Waringstown's Adam Dennison on why he's in the form of his life

The 21-year-old has scored three centuries in his last four 50-over innings to bring his tally for the season to 1,133 runs - and he is on track to amount more than any player in the NCU in over a decade.

“I had a good winter training with both the Knights and Waringstown and I just carried that through to outdoor nets,” said Dennison. “I didn’t start the season off great, I ran myself out in the first game against Carrickfergus!

“Ever since I have done okay and got myself a few scores, it’s probably just down to confidence and having belief in myself.

“I go out every week and try to get the head down and score a few runs, I don’t know what my form is down to exactly but concentration is a big one for me.

“In the past, I would have got to 20 or 30 and then thrown it away, but this year I’ve been able to kick on.”

His opening partnership with James Hall has meant that Waringstown have often enjoyed a flying start, with both having moved beyond the magic 1,000-run mark.

“I like batting with James,” said Dennison. “It takes a bit of the pressure off me, everyone knows James is a very free-scoring batsman and many times I’m just trying to get him back on strike and he does most of the hitting.

“We have a decent opening partnership there and hopefully it can stay that way for years to come.”

Dennison’s finest moment this season came in the Challenge Cup final against CSNI last month, where he struck a glorious 145 not out to help Waringstown lift the trophy for the first time since 2013. He also set a record for the highest individual score in a one-day final.

“It was a special day for the club,” he said. “We hadn’t won it since 2013 and to do that at Comber was special, plus to get runs was nice as well.

“We back everyone in our team and although you want to do it yourself, we have so many batsmen down our line-up, James McCollum, Lee Nelson, Greg Thompson, Shaheen Khan...Kyle McCallan is batting eight most weeks.

“We never feel any pressure and we want to play with freedom as there are boys that can come in and get the runs.”

They face another big weekend with the visit of Instonians in the Robinson Services Premier League on Saturday before an Irish Senior Cup semi-final in Strabane the following day in pursuit of a fourth consecutive final.

Last weekend’s emphatic loss to CIYMS means they now trail their Belfast counterparts, who also have a game in hand, by four points.

“We have Instonians on Saturday, so we need to win there to keep the pressure on CIYMS,” he said. “We just have to keep winning in the league and it’s a huge game on Sunday.

“Strabane seem to be doing really well this year and it’s always a tough time in the North West.

“We have to be on our game and hopefully get through to another Irish Cup final.”