MERRION CC NEWSLETTER

June 2019

Dear Merrion Club members,

Welcome to the June edition of the club’s newsletter. We have had some excellent efforts on the field, and it’s great to see some of our talented youth members coming through to the senior teams, which is a credit to the hard work of our youth section, coaches and parents. We also had a memorable Curry Night and we are looking forward to further club social events this season.

In this edition we run through how all of our teams fared last month and have a special section from the club’s archives where we bookend our club’s highest-ever appearance maker with those who have made the debuts for the 1sts in recent times, and some of those in-between who have made memorable records along the way.

Also, you may have seen that we are raising money for the Club through the YOUR CLUB, YOUR PROVINCE CRICKET LEINSTER DRAW. I encourage all members to support this. All funds raised go to Merrion CC, and will help fund the development of the new cricket nets that we have planned.

Good luck to all our teams in the coming weeks, including the men’s 1sts in the semi-final of the League Cup. Having topped Group B we qualify for the Premier League, which starts on June 9 away to Leinster.

I hope to see you all at Anglesea Road soon.

Kind regards,

Andrew Kay President

Women’s Cricket

The women got off to a great start to the season, winning two out of our first three matches.

First up we overcame Malahide in a 50-over game, where we posted a big score of 290 after being put into bat. In the second innings we managed to bowl Malahide out for 59, with Rachel Delaney taking four .

Next up was Clontarf which was a tighter game. We batted first and set a good total of 148, while in the second innings managed to bowl Clontarf out for 88.

We then came up against Leinster, which provided a bit more of a challenge for us. We fielded first and managed to restrict Leinster to 137. However, in the second innings we came close but ended up 7 runs short, in what was a very tight and exciting game of cricket. The main positive from our first three matches is the development of some of our younger players. Niamh MacNulty, Annabel Squires and Isabel Light have all made their debuts in the women’s competition, with Isabel notably a tidy first over against Leinster.

Hopefully in the next few games we can continue to see improvements as a team and come out with some more wins. Eyes are firmly set on securing some silverware this summer!

Isabel and Annabel versus Clontarf Isabel and Niamh versus Malahide

Youth Cricket

Juniors:

The Junior Boys and Girls have got the season off to a good start in May, with both teams displaying solid bowling and skills.

On Saturday 18th, Merrion Jnr Boys A started off the season with a convincing win over Rush. Good tight bowling and ground fielding restricted Rush to 103 with wickets shared evenly around the team, while Merrion knocked off the runs with seven overs to spare, with Oisin Bhoja retiring on 34.

On Saturday 11th, The Merrion Junior Girls had a convincing win over Rush, with Merrion securing 73 for 6 off 14 overs while Rush were all out for 72, in a game where great sportsmanship was shown by both teams. Major contributors in batting came from Isabel Light with 23 and Alice Kelly with 11. Bowling contributors were Caoimhe Byrne with 2 for 3, Niamh MacNulty with 2 for 2 and Maria Kay with 2 for 7.

The Clontarf vs Merrion game on the 18th was convincingly won by Clontarf, with their exceptional bowling too much for the Merrion team who were all bowled out for 32. However, Caoimhe Byrne, Lucy Kay and Clara Brigg batted well against the strong bowling side; there was some great play moments by the team with opportunity to build on these for their next match.

The development of our junior section is at the very heart of what the club looks to achieve. A highlight for our Junior Girls was having Isabel Light, Annabel Squires and Niamh MacNulty making their debut for the Women's 1sts, with wins in two of the three games this month against Malahide, Leinster and Clontarf. Congratulations to all these talented younger cricketers in what was no doubt a great experience for them and well done to all the teams on a great start.

Junior Girls

Minors: The Minor Boys started the season with a convincing win against Balbriggan, showing great promise for the season ahead. Merrion managed a convincing score of 111 for 9, with notable batting contributors including Simon Kelly with 21 runs and Jan Dijkstra with 12. Balbriggan, in reply, were restricted to 72 for 7, with Tom Squires a notable contributor on the bowling front with an impressive 2 for 10, with Merrion winning by 39 runs. All in all, a great win with everyone contributing, heralding a promising season and future ahead with some talented youngsters. Remember to join our Youth Membership Facebook page which has updates on Youth fixtures and training as well as the updates on each weekend’s Youth Cricket games.

