We will shortly be announcing details of the Cricket Leinster Centenary Book Launch Event in October, however given the high level of interest already, we have decided to provide people with the opportunity to purchase the book now by placing an order on the following link: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cricketleinster/292414
The Leinster Cricket Union was founded in the Central Hotel in Exchequer Street in April 1919, and one hundred years on – in the very same room last April – our President Peter Thew raised a glass with more than eighty representatives of the province’s 43 clubs to open the centenary festivities.
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A memorable evening saw three illustrated talks on various aspects of the union’s history, and a presentation to Tom Murphy of North County, almost as venerable as the union and the oldest surviving cricketer to play in Leinster competitions.
Back in 1919 there were just three divisions, including the new senior league which featured five clubs that still compete at the top level – Leinster, Pembroke, Phoenix, Dublin University and Railway Union. Another four sides – Civil Service, UCD, County Kildare and the Royal Hibernian Military School – dropped out over the years, and were replaced by Clontarf, Merrion, YMCA, Malahide, Old Belvedere, Carlisle, CYM, The Hills, Rush and North County before senior status was abolished in 2010.
There are now 43 clubs playing in the province and those three divisions have grown to 17, as well as women’s and youth competitions.
We have continued to celebrate the Centenary all season, and June saw the on-field centrepiece of the festivities. The visit of Middlesex to take on Leinster Lightning in a T20 match was the first fixture between an English county and an Irish province since 1946. Pembroke hosted this fixture on Midsummer’s Day and a large crowd in excess of 1,600 people saw a glittering array of international stars in a Friday night spectacular.
Cricket Leinster has also launched the Your Club/Your Province draw which should prove a fund-raising boon to all clubs, and a Patrons Club for supporters of the game. ‘Give It A Blast’ evenings are bringing women and girls into clubs all over the province to give them a taste of the sport.
The climax of the celebrations comes in October with the launch of ‘100 NOT OUT’, a lavish hardback book detailing the history of the game in Leinster, written by Gerard Siggins with contributions from Siobhán McBennett, Mary Sharp, Deryck Vincent, Michael Halliday, Andrew Blair-White and Alan Tuffery. A central part of the book will be Eddie Lewis’s presentation of the statistical record of the senior competitions, the compilation of which were the life’s work of Derek Scott.
If you pre-order and pay here before September 30th, you will get the special price of €30 for the book and be delivered your book as soon as it is printed. To do so, please click this link and pay here. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cricketleinster/292414
This provides you with an opportunity to purchase this unique collectors item at a discounted price before end September 2019 and in advance of the formal book launch in October. This is a limited edition publication and you are advised to order early to avoid disappointment.