2011 saw one of the most talented training panels in recent memory assemble for the Winter Training Programme and all of the Leinster coaching staff knew that narrowing the forty of so players down to the Interprovincial squad of 13 was not going to be easy.
Following a comprehensive winter training programme and a ‘Trial’ match in North Kildare CC on June the 8th, the Leinster selectors announced a 13 man squad to travel north to Belfast for the week of Interprovincial matches versus Munster, the NCU & the North West.
The first match saw Leinster take on Munster at the beautiful Hollywood Cricket Club ground. Leinster batted first and made a good score of 183-8 from their 40 overs built around Colin Currie’s very well composed 60. However what was to come was truly phenomenal, Rory Anders fantastic spell of quick outswing bowling simply blew Munster away and he ended with tournament record figures of 7 wickets for 4 runs (and the match ball!).
Leinster then, took on the host union at Wallace Park in the second match of the series. Unfortunately the game was shortened by the weather but Lisburn CC’s groundstaff put in a great effort to get a game played and a comprehensive team display from Leinster saw them beat the NCU by 73 runs in a 25 over contest. Colin Currie’s fast scoring 58 was again the mainstay of the Leinster innings.
In the final match of the series it came down to a winner takes all contest between the North West and Leinster at Shaw’s Bridge. Leinster produced a superb all-round performance to run out eight wicket winners and cap off a great week. The North West struggled against Leinster's varied attack. Fiachra Tucker and his leg-spin was most successful claiming 3 for 12, including a spectacular return catch, while Conor O'Gorman took 2 for 8 as Leinster bowled out their opposition for just 67. In reply, Fiachra Tucker played some magnificent drives as he scored 30 not out, while opening partner Colin Currie completed a great week from him in his 22.
Leinster then travelled to the Taunton Under 13 festival to take on five different English County Under 13 sides. With each game being 50 overs in duration and Leinster taking on Kent, Yorkshire, Cheshire, Gloucestershire & Cornwall within the space of a week it was going to be a very testing experience for our squad.
For those who haven’t been to King’s College in Taunton, the set up really needs to be seen to be believed. There are 6 full sized cricket pitches all with very good quality grass wickets, the squads are all housed in accommodation on the campus. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner is served out of the college’s kitchens and it would be an understatement to say the food was fantastic! The festival is incredibly well organised with 12 counties in 2 different groups of 6, with prizes for all the boys, as well as player of the festival awards all presented by current Somerset player & King’s College old boy Craig Meschede at the closing ceremony.
The week was an amazing experience for the players and parents that travelled over to support the boys in blue. We were also very fortunate to take in a county championship match at the county ground in Taunton, as well as a U19 ODI between England & South Africa at the same venue, a match which went right down to the last ball. Leinster exceeded all expectations for the week and finished with victories over Cornwall, Gloucestershire and perhaps most remarkably Yorkshire (see below). This all came from a team that had never won a match before at this festival. This speaks volumes about not only the talent in this squad but the progress being made in the development of all levels of the sport here in Leinster.
Below here is a piece written from a parent’s perspective on the day of that historic win over Yorkshire. Many thanks to Michael O’Gormon for this.
David beats Goliath
Against the odds victories by Leinster over their U’13 counterparts from Cornwall and
Gloucestershire on the opening two days of the Taunton Cricket Festival played at King’s
College, Taunton, Somerset, great though they were, did not prepare us for the Shock-of
The Festival win against Yorkshire on Wednesday, July 27th. Think of past World Cup glories by Ireland against England in cricket, Italy in soccer and Australia in rugby to appreciate the scale of the victory. Remember Yorkshire has a playing base that comes from a county that consists of over 900 cricket clubs!
This Yorkshire team had been unbeaten since they were U’11s and had every right to expect a handy victory over their Irish opposition. Our total of 142 a.o. from 44 overs (Top scorers: David Delany 23, Colin Currie 20 & Danny Hogan 19) was competitive but probably not sufficient. Despite David Delany taking the wickets of 3 of the opening 4 batsmen, at 109/4 Yorkshire looked to be home and hosed. However, these three wickets were crucial because Yorkshire had facile victories in their first two matches (losing only one or two wickets in the process) and we suspected that the rest of their line-up was short on batting practice.
And so it proved. Wickets fell like skittles in a dramatic collapse that saw Yorkshire’s last 6 wickets fall for a mere 18 runs. Our spinners, Luke Birrell and Conor O’Gorman, each took a vital wicket but Yorkshire simply had no answer to the pace bowling of David Delany (4-15) and Rory Anders (4-27). This, however, was a team effort, inspired by superb fielding which saw our lads going to ground bravely and without hesitation on the hard and, in places, bumpy outfield saving singles and boundaries. Our bowling was also very tight, remarkably Leinster bowled not 1 wide or no ball whereas Yorkshire bowled a total of 17, more than the margin of victory! At 127 all out from 33.4 overs, Yorkshire’s total fell short by 15 runs. The final scoreboard was immortalised when my wife took a photo of it on her iphone which is her screensaver to this day!
