The first round of matches for the season passed in glorious sunshine. There were good numbers down in Merrion watching the 5th XI and the Phoenix Park was very busy. The cricket was mixed.
There is no doubt about the contender for the label of ‘the ugly’. The game between Laois 1st v Merrion 5ths was something of a mismatch. The 5th actually played well – managed a reasonable total [a little light] thanks to runs from Killian O’Flynn, Robbie Stanton and Rishabh Sharma. We might have even had wickets if we had held on to a couple of catches in the outfield. But this is Laois side that stretched our 3rd XI last season, and they look to be much stronger this year. It was a lovely day, it was great to get matches started, but aside from that only two Laois players got to bat and as a competitive fixture it left a lot to be desired. This, I hasten to add is not the fault of either club. The Open Competitions in their wisdom decided that Laois should drop down the divisions and further resisted all efforts by our own Cricket Committee to spread our 5th / 6th teams further down the leagues. Enough said.
The contenders for the good and the bad. Probably fair to say there was both in each of the other games. The results – a win for the 1st XI and a loss for the 4th XI – might suggest an obvious answer. But in terms of performance the 4th XI did really well in just failing to chase down a big total. The 1sts will be really pleased with their fight back, first to hang in when all looked lost and then to dramatically turn the games around in the final overs to snatch victory. But they will be looking for an improved performance, especially with the bat, as the season progresses.
Jack Carty celebrated his return to Merrion with a half century [54] and 2/16 off his four overs. James Hitchcock also had a good day with bat and ball, a quick run a ball 14 late in the innings was followed by 3/20. It was his two wickets in the 14th over when Balbriggan were 82/1 that turned the game. Congratulation also to John O’Hara who made his debut on the 1st XI [no byes].
The 4ths in the Phoenix Park fielded first and were put under pressure from the start with some strong hitting. Sean Sandys led the fight back and was the most successful bowler with 3/34 but this did not prevent Civil Service reaching a large total of 182/5. Merrion did not help their own cause with 32 extras, including 19 wides.
Andrew Kay and Daniel Paul opened the batting for Merrion and got the team off to a reasonable start. But the real fight back came from Grant Glutz in his debut for Merrion. He made 87* [including reaching his 50 off 26 balls]. He got good support from Akshay Dubey who made 32 before being run out. Merrion got within 10 runs [the difference in the number of wides between the two teams] but just could not pull it off.
An excellent article on Cricket Europe on the game. See here
Although the results went either way for the club, two really exciting games to start the season off, and one that we will excise from the memory.
Merrion 1st XI v Balbriggan 1st Xi
Merrion 126/7 Balbriggan 121/8
Merrion win by 5 runs
Merrion 4th XI v Civil Service 3rd XI
Civil Service 182/5 – Merrion [172/7]
Civil Service win by 10 runs
Merrion 5th XI v Laois 1st XI
Merrion 96 / 6 Laois 97/0
Laois win by 10 wickets
Next matches [8th June]
Womens 1st XI v Malahide 1st XI Malahide
Womens 3rd XI v Clontarf 3rd XI Castle Avenue