 We are running our highly popular Summer Camps – please contact [email protected] to register:

o Secondary school camp – June 10-14 and June 17-21

o Primary and secondary school camp – from June 24 for six weeks

Men’s Cricket

1sts:

The 1sts started May off playing Balbriggan at home, with their opponents put into bat. Balbriggan were all out for 250 after 50 overs, with the lads generously spreading out the wickets, with picking up three, Oliver Newton three and John Anderson also with two, while Tom Stanton and James Groom picked up one apiece. Merrion, in response, easily reached the total with over 10 overs to spare, with John Anderson following up his impressive bowling display by scoring 80 , supported by Max Sorensen who picked up 45, Dominick Joyce with 40 and Michael Lewis with 31.

Next up, on the 12th of May, was the long and arduous trip to Pembroke, where Merrion were this time put into bat first, bowled out for 272 with three balls of the innings remaining. John Anderson once again was the pick of the batters with 79 which included three sixes, with Michael Lewis with 56 (and two sixes) and with 34 (also with two sixes) contributing to the total. Pembroke, in response, could only manage 133 before being bowled all out in the thirty-seventh over, with Niranjan Shankar impressively picking up three wickets in just seven overs, while Hugh Kennedy and John Anderson also got two wickets each, with other wickets coming from Oliver Newton, Tyrone Kane and Tom Stanton.

The final game of May came on the 18th, in another long commute, this time against Leinster. Leinster batted first and were bowled out for 103 in the thirtieth over, with Peter Forkin marking a memorable debut with just the five wickets from just the six overs, for just 15 runs. Elsewhere, James Groom and Tom Stanton chipped in with two wickets each, with Tom’s final marking the end of Leinster’s innings. In reply, Merrion made light work of the total, reaching 104 in less than 19 overs, with John Anderson continuing what was now officially a trend, again the highest scorer, as he was in each of Merrion’s games for the month. Max Sorensen came in at the end with 23 as the second-highest scorer, with him and Anderson seeing Merrion home.

2nds:

The 2nds started the month at home to Malahide, however were met with stiff opposition as they were bowled out for 146 in 37 overs, with Peter Saville of Malahide considerably impressive with five wickets from eight overs. Malahide reached 147 in 28 overs, but Beant Bhathal raged against the light until it went out, with one wicket in his four overs and giving away just fifteen runs in the process.

But the 2nds were back to winning ways just five days later, with another home game against North County. The batting woes of five days’ previous were a thing of the past, with Merrion batting first and posting a total of 325 for 4, with James Groom getting 152 not out with a tasty variety of fourteen fours and three sixes. An impressive batting performance was followed up by a disciplined bowling version, with Merrion restricting North County to 241 for 8 off 50 overs; Richard Bisgood particularly impressed with three wickets, supported by Nitin Sharma with two and Beant Bathal likewise, the latter following up his aforementioned performance from the previous match.

The final three games of May saw the 2nds lose a nail-biter against Pembroke away, impressively restricting the opposition to 164 and bowling them out in 43 overs, with James Groom deciding that runs were not enough for him, following up his 152 from the last game with four wickets in just eight overs, supported by Nitin Sharm who did likewise. However, Pembroke were unfortunately as tigerish (and a little more) in the field, with Merrion coming up short by just six runs. Two further losses followed, both at home, to Clontarf in the Tillain Cup and Leinster in Division 3.

3rds:

The 3rds had just the two games in May. The first, on the 18th May, saw them play Laois at home, posting 279 for 9, with Vaibhav Sapra the highest scorer with 83, 40 of which came from ten fours. Laois, in reply, were impressively bowled out for just 99 in 27 overs, with Vidit Sukhramani racking up four wickets and Hermanus Bester just behind him with three, albeit in just three overs. The second and final game of the month, on the 26th, saw the 3rds play North Kildare at home, unluckily losing, however, as they fell short of the opposition’s total of 299 for 7 by just four runs.

