THE prospect of rain in May never cheers the cricketing fraternity, but there’s no denying that one corner of the community licks its lips at the prospect.
This is the only time of the year that the devotee of the strange ritual that is the tie-breaking bowl-out gets to observe the arcane ceremony. It is an endangered species, too, with only one instance to be seen in Dublin in the last decade.
The sight of five men bowling in turn at exposed stumps – usually in teeming rain – is guaranteed to provoke hilarity, even though both clubs’ survival in the competition is at stake. The nerves often gets the better of the bowlers, and many a wide has been delivered during the contest. It is often the non-bowler who hits, with the consensus being that the full-toss is the best delivery in the circumstances.
The near-wipe out of the first round of the RSA Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup has led to a spate of refixes this weekend and next, but if those fixtures are wrecked by weather then the bowl-out comes into play.
Back in the 1980s there were no refixes however, and they were truly the golden age of the ‘Schweppes Cup Schwoot-out’. Between 1983 and 1990 there were 23 bowl-outs involving LCU clubs, and it soon became clear that our Ulster brethren had been practicing harder. In the whole history of the competition only one quarter final was ever decided by a bowl-out, and none in the later stages.
Only six Leinster clubs came out on top in those 23 contests, four out of 13 against North-West sides, one against Cork County and just one out of nine against NCU teams.
The refix rule took the bowl-out out of play for several years – although there were a few involving northern sides – before a flurry of rain-offs in 2002 saw it return. The last time it was seen was 2012 when Railway Union beat Leinster 3-1 in a second round game, which was the only occasion two CL sides were in opposition in a bowl-out.
That was Railway’s only bowl-out too, and they are therefore the only LCU side to have never lost one in the 32 years of the competition. North County (who first entered in 1991) and Rush (1995) were not senior back in the 1980s and have never taken part in a bowl-out.
Old Belvedere and Pembroke have both won twice, but both have also lost twice. Belvo had a bad run in the mid-1980s when three games in four years were abandoned and a bowl-out arranged. Pembroke lost their first two in 1983 and 1985, but won at the Mardyke in 1988 and at home to Belfast Harlequins in 2002.
The worst bowl-outers are probably YMCA, who lost three of their four contests between 1985 and 1990. Clontarf, Leinster and Malahide have lost both the bowl-outs in which they took part.
P W L
Carlisle 1 0 1
Clontarf 2 0 2
CYM 3 1 2
Leinster 2 0 2
Malahide 2 0 2
Merrion 1 0 1
Old Belv 4 2 2
Pembroke 4 2 2
Phoenix 2 1 1
Railway 1 1 0
Hills 3 1 2
YMCA 4 1 3