MASTERS CRICKET - LEINSTER VS MUNSTER

On Friday, July 15^th, Leinster hosted Munster for the first ever Masters interprovincial. County Laois hosted the game in scenic Stradbally. The Leinster team was built from teams all over especially Laois as well as Leinster, Civil Service and others. Munster’s team was represented by Kerry, Harlequins and Lismore. Paul Wyer won the toss for Munster and decided to bat.

Munster got off to a steady start scoring 33 off the first 10 overs as Pete Bouclier and Ray Stapleton bowled well. First change Stewart got a wicket off his second ball which brought Merrill Kahapola to join fellow Harlequin Dave. Both batted very aggressively putting on 99 as both of them retired on 50. Paddy Byrne got off to a good start before captain Niall Carroll took a very good catch. He scored 42. Paul 17 and Michael Condon, with a quick 31, continued the attack as the score went passed 200.  The bowlers fought back at the end with both Frank O’Beirne and Mark PNG both getting 2 wickets, Mark finishing with 2 for 6 from his 2 overs. Munster scored 224 from their 40 overs before tea was taken.

Facing a daunting task Leinster did not get off to a good start as Merrill took a brilliant catch off his own bowling. William Blackley came in and hit some nice shots before he was caught for 17 by Matt Barran of David Cookes bowling. David soon had his second wicket as Matt Power took a very good catch to dismiss Pete. He finished with 2 for 8 from his 5 overs. At this stage the bowling was very accurate and Leinster were struggling. Their cause was not helped by 2 run outs with Tommy and David hitting the wickets directly. The innings was held together by a brilliant knock by Dave Nugent. He fought hard for his 50 which included 36 singles before he retired. Ray, 15, was the only bowler to get to double figures as Michael got the last 2 wickets yielding only 12 runs from his 5.4 overs. Leinster finished on 108 from 33.4 overs as Munster won by 116 runs.

To finish the game with the speeches Paul presented Dave Nugent with a rare hard to find North Kerry CC hat for his brilliant 50 N O.  Niall presented Dave Peet with a bottle of wine for his hard fought openers 50 N O. Both captains thanked Paul Swayne for his umpiring and with Adrian Tudor (absent) for organising the fixture. In bright sunshine after some local pizzas we headed home, to all parts of the country after a very enjoyable days’ cricket.

Champagne Moment: the catch of Tommy Power the literal hurler on the ditch in his fifth game!

Images with thanks to Laois CC & Lismore CC