Eight wonderful days of cricket blitzes were held for pupils in both 4th & 5th classes during the months of May & June and also Girls Blitz’s for 5th/ 6th Classes. The events were full of fun and enjoyment with children being offered competitive games and learning more about the game. Overall, 17 schools attended the blitzes with 40 teams and over 700 boys & girls gaining valuable playing experience. The teachers who accompanied the teams were most impressed with the ‘Kwik Cricket’ playing format and many have already expressed interest in setting up games themselves involving local schools. Always a good sign for the further development of the game.
For the second year running we were delighted to run two blitzes for 5th/6th class girls in Malahide CC and Corduff Sports Centre. School participating were Balrothery NS, Castleknock NS, St Andrew’s NS, Milverton NS, Castaheany ET and Holy Family NS. Castleknock NS won the Dublin 15 event and Milverton NS won the Malahide event. Due to the success we will be running the girls blitzes on an annual basis and it was great to see over a 100 girls participating.
The Swords/Malahide blitzes were held at Malahide Cricket Club with Oliver Plunkett’s NS, Pope John Pauls NS, Holywell NS, St Andrew’s NS and Holy Family NS participating. Oliver Plunkett’s NS won the 4th class blitz and St Andrews NS won the 5th class blitz.
The Rush blitzes was held at Rush Cricket Club and involved teams from Rush NS, Loughshinny NS, Milverton NS, Balrothery NS, St Mologas NS, St Catherine’s NS, Realt na Mara and Balbriggan ET. The 4th class blitz (sponsored by the Dolan family and running now for 15 years) was won by Rush NS and the 5th class blitz was won by Realt na Mara from Skerries.
The Dublin 15 blitzes were held at the Corduff Sports Centre with Tyrrellstown Educate Together, St Patrick’s NS (Corduff), St Patrick’s NS (Diswellstown), Castleknock NS and Castaheany Educate Together participating. The 4th class blitz was won by Tyrrelstown ET and the 5th class Blitz was won by Castleknock NS. All these West Dublin schools have recently been introduced to the game through the LCU ‘school coaching visit’ programme supported by Fingal County Council.
Overall the festival of cricket blitzes was a great success, further promoting the game of cricket with lots of new children showing an interest in the game. The development of cricket in Fingal keeps growing which is a wonderful boost for sport in the region. Special thanks to the Fingal County Council & Cricket Leinster for their continued support. Also the cricket clubs for the use of their grounds and all the coaches (Tommy Doheny, Alan Reynolds, Felix Page, Will Kindley, Carole McGuire, Albert van der Merwe & Lionel Jansen) who contributed to the success of these events.