Last weekend saw 3 players achieve targets they had in view at the beginning of the season

 

Reinhardt Strydom.  Reinhardt became the second player this season to reach a landmark target of 5,000 runs in Leinster senior Cricket.  5,000 is a key target because it is a landmark because it means that a player has reached a figure that means, subject to his having a career averages of 22.00 or more,  he enters the all time career list of Leinster batsmen.  Reinhardt reached it with a find innings of 150 against Railway Union, and also meant a vital win for Y.M.C.A. in what is a very tight league.  This was his 158th match and his 141st innings.  He now has 5,068 runs in all at an average of 42.23, with 10 centuries and 27 fifties.       He is the 65th to reach this figure and with his average is in the top half dozen.

 

John Mooney. Perhaps better known to the Irish cricketing public as John Boy, he reached 4,000 runs in his 218th match and 190th innings.  He got there with 41 in the LHW Cup match against Malahide.  Apart from his many excellent performacnes for North County John Boy has also become a fine performer for Ireland with both bat and ball. He now has 4,037 runs at an averages of 24.61 with 2 centuries and 20 fifties.

 

Luke Clinton. Luke is the bowler of the three and he reached the target of 300 wicket.  He got there pipping his brother Joseph who is at present on 291 wickets, in their own private race.  It is difficult for Bowlers to reach targets of this nature, particularly given that the game, many (particularly bowlers) argue, has become a batsman’s game with restricted overs, restricted fielders etc.  Many will remember the days when a bowler could bowl half the overs for his team, and yet now are restricted to 20%, as well as other limitations, as they would see it, on their ability to take wickets.  If one looks at the list of bowlers who have taken over 500 wickets, the equivalent target for bowlers to the Batsman's 5,000 runs, there are only 37 bowlers who have reached that figures (and there is no averages figures limitation in it) as compared with 65 batsmen. I suspect Paddy Power or any of his competitors would give very long odds against any other bowler ever reaching over 1,000 wickets to match the three that have done so to date, Jimmy Boucher, Gerry Kirwan and Niall McConnell. Luke in all has taken 300 wickets in 232 matches and has taken 5 wickets in an innings 4 times.