THE Hills Cricket Club recently hosted their Annual Awards Dinner and there was much to celebrate and remember from the 2009 season.

One of the highlights was the 2nd XI winning their Senior II league and gaining promotion to the Senior I ranks for the 2010 season, while the club also won the Fingal Championship.

Albert van der Merwe won the Leinster All Rounder Award for the 2009 season, picking up the Samuels Cup in recognition of his exploits for the year, and Luke Clinton, the First XI captain, picked up the Leinster Fair Play Award.

Tracey Clinton picked up the batting award for Ladies and Miranda Andrews picked up the bowling award, both in Leinster.

Hills clubman Jeremy Bray continued his presence in the Irish International squad, representing Ireland in the T20 World Cup and the ICC Trophy.

Other representative honours went to Laura Boylan (Ireland Under-17s), Gillian Hoare (Leinster Under-15s) and Thomas Murphy (Southern Schools).

Commenting on the year just gone, Martin Byrne – chairman of The Hills – said: 'Having just completed major investments in new facilities at the clubhouse and training facilities for our players, it is great to see that we continued to be competitive in the field.

'Our investment in youths cricket is beginning to reap rewards, with players like Thomas Murphy, Laura Boylan and Gillian Hoare gaining recognition at interprovincial and Ireland level.

'It was a great year to remember our 40 years in existence when hosting the Irish Senior Cup final as well as several internationals.'

Asked what he hoped for in the coming season, he responded: 'From a club development perspective, the continued investment in our work with the local schools and the youths section represent the future of the club and this will continue and grow.

'We also have an interesting scenario in the 2010 season when two teams from The Hills will be represented in the Senior I ranks. Goodness knows, they could meet one another in the Leinster Senior Cup!

'From a club perspective I want to see us continue to embrace a broader community involvement in the club. We are not just a sporting club, we are also a key part of the community structure and I want to see us embracing that responsibility and involvement even further in 2010.'