Hills home in on rare league title

CRICKET WEEKEND PREVIEW:THE HILLS are very much alive to the possibility of their first senior league title since 1989 going in to the final weekend of Whitney Moore Section A fixtures.

A home victory over Leinster at Milverton tomorrow would be enough for Luke Clinton's side, who have not lost in their last seven league outings.

Indeed, they may be champions by tonight if Merrion and North County, the only two teams who can catch the Skerries side, fail to win their games in hand.

Despite being away from home, second-placed Merrion should account for Malahide today and send them down to Section B. They finish their campaign with a tough trip to Balrothery tomorrow to face North County.

Andre Botha's side need to win all three of their remaining games and pick up bonus points to win their fifth title of the decade.

They have the advantage that both of their weekend fixtures are at home, with a Leinster side battling to avoid the drop providing the opposition today.

Two victories for County and a slip by The Hills tomorrow would mean the destination of the title would not be decided until next Wednesday, when they travel to Clontarf for a rearranged fixture.

Leinster's bid for survival has been boosted by a strong end to the season from former Ireland skipper Jason Molins, who hit two half-centuries last weekend.

It is still a big ask for the Rathmines side to win twice on the road, but they will take comfort from the fact Rush face the same task as they try to avoid the drop.

Lying 21 points behind Leinster, Rush need good wins at Castle Avenue against Clontarf today and Malahide tomorrow if they are to stand any hope of staying up.

West Indies opening batsman Xavier Marshall has tested positive for a banned substance, a cricket board official told www.cricinfo.com. Jamaican Marshall and Tonito Willett from Leeward Islands tested positive last month at a camp to pick the side to face England in the Stanford Twenty20 €14 million match on November 1st, the report said. West Indies board chief executive Donald Peters said any action would be taken after legal advice.