Malahide have confirmed that Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin is joining them from The Hills.

The top-order batsman has been a mainstay for the Milverton side and his departure on the eve of the new season is a blow for a club hoping for an instant return to the top flight.

He joined them as a teenager in 2012 from North County, going to play 191 Leinster senior games, scoing 4547 runs at 28.96 with four hundreds and 24 fifties.

McLoughlin-Gavin was the Man of the Match as The Hills beat Clontarf to clinch their second Irish Senior Cup in 2014.

He turns 30 next week, and the lure of Premiership cricket and the chance to work on his game with former Irish Head Coach Graham Ford are understood to be major factors in the switch.