Third Man

21st May 2022

The opening games of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup are always eagerly anticipated because they provide the opportunity for teams from the different cricket unions to play against each other. The Hills CC, winners of the competition in 2012 and 2014, faced the arduous trip to Ballymagorry in County Tyrone to play against Fox Lodge. After a week of torrential rain in the North-West, there was a great deal of uncertainty regarding the possibility of the game being played at all, but the optimists prevailed, and after a one-hour delay for some work to be done on the run-ups, the toss was taken. Fox Lodge won the toss, and somewhat surprisingly decided to bat.

Dylan Blignaut who bowled a brilliant unchanged spell of 8 overs, took a wicket off the third ball of the first over, and then bowled Marco Marais with the first ball that Marais faced. Marais, Fox Lodge’s professional, was the player on whom Fox Lodge’s hopes resided, and his dismissal effectively ended the game as a contest. Blignaut and Tomás Rooney-Murphy imposed a stranglehold on the batsmen and runs became as scarce as hens’ teeth. 2 wickets for 2 runs became 3 wickets for 6, 4 wickets for 6 and 5 wickets for 11. There was then a 14-run partnership before the 6^th wicket fell, and the last 4 Fox Lodge wickets were taken for 4 runs. Blignaut was the undoubted star of the show with 7 wickets for 12 runs; Tomás Rooney-Murphy took two wickets for 12 runs and the other wicket was taken by Ashley Bain. The Hills’ fielding was tremendous with superb catches being taken by Blignaut, Bain, and Andrew Kavanagh, and there was a magnificent stumping by Mark Donegan. The Fox Lodge innings ended in the 15^th over, and The Hills faced a target of 29 runs.

 Levon Shields and Andrew Kavanagh opened the batting for The Hills, and Shields started like a man who wished to get home early because he had scored 23 runs out of the first 24 runs before he was dismissed by a ball that kept low and would have caused a problem for any batsman in the world. Mark Donegan and Andrew Kavanagh brought proceedings to a close in the 5^th over, and The Hills CC had overcome its first hurdle in its quest for Bob Kerr Irish Cup glory. Of necessity, celebrations were muted because The Hills CC had a very important Sports Hub League Cup game against Trinity College on the following day.  Onwards and upwards.

Martin Byrne and Mrs Maureen Byrne

Mrs Maureen Byrne, who celebrates her 100th birthday today, has had a lifelong involvement in cricket. Her late husband, Gerry, was a leading officer in the Fingal Cricket League for over 50 years. Her sons, Paddy, and Martin, played for the Hills CC with great distinction for many years, and have also served as officers of the club. Her grandchildren, Patrick, Darren, Amanda, Robert, and Alice, have continued the Byrne family’s commitment to the Hills CC.

Maureen, a founder member of The Hills in 1969 and also a Life Member, has been one of the leading lights of the Ladies Committee which has won for The Hills a richly deserved reputation for the quality of its hospitality. High class lunches and teas have been prepared and provided over many, many years with great courtesy, willingness, and pride.

Maureen has always been extremely thoughtful, and before the washing-up commenced, she would ask one of the members to check if there was any person in The Vineyard who hadn’t been invited in for a cup of tea and a sandwich. When the washing-up was completed, she would undertake a lap of the boundary with one of her close friends so that she could exchange pleasantries with her friends and visitors. She is extremely positive by nature so if a Hills’ team was having a bad day, she would just say, “sure, aren’t they doing their best”, or  “things will be better next week”. While she was always very proud of her family’s achievements, she was equally generous in recognising the achievements of other players.

In the recent past, Maureen has not been to The Vineyard quite as often as she did in former times, but she continues to look at cricket on the television, especially when Eoin Morgan, that proud son of Fingal is playing. Prior to the Covid restrictions, commemorative events were held to recognise various anniversaries for cricket clubs and cricket organisations. 

Maureen attended the Nostalgia Evening which was held to mark The Hills’ 50th Anniversary, and the club marked the occasion by presenting Mrs Byrne with a bouquet of flowers. The standing ovation which accompanied the presentation was an indication of the great esteem and affection in which she is held. There was a similar presentation to Mrs Byrne after the Tribute Evening for the Fingal Cricket League.

Members of the Hills and the wider Cricket Leinster community join with the Byrne family in sending its best wishes and congratulations to Mrs Maureen Byrne on reaching this wonderful milestone. 

Ad multos annos!

The numbers drawn in the Lotto last evening were;

10, 13, 15 & 23

There was no winner of The Jackpot.

Lucky Dip winners were Monica Monahan & Jeanine Byrne, €25.00 each.

The Jackpot next week will be €3,900.00.

