This year we had seven cricket blitzes being held for pupils in both 4th & 5th classes during the month of May and also a girl’s blitz for 5th/ 6th Classes. The blitzes were run in Rush CC, Malahide CC, The Hills CC and Corduff Sport Centre. Unfortunately, bad weather played a big part this year as four of the days had to be rescheduled, but luckily enough three of them where eventually delivered. The events were full of fun and enjoyment with children being offered competitive games and learning more about the game. Overall, 15 schools attended the blitzes with 35 teams and over 600 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.
The blitz’s for 5th/6th class girls in Malahide CC had Balrothery NS, Swords ET, St Andrew’s NS, Oliver Plunkett’s NS & St Patrick’s NS (Skerries). Oliver Plunkett’s NS won the Malahide Blitz with over a 60 girls participating.
The Rush 5th class blitz was held at Rush Cricket Club and involved teams from Rush NS, Loughshinny NS, Milverton NS, Balrothery NS & Realt na Mara. The 5th class blitz was won by Milverton NS with over 80 children partaking. The 4th class blitz (sponsored by the Dolan family and running now for 16 years) had to be rescheduled and because of the busy time in the schools we only had Balrothery NS and Milverton NS free and we played it in The Hills CC.
The Dublin 15 blitzes were held at the Corduff Sports Centre with Tyrrelstown Educate Together, St Patrick’s NS (Diswellstown), Castleknock NS and Castaheany Educate Together participating. The 4th class blitz was won by Castaheany Educate Together NS. On the day there was over 60 children partaking. All these schools in Dublin 15 have recently been introduced to the game through the Cricket Leinster ‘school coaching visit’ programme supported by Fingal County Council. Unfortunately, the 5th class blitz was rained off and we were not able to get a rescheduled day that suited schools.
The Swords/Malahide blitzes both got rained off, but we were able to run a combined blitz for 4th and 5th classes on Wednesday 8 June in Malahide CC. Schools that attended were St Andrews NS, Oliver Plunkett’s NS, St Patrick’s NS and Holywell NS. There were over a 100 children participating on the day.
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 (Sam Anderson, Vanessa Kelada, Ciara Metcalfe, Nicolaas Pretorius and Ian Anders) who contributed to the success of these events.