Pembroke’s strength in depth will be under scrutiny when they begin their defence of the Leinster Senior Cup on Saturday in Phoenix Park.

Already without JJ Garth and Barry McCarthy because of injuries sustained in last week’s superb Irish Cup victory over Waringstown, they lose Macdara Cosgrave – Garth’s stand-in as opener at The Lawn – back to Trinity and up to five players who have been selected for next week’s Emerald Challenge match.

That rules out Andrew Balbirnie, Gavin Hoey, Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker and possibly Tim Tector as well, although his availability has yet to be confirmed by Cricket Ireland.

“Confidence is sky high,” says Pembroke skipper Jack Tector, “but you have to turn up every weekend and play well. This weekend we are without seven or eight players from last week so it creates challenges but also creates opportunity for guys who have been banging the door down in the second team. A number of them are definitely First-team cricketers so really excited to see how everyone gets on.”

Among the players set to be promoted are Greg Hollins, Dan Murray and Mark Berry.

“Greg has done very well with the bat for a number of years so he will be moving up the order. Dan, unfortunately, missed out on the (U19) World Cup with his back injury but he is back and scored 100 for the Seconds, and Mark, who has missed the first few games, had a very strong season for us last year so it’s nice for him to be back involved in first team cricket.

Pembroke are defending an eight-match winning run in the Cup, dating back to June 2023 when they lost to The Hills in the second round but that’s when YMCA were still an active team, so Tector and all the other players who moved from Claremont Road have yet to taste defeat in the competition with their new D4 side.

“It’s an enjoyable competition and the fact that the final is in Pembroke every year gives us that extra motivation to go all the way,” admits Jack Tector.

The other remarkable statistic about last year’s winning run was that a batter scored a century in every round, starting off with Jack’s 109 against Adamstown and ending with Byron McDonagh’s 107 in the final against Clontarf. In between, Balbirnie hit 150 not out against The Hills and last year’s overseas professional Blake McDonald crashed a sensational 263 not out in the semi-final against North County.

“Yes, Blake’s innings was phenomenal but as captain I’m always asking people to put their hand up so hopefully someone can get a century on Saturday,” added the captain.

This year’s professional is Addison Sheriff, who played for Australia U19s two years ago.

“He’s a very good all-rounder who plays for Northern Districts back in Sydney so I’m excited to see his progress over here, especially with the bat. He has big aspirations back home and hopefully he can kick on,” said Tector.

Last week’s Irish Cup victory was their fourth win out of four this season – the only unbeaten team in the Premiership has already given them a 22 points lead as they chase a third successive league and cup double – and confirmed when they are at full strength, or even close to it, they are the team to beat.

Looking back at their win over Waringstown, Tector reflects: “In the first innings, the most pleasing thing was that we stuck at it. It was tough going especially when their pro was going, Denny (Adam Dennison) was going and Morgan (Topping) was going, but we always knew that if we started taking wickets it could happen quite quickly. But the way the guys bowled at the back end, nailing their skills, it was a big plus (Waringstown lost their last six wickets for 13 runs) and give us a huge amount of momentum going into the second innings knowing how good the wicket was, and the outfield was lightning fast. Then the way the guys went about it with the bat, we literally just batted properly and everyone who batted (only the top four were needed) put in a match-winning performance.

While Cosgrave had to step up to opener after Garth dislocated a thumb – “he showed his class as well” and keeps  that position against Phoenix – no one is in better form this season than Tim Tector, who finished 152 not out when Pembroke reached their target of 301 in only the 44th over.

"Tim’s batting phenomenally well. He has worked really hard on his 50-over cricket, technically and in a mindset perspective so it’s really satisfying to see him do well. He could already have had three hundreds for us this season, with 74 at Railway, 96 against Merrion, and finally at Waringstown. Hopefully it can continue throughout the summer," Jack said of his youngest brother.

There was no luck in the Irish Cup draw for Pembroke, with victory over the NCU Challenge Cup holders only earning them a trip to Belfast to face the Premier League champions in the second round next weekend.

“We have got two of the best teams in the NCU, so I suppose we just have to get on with it. We had a good game against Instonians last year (Pembroke hammered them by 103 runs at Sydney Parade) but the Irish guys are out of both teams so it’s an even contest, but one we are looking forward to. We’re away this time but, similar to Waringstown, I hear the wicket at Instonians will be very good,” says Tector who is back in the captain’s role after a significant break.

“It’s a good challenge, especially captaining the Irish guys, but really enjoyable. It’s my first year leading Pembroke but I captained Ireland youth teams, the U19s at World Cup and I’d a good number of years captaining YM. It’s been four or five years since I’ve done it, but it’s but good fun.”

Certainly when Tector has such ability under his command, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be fun, especially if the side keeps on winning. Time for the squad to be tested.