14 May 2022     

Third Man

Both teams had only a slim possibility of qualifying for the semi-final stages of the Sports Hub Senior League Cup, but momentum is a crucial component in all sports, and with the prestigious Irish Senior Cup games being played next week, the winning team in today’s encounter would have a very valuable confidence boost. For the fourth week in a row, Tomás Rooney-Murphy won the toss, but in a departure from recent practice, he decided that The Hills would bat first. Murray Commins’ wicket fell without a run on the scoreboard, but from that point onwards, The Hills’ batsmen rose to the occasion. Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin celebrated his call-up to the Leinster Lightning squad by having an absolutely superb knock;  he faced 145 balls, hit 6 fours, and scored 113 runs. The partnership of Cormac and Andrew Kavanagh put on 137 runs which ended when Andy was out for 56 runs. Mark Donegan (36 runs) picked up the gauntlet, and the next partnership yielded 72 runs. Dylan Blignaut and Bhavesh Lakhotia were dismissed cheaply, and Cormac’s brilliant knock ended on the last ball of the innings when the score was 247 runs with Tomás Rooney-Murphy being the not-out batsman on 14 runs.

Railway Union’s innings had a disastrous start as Dylan Blignaut took a wicket with the second ball of the first over. Dylan who bowled a very hostile spell, then took the second wicket when the score was only 12. Philip Le Roux and Kenny Carroll brought the score up to 37 runs when Le Roux became Blignaut’s  third victim. In recent years, Railway Union’s ability to score has depended almost entirely on Kenny Carroll, and he could only watch in dismay as the fourth wicket fell when the score was 49. It was on that score that the pivotal incident of the game occurred when Carroll was out to a magnificent catch by Murray Commins off the bowling of Ashley Bain. Jonathan Tall and Athar Farooqi, the spin twins, then began to weave their magic and the last 6 wickets fell for 19 runs.  The bowling honours were shared by Blignaut (3 for 16 off 5 overs), Bain (1 for 13 off 5 overs), Tall had the wonderful figures of 4 wickets for 3 runs, and Athar Farooqi continued to impress with figures of 2 wickets for 7 runs. In complimenting the bowlers, it is important to stress that they were supported by a very fine fielding display; Murray Commins took 3 catches, Mark Donegan had 1 catch and a stumping, Tomás Rooney-Murphy, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Jonathan Tall had 1 catch each.

This was a very complete performance by The Hills, and from the point at which the toss was won to the third ball of the 25^th over in the second innings, the team was totally in control of the game. Next weekend, The Hills face a double weekend, with the first assignment being an arduous journey to the North-West when Fox Lodge will be its opponents; it is unfortunate that the team will have to travel back immediately after the game because there is a home match against Trinity College on the following day. Until next weekend, it is onwards and upwards.

The numbers drawn in the Lotto last evening were;

5, 7, 18 & 22

There was no winner of The Jackpot.

Lucky Dip winners were Liam McAuley & Chantelle Maritz, €25.00 each.

The Jackpot next week will be €3,850.00.

Played at The Vineyard

Sunday saw The Vineyard draped in glorious sunshine and believe it or not there was no east wind coming in from the Irish Sea.

Civil Service won the toss and elected to bat.  Lorcan Woodhouse took the gloves behind the stumps and quickly accounted for two wickets off the bowling of Sam Smyth and Luke Clinton.  Next wicket, Nilesh Joshi (32) fell to the bowling of James Fleming. This brought Dhiraj Shetty to the crease and he stayed until the very last over when he was bowled by Sam Smyth. Dhiraj put on a fine 70 off 105 balls with one six and three fours. Best bowling for The Hills were Sam Smyth with 3 for 35, Luke Clinton with 2 for 39, a wicket each for Barry Grimes, James Fleming, Will Archer and Athar Farooqi. Credit should be given to Lorcan Woodhouse for his fine wicket keeping display in taking three catches and not conceding a single bye in 42 overs, not bad for a bowler! The Target to win was 175 which looked eminently possible given that this team had chased down 290 the previous week but we had no knowledge of their bowling attack.

John Derham (31) and Athar Farooqi (13) opened the batting for The Hills getting to 48 before the first wicket fell in the 13^th over. Another wicket fell in the next and this brought Gavin Morgan and Ashad Farooqi (12) to the crease. The bowling was good and runs were hard to come by but this pair put on a patient 52 run partnership that proved critical to the outcome of the game. Gavin Morgan went on to make an undefeated 82 off 86 balls including four 4’s and five 6’s. Despite this excellent performance the game went down to the last over needing a single. Morgan blocked the first ball but despatched a mighty six down the ground to seal the win. Other contributors with the bat included Sam Smyth (12) and James Fleming (9*).