THE role of the club in Irish cricket is a frequent matter for debate. Is it merely a centre for a community to play the game and enjoy itself on weekends, with no responsibility to the outside world? Or is it there to provide a pathway for talented youngsters to reach the pinnacle of the game, whether that be Leinster Lightning, Ireland, or a professional career abroad?
The truth undoubtedly lies somewhere between, and many Irish clubs are very good at satisfying both ends of the spectrum.
But looking at how many youngsters work their way through from those frantic Sunday morning sessions as a seven-year-old is interesting. A survey of the last 100 men to play for Ireland provides a wide sample for which clubs are best at converting that talent into a man who can wear the shamrock – and it will surprise you, I’m sure.
I took the last 100 as a round figure and because it’s an easy way of producing percentages! But it was neat, too, as the first man on the list made his debut just over 20 years ago, in late summer 1993.
I broke the players down into seven categories – players who came up through clubs in the four unions (67); professionals brought in to play in competitions (10); locally-based professionals who were called up for competition (3); and those born overseas who qualified to play for Ireland (20).
Leinster has produced most players in that time – 26 – with 22 from the NCU and 17 from the North-West. John Power (1994) and Ted Williamson (1998) were the only men capped from Munster in the last 20 years, and each just once only. In fact 18 of the 67 Irish-born players played three games or fewer (although Andy McBrine, Graeme McCarter and Eddie Richardson are likely to add).
As an aside, the 20 overseas-born players who qualified came from South Africa (7), Australia (4), England (4), New Zealand (3), India (1) and Pakistan (1).
Of course it’s not easy to apportion credit to a club for one of its players becoming an international – for example Jonathan Garth, who learnt his cricket in Leinster CC, moved to YMCA from where he had a distinguished Irish career.
And these days, of course, players move around a lot more than they used to!
Leinster, too, has benefited from most of its caps in the last half century coming from those who moved to the club such as Jack Short, Ernie Jones, Johnny Byrne etc. George Dockrell is actually the only product of the Rathmines club to be capped in the last 60 years while still at the club – since Gerry Duffy back in 1953.
Almost all of the 26 Leinster-raised players come from two powerful areas – Dublin 4 and Fingal. Dockrell is the only exception to this rule since Greg Molins made his debut in 1996.
For the purposes of this part of the survey I’ve given credit for a player only to a club where he learnt his cricket and was still there when he made his debut.
Railway Union’s contribution to Adi Birrell and Phil Simmons’s teams has been considerable, with four of its youngsters – who all played underage together – being capped; the O’Briens, Kenny Carroll and Roger Whelan.
Neighbours Pembroke have produced the Davy twins and Andrew Balbirnie, while recruiting Allan Eastwood from Ballyeighan and sending Byrne to Leinster.
Merrion have produced the three Joyces, of course, but a born-and-bred YMCAer hasn’t been capped since Stu Taylor in 1991, albeit hard on the heels of a cluster of others such as Alan Lewis, Mark Nulty and Keith Bailey. Taylor’s only cap, against the Duchess of Norfolk’s XI, was also the debut of Eddie Moore, the last Terenure product to be capped (although Conor Hoey made his first of his 42 appearances in the previous game).
The three big north city clubs also pride themselves on thriving youth sections, but astonishingly, haven’t produced an international in a generation or two. Brian Gilmore is the first on the list of the last 100 caps, back in August 1993, but the Village hasn’t had a cap since then, with only Rush recruits Eoin Morgan and Fintan McAllister to fly its flag.
Clontarf, too, has had plenty of internationals around the club in the last quarter-century (the Poynters, Molins, Fourie, Bray, Johnston and Botha) but none who came up the ranks since Deryck Vincent in 1986.
Phoenix too, have had to rely on names such as Masood, Mitchell, Murphy, Milling, Molins, Langford-Smith, Bray etc, all of whom learnt the game elsewhere, as they have not had a product of its schoolboys section capped since Michael Halliday in 1970. In fact, as Halliday had started with Sandymount junior club 3rd OBU it’s arguable that this honour falls to David Ensor in 1969, almost half a century ago.
Like Halliday, some of the 26 under survey started with clubs that no longer exist such as Carlisle (the Molinses) and Balrothery (the Mooneys), or played junior cricket, such as Civil Service (Owen Butler), and Ballyeighan (Allan Eastwood).
In Fingal, Declan Moore, Barry Archer and Matt Dwyer started with the Hills, for whom Paul Mooney also turned out. Rush kicked off the careers of Morgan, McAllister and Conor Armstrong (and William Porterfield of course, but we can hardly claim him as a Leinster man!), while the Mooneys and Eddie Richardson came out of North County or its constituent clubs.
(ENDS)