There are plenty of approving mutterings about Railway's Pat Collins this summer. Not only is he on top of the RSA Division 1 averages with bat and ball, but he's well clear in both aggregate tables too.
The Brisbane-born, Irish passport holder has also broken into the Leinster Lightning set-up and has impressed Kevin O'Brien.
"Pat a level-headed, down to earth sort of guy, and slow to take compliments", said his club and provincial captain. He's scoring runs by the bucket load and his bowling's come on leaps and bounds."
Collins (24) comes from Co. Cork stock, with his grandparents leaving Ballydehob and Skibbereen 70 years ago.
Having done well in Brisbane club cricket with Wests, Collins was offered a pro contract in England, but decided instead he wanted to check out the land of his forefathers. He emailed the Irish authorities.
"Trent Johnston was the first to reply and he filled me in on what I needed to do, and I joined him at Railway", he explains.
Although he knew about Ireland's exploits at the 2007 World Cup - and knew of fellow Queenslander Alex Cusack's feats here -- he still wasn't sure about what he was getting into.
"I had to Google "Trent Johnston!",' he admits.
Johnston knew all about Pat last summer when he made his maiden century - against TJ's new club YMCA.
Collins's bowling has also come on, and earlier this year he paired his second century - against Phoenix - with 7-33, the best all-round display in the league for 60 years. He was called up for the Lightning and made 25 and 10 against North West.
"I'm really enjoying the opportunity with Leinster, and if I do well for them and for Railway then we'll see what happens next. I haven't given playing for Ireland any thought to be honest."
Kevin O'Brien believes Collins can have a long career in the game.
"Pat works very hard. And he's certainly got the talent and temperament."
NEXT Tuesday night sees the first showing of an excellent documentary on cricket in Ireland. Batmen tells the story of the sport here from earliest times right up to the T20 qualifier last year. There's some fantastic archive film of the "West Indies 25 all out" game as well as the recent highpoints. You can get a taste on YouTube but the whole show is on Setanta Ireland at 8pm, so set the recorder now.
It's interesting to follow how former LCU pros' careers progress. There was rejoicing in Railway when Trent Copeland won his first test caps for Australia, and the big Sydneysider is the leading wicket-taker in England this summer. Ex-Merrion pro Gerard Brophy had a long career in England too, while Trinity recruit Ben Dunk has done well with Queensland and Tasmania.
Another former Dublin pro scored a career best 125 for Warwickshire last week, but Richie Barker never got the chance to bat here in 2007 - but he did score three goals for St Patrick's Athletic!
Performance of the Week: Theo Lawson is a fiery cricketer, so returning the scene of his cup final outburst last year wouldn't have troubled him. But he showed his on-field ability on Saturday with a classy century against YMCA.