Saturday afternoon finally saw the embers of the 2015 season kicked away and the onset of the winter month’s hibernation for the domestic cricketers of Ireland. The final game was possibly the best of 2015 and a final result of a Leinster C.C. victory by 6 wickets does not do justice to the game or to those playing in it. Certainly Leinster C.C. took the trophy and the plaudits, and deservedly so, but it could have gone either way. The thinnest line is that between victory and defeat and the defeated often learn more than the victors.
The first meeting of these two teams in this competition had been the previous Saturday, when the rain prevented a completed game. Leinster had batted for 27 of their 30 overs, but a deluge of rain caused abandonment, with Leinster C.C. having posted about 120, with only the opening bat withstanding the Waringstown bowling.
Confusion then reigned as the regulations did not seem to cover the specific situation of rain in a final, and it was left to a summit meeting between the managers, coaches and Brian O’Sullivan to decide the right course of action. Sometimes common sense does prevail and it did on this occasion. Everyone rightly agreed that an Under 11 final should not be decided by a bowl-out with the possibility that one player would be left isolated as the “Stuart Pearce, Gareth Southgate, or even David Batty” who won or lost the trophy and eventually as the square in Observatory Lane started to disappear under the fallen water, the decision was made to start again in Waringstown at midday the following Saturday.
Thus I found myself in a most picturesque ground in Waringstown on Saturday. The weather on this occasion cooperated to such an extent that the layers of clothing put on in anticipation of a day in line with the rest of my cricket season, soon started to be shed. The sun beamed down with enough heat to make one think of sunnier climes than Ireland in late September. Why is it that the best day for playing cricket in Ireland came on the weekend after the end of the season? It did however bring the wasp population to life to such an extent that one person mentioned that the ground should be renamed Adams Park, which for the non-rugby fans, is the home of Wasps, in England.
Waringstown had had to defer ground works to host this game, but the ground was in such good nick that you’d wonder what ground works were considered necessary. The wicket used had been previously used for the Bob Kerr All-Ireland Final and provided a fair test for both bat and ball. Waringstown have a magnificent ground and a really nice pavilion with the balcony providing panoramic views of play and each lap of the outfield giving a variety of views of the game.
There was a big crowd that turned up to watch this game. I counted over 50 cars in the car park and Leinster C.C. had also brought a full bus load which meant there must have been over 100 people in attendance. Picnic hampers and chairs appeared in all areas and many benches were fully utilised. Each lap of the ground meant bumping into more people and each visit to the pavilion brought more offers of tea and coffee and cake.
This is not a match report and those looking for one will find the relevant information in other available articles. However, Waringstown did bat first and their opener reached his half century and was the backbone of the total. Leinster C.C. took wickets regularly and managed to restrict the total to 116 off 30 overs. Twice during the innings Leinster C.C. managed to take two wickets in two balls and the spinners played an important part in keeping the run-rate down. It was good to see Under 11 spinners willing to give the ball so much air, which in turn caused the batsmen difficulties, especially those unable to use their feet to counter.
Leinster C.C. then set about chasing down a total which required four an over. At the drinks interval, they still needed four an over, having reached half of their total, 58, but importantly with no wickets lost. It actually took Leinster until the 28th over to spark the expected pitch invasion of Under 11 players by reaching their target, but it had become a lot tenser as Waringstown took four late wickets.
Waringstown probably felt that they had set a target about 20 runs short of par and they needed early wickets. Leinster C.C. were delighted with their openers who saw the score to a point whereby victory could only have been snatched away by a massive turnaround. The four late wickets showed that Waringstown had been only an early wicket or two away from victory themselves. Thus whilst the headlines will show a Leinster C.C. win by six wickets, it was, as is right for a final, a far tighter and closer match then bare figures will show.
The Under 11 rightly do not have a Man-of-the-Match award as this is a team game and no-one individual should be singled out, either as a winner or in the case of possible bowl-outs, as a loser. The team will stand or fall together and this was reflected in the two teams at the presentation as one side congratulated one another and the other commiserated and comforted each other.
Brian O’Sullivan conducted the presentation of the medals to both teams and Amanda Dunlop, daughter of T.A. (Alex) Dunlop who the cup is named after, presented the trophy to the captain of the Leinster C.C. team. He lifted the trophy high to great acclaim and applause from both sides. Parents, supporters and other spectators got the chance to fill their phone/tablet/camera memories with pictures of the teams, with medals and trophies proudly held aloft.
It was a day to remember, especially for players playing in an All-Ireland Final. Some will go onto representative and international honours in years to come, whether at underage levels or above, and others will play at more social levels and sadly some will fall out of the game, but all will remember this day.
Finally this article would not be complete without mention of the welcome and hospitality of Waringstown Cricket Club and its members. Behind the scenes were an army of ladies who fed, watered, and refreshed all of the spectators and provided a most excellent tea to both teams as well as a full meal post-game. In between the kettle worked overtime as tea and coffee were permanently available to all of the spectators, officials and anyone else present. The array of cakes, sandwiches and other snacks would be worthy of my catering/tea award of the year, narrowly pipping Wendy Poynter’s tea in Mount Temple.
I would like to thank both teams for providing a most entertaining match played in the right spirit throughout and I am so glad I made the trek north for this game.
Best game, best day, best tea of the entire summer, it is just a shame it was the last game, last day, last tea of the season.