4ths:

May started on the 12th for the 4ths, playing Civil Service at home. The 4ths batted first, reaching 252, with Vaibhav Sapra clearly warming up for the 3rds’ game on the 18th by scoring highest with 52, which included seven fours, supported by Raghav Khurana with 36 and Timothy Knight with 27. Civil Service, in response, were bowled out for 219, falling 33 short, due in part to the sterling work of Daniel Forkin, foreshadowing his brother’s exploits for the 1sts some six days later with an impressive five wickets from nine overs, giving up just 23 runs in the process; Vidit Sukhramani was also crucial in restricting the opposition, also chipping in with three wickets.

7 days later Merrion were again at home, this time to Rush. Unluckily, they met a team in inspired form, and were bowled out for 92, with Rush reaching 94 in the fourteenth over, however not before Daniel Forkin had his say, getting all three of his team’s wickets, and making it eight in just two games for the 4ths, all in the space of a week.

However, all was righted two days later, with Merrion again at home to Greystones in a 20/20 game. Sai Reddy dragged the team kicking and screaming to a total of 157 for 6, with his 74 not out contributing almost half of the team’s runs. With Sai’s throat presumably sore, Vamsi Mukollu, Vicky Dalwani, Vaibhav Sapra and Raghav Khurana took over the kicking and screaming with a wicket each, with Peter Forkin’s voice slightly louder as he took two wickets, with Greystones only reaching 125 in their 20 overs.

5ths:

Like the 3rds, the 5ths only had two games in May, the first of which was on the 18th, away to Sandyford. The opposition were put into bat first and bowled out for 226 in just 38 overs, with Rishabh Sharma picking up four wickets of his own in just six and a half overs, followed not far behind by Vicky Dalwani with three. However, Sandyford were impressive on the field, bowling the 5ths out for 127, but not before Vicky Dalwani reached 50, a total higher than all bar one of Sandyford’s batters, who only managed three runs more.

The good ship was righted eight days later when Merrion travelled to Laois, where they bowled the opposition out for 228 in just under 42 overs, with Ted Kelly the start of the fielding show on his season debut, with four wickets for just six overs. Merrion, in response, reached 229 in 42 overs with Raghav Khurana’s 64 seeing them home with eight overs to go. 6ths:

Like the 2nds, Malahide were the scourge of the 6ths at the beginning of their May schedule, as the opposition’s 4ths reached 237 from 40 overs, with Vikas Gulati’s 119 the standout performance, supported by Martin Russell on 59. Merrion, in response, were bowled out for 134 in the thirty-eighth over. However, they posted their first wins of the month in a 20/20 against both Castleknock and Lucan in their next games. Three wickets each for Venkat Puli and Srikanth Velamati saw Merrion restrict Castleknock to 157 (when 200 looked on the cards). Some great middle order hitting from Sravanth Reddy (48*) and Ram Mudigina (37) saw Merrion chase it down in the final over. Against Lucan they impressively defended a total of 116 to restrict their opposition to 114, with Ravi Shokeen, Venkat Puli and Ajay Sharma thwarting Lucan, each picking up three wickets in a thrilling encounter.

7ths: After a disappointing loss in the first game of the season at Greystones, the 7ths turned up at North County, a venue where they have not lost in the last three years, in search of a confidence-boosting victory.

The team selected spanned a wide age range from 12 to 55 and a wide range of skills. Batting first, the 7ths put on an imposing score of 187 with contributions from across the board but most notably a fine 81* by Dom Markham. Dom’s innings was one that started scratchy but ended sublimely as he took advantage of the small boundaries.

The 7ths then took to the field, putting together an excellent tight bowling display with Harry and Sean Sandys bowling parsimoniously and Oisin Bhoja taking the crucial wicket of the dangerman. Gary Morris turned back the clock with eight consecutive overs of Malinga-esque bowling (turns out 7 would have been even better); this, plus a tigerish fielding display, choked North County behind the clock and when they started trying to accelerate wickets fell to Srikanth, Dom, Rishabh and Mark Rutledge.

The 7ths strode home to a comfortable 12 run win and now face the prospect of a T20 day in Halverstown with a line-up averaging 45 years of age.

Max Sorensen and our new club sponsor logo avitor From the Archives Senior Appearances When Max Sorensen, James Groom, Oliver Newton and Peter Forkin got their debuts for the 1st XI they became players 473-476 to appear for the club in senior competitions.* However, they have a long way to go to reach the total of 394 matches achieved by Robbie Stanton.

