. It was the second time they have won the second tier division in Leinster cricket (2005 was the first time), all of which can be listed some way behind their three Division 1/Senior League titles. Whilst it was a title predicted by all, it still had to be achieved, and despite a couple of hiccoughs, the title was won with the minimum of fuss. Their bowling attack was rated a bit better than their bowling, but closer analysis reveals the bowling was simply awesome. Throughout our league reviews, any bowler who takes more than ten wickets at an average of under 16 can be seen as a decent bowler. If any team has more than one such bowler, they are likely wto win the league. The Hills had five such bowlers, plus two more who averaged a touch over 16. Without clogging up pages and pages of stats (the full details can be seen at the bottom of the page), the splendid septet were Deon Carolus, Max Sorensen, Manu Kumar, Naseer Shoukat, Tomas Rooney Murphy, Luke Clinton and Mark Dwyer. A set of seven bowlers that would rank up at the top of any list of the top attacks in Leinster cricket in the last 30 years. For the last couple of seasons, the team’s Achilles Heel has definitely been the batting, and the batting unit was probably lucky it had such a wonderful bowling attack to help. Only two players passed 200 runs, but that was all that was needed. Nicolaas Pretorious was back to his best, with 387 runs (at 48.38 and a strike rate of 123.64), whilst Mike Baumgart hit 260 (at 37.14, SR 74.07). Max Sorensen’s batting also deserves a mention. He was the only player to score his runs quicker than Pretorious, hitting 173 runs in the 99 balls he faced in league cricket all year. He will be hugely missed. The only two blemishes were the league losses against Balbriggan and Leinster, when the batting spluttered. Against Balbriggan, they slipped from 52-3 to 82 all out (although the bowling nearly saved the day as Balbriggan lost five wickets for seven runs before winning by 3 wickets), whereas against Leinster the batting troubles were higher up the order, as they collapsed to 23-7. But those were mere blips, and Leinster cricket is all the better for having The Hills back in Division 1 in 2016.