The profile of club cricket in Leinster is changing. Perhaps the most notable feature of this has been a steady increase in the number of adult players who learnt to play the sport in other countries. The club structure in Leinster has, not without some trials and tribulations, managed to cope with this inflow through an increase in the number of clubs and teams. Apart from the growth in numbers this has also had the beneficial effect of spreading the reach of the sport beyond the traditional heartlands in Fingal and D4/D6. In 1919 [first year of league competitions] there were 20 clubs and 31 teams, today the number of clubs has doubled and the number of league teams has increased to 127. The growth of the club game since 1946 is set out in chart below.
Cricket has served an important role in helping to integrate individuals and families moving to the country into the community. This is something that has been, perhaps belatedly, recognised by local authorities who are now much more open to partnering with Cricket Leinster to fund development officers and to make recreational space available for the playing of cricket. As is evident from the comments received from some players more needs to be done to improve facilities. But every club has to start somewhere. Reviewing the early history of club competitions in Leinster it is perhaps interesting to note that both Merrion and YMCA started their life as senior clubs having to play all their matches away because their grounds weren’t of a high enough standard. The key requirement is that there is a credible plan to improve facilities and enough time, encouragement and support given to allow these plans to come to fruition. The Loan Scheme [Cricket Leinster] and the recently established Grant Scheme [Cricket Ireland] are steps in the right direction. Perhaps even more important is the Club Accreditation process which puts it up to all clubs to come forward with a development plan to, inter alia, improve facilities and to provide a coaching structure for young cricketers.
The chart below sets out the breakdown of adult cricketers in Leinster by origin [where they learnt to play cricket as reported as part of registration process].
What are the implications of this for the development of club cricket? First of all we need to acknowledge that the influx of players from other countries already committed to the sport has been a massive boon. More competitive club cricket is played today than ever before in Leinster and with a more even geographical spread. Umpiring has also benefitted as an interest in the sports has spread beyond the playing of the game. Finally, and perhaps most pleasing, it is clear from a quick perusal of the names, that second and third generation young cricketers whose families came from abroad and are now settled in Ireland are beginning to come through the youth ranks.
But it is also important to openly acknowledge that nearly all the growth of the sport in recent years has come from the influx of adult players from outside Ireland. As a union we have perhaps become complacent, hiding behind statements such as ‘cricket is the fastest growing club sport in Ireland’. While a nice sound bite [and even possibly true for a period during the recent recession when high rates of emigration meant that most club sports in Ireland suffered a decline in numbers] it perhaps serves to hide the fact that we are not so successful in keeping young cricketers who grew up in Ireland engaged in the sport.
Note: While we don't want to choke off debate through online comments the hope is that any issues that might arise from this or other articles based on provisional data from Open Competitions for 2016 will be brought forward for discussion at the Club Day.