Spontaneous hugging and kissing by the Leinster team parents greeted the fall of
Yorkshire’s last wicket. All 14 boys in the squad had at least one parent in attendance at
some stage during that week in Taunton and in many cases, both parents were present
throughout. The team and their coaches, Andrew Leonard and Brad Allam, had a celebratory ice-cream downtown immediately after the win; the parents celebrated with something stronger that evening.
Despite this setback, Yorkshire went on to win the Festival and Leinster finished runners-up. We travelled to Taunton more in hope than expectation (no Leinster team had won a match there previously) and would have happily settled for one or two ‘moral victories’. To emerge with 3 wins out of 5 in such a competitive environment and an exhausting schedule (five 50 over matches in five days against the cream of English county cricket) did the lads, and the LCU coaching set-up, enormous credit.
Michael O’Gorman
On behalf of 13 proud sets of parents
As the Leinster coach, it was a great honour to have been associated with such a brilliant group of lads. After what was a week of exceptional performances in Belfast, I felt that we could really cause some surprises in Taunton. So it was incredibly satisfying to have been the talk of the tournament all week in Taunton, with every single other county in the festival seeming to take almost as much pleasure as we did in our victory over Yorkshire. Five 50 over games in five days is a big ask for Under 13’s and although we tired towards the end of the week, 2nd place in the festival was no small achievement and very well deserved.
There are several players in this age group who, in my opinion, possess all the talent and skills to go all the way to further provincial & international honours. In fact nine of this squad were selected for the Cricket Ireland Under 13 side this year.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players and parents for all of their help and support throughout the season. In addition to that, Brad Allem did a fantastic job as manager in Belfast and Taunton whilst Brian O’Rourke was, as ever, indispensable, this time in terms of organisation and the set-up for the squad throughout the entire year.
I would like to finish by saying how proud I was, as coach of this side, when I heard many different tributes from Umpires, other Parents and Coaches praising the Leinster boys for not only the way they played their cricket, but also for their impeccable behaviour and good sportsmanship throughout the week in Taunton. The Leinster lads were the talk of the tournament all week. They set a great example of what Cricket is all about.
Andrew Leonard
Coach Leinster Under 13’s
November 2011
Leinster U/13 Squad Interprovincial Championship - Belfast
Interprovincial Championship Results
At Holywood, 4 July - Leinster Under 13's 183-8 (Colin Currie 60, Stephen Cheatley 2-13) beat MCU Under 13's 28 all out (Rory Anders 7-4) by 155 runs.
At Wallace Park, 5 July – Leinster 157-6 (25.0 Overs Colin Currie 58) beat NCU 84-7 (25 Overs) by 73 runs.
Shaw's Bridge Lower, 6 July - North West 67 (31 overs, R McCay 18, F Tucker 3-12, C O'Gorman 2-8) Leinster 68-2 (23 overs, F Tucker 30*, C Currie 22, R McCay 2-9) North West lost to Leinster by 8 wickets.
Leinster Squad for Taunton Festival
Taunton Results
Monday 25th July - Cornwall 91 all out,42 overs (Rory Anders 3-11, Fiachra Tucker 2-5, Conor O'Gorman 1-16) Leinster 93-3, 28.3 overs (Daniel Hogan 41*, Rory Anders 28*) Leinster win by 7 wickets
Tuesday 26th July - Leinster 269-9, 50 overs ( Fiachra Tucker 76, Rory Anders 71, David Delany 43, Andrew Mays 19*) Gloucestershire 178 all out (Fiachra Tucker 4-47, Daniel Hogan 2-27, Andew Delany 3-8) Leinster win by 101 runs
Wednesday 27th July - Leinster 142 all out (Colin Currie 20, Daniel Hogan 19, David Delany 23) Yorkshire 127 all out (Rory Anders 4-27, David Delany 4-15, Luke Birrell 1-3) Leinster win by 15 runs.
Thursday 28th July - Leinster 185-8, 50 overs (Eamonn Byrne 40, Andrew Mays 29, Rory Anders 27) Cheshire 187-2, 43.3 overs (Andrew Mays 1-8, Rory Anders 1-21) Cheshire won by 8 wickets.
Friday 29th July - Leinster 131 all out, 39.3 overs (Colin Currie 16, Eamon Byrne 15, Derry O'Connor 14)
Kent 132-2, 32.1 overs (Conor O'Gorman 1-33, Sim Singh 1-27). Kent won by 8 wickets.