Robbie Stanton. In a 28-year career from 1979 to 2006, Robbie played in 394 senior matches, scored 4,637 runs [17.63], took 300 wickets [20.49] and 102 catches. His highest score was 91 and best bowling performance 8/16.

Twelve players have turned out 250 or more times for Merrion (see below). We should also note for the record that Dom Joyce, the only current player in the list, reached the 300-match mark against Pembroke this year. The only other participation record is the 100 matches in a row by Eddie Lewis between 1976 and 1980. Among the players who have turned out for the 1st XI this season, only two have played 100 or more games for the club: John Anderson (156) and Tyrone Kane (105). With a full season of cricket this year, Tom Stanton (93) should hopefully join these ranks during 2019. Finally, Michael Lewis (62) and Patrick Tice (69) each have more than 50 senior appearances. * Senior Cricket includes the following competitions: the Premier League (formerly known as the Leinster Senior League), the Leinster Senior Cup, the Leinster Senior League/ Cup (various formats) and, following the division of the league into two in 1993, Senior Division II. It does not include the Irish Senior or National Cups, or the Alan Murray T20. ** Dom Joyce also played for University and when his games for both clubs are added together his total number of senior appearances is 332.

Players with 250+ Senior appearances for Merrion

Name Career Matches

Robbie Stanton 1979-2006 394

Simon Curley 1934-1966 369

Brendan Curley 1952-1979 362

Eddie Lewis 1967-1994 351

Chris Mara 1935-1960 313

Dom Joyce 1996-2019 301

John O'Hagan 1966-1992 276

Rollie Shortt 1926-1956 272

Angus Fleming 1991-2009 265

Cecil Little 1926-1958 260

Damian Poder 1997-2015 258

Stephen King 1980-1994 252

SUBSCRIPTIONS

 A reminder to all members that subscriptions for this season are now due, and can be paid on our club website www.merrioncricketclub.com, using the secure STRIPE payment system. If you have any issues or queries, feel free to contact our Senior membership secretary Rohit Pahuja at [email protected] or Sorcha Cunningham for the Youth section at [email protected]

VOLUNTEERS

 The club are always looking for volunteers, and if you’re interested in helping out in any way, e.g. scoring, coaching, fundraising, or joining our new social committee, please contact any of the Management Committee.

YOUR CLUB, YOUR PROVINCE CRICKET LEINSTER DRAW

 Cricket Leinster are running a large ‘raffle style’ competition this year, as part of their centenary celebrations, in which up to €12,000 worth of prizes are available to be won. The draw for this will be made at the annual Cricket Leinster awards dinner in the Guinness Storehouse in November. Tickets for this draw are available to purchase at the club bar at a cost of €10 each, with all proceeds going back into grassroots club cricket. Further information on this draw can be found at www.cricketleinster.ie.

Don’t forget the v Middlesex Summer Smash on Fri 21 Jun 2019 – Tickets can be purchased through the Cricket Leinster website.

Other dates for your diary

 Here’s a look at the 1st teams’ fixtures for June: o June 1 – Men's 1st XI home to Phoenix, 12.00 pm – Snr League Cup semi o June 3 – Women’s 1st XI away to The Hills, 13.00 - League (50) o June 9 – Men's 1st XI away to Leinster, 13.00 pm – Premier League o June 10 – Women’s 1st XI away to Pembroke, 18.30 - League (20) o June 13 – Women’s 1st XI home to The Hills, 18.30 - League (20) o June 15 – Men's 1st XI away to Phoenix, 13.00 pm – Premier League o June 16 – Men's 1st XI away to CIYMS, 12.30 pm – Irish Senior Cup o June 18 – Women’s 1st XI away to Pembroke, 18.30 – Senior Cup (20) o June 27 – Women’s 1st XI away to Clontarf, 18.30 - League (20) o June 29 – Men's 1st XI home to Malahide, 13.00 pm – Premier League

Other fixtures can be found on our club website, www.merrioncricketclub.com, as well as the Cricket Leinster website, www.cricketleinster.ie. Bar opening times will remain unchanged from last year. The bar will be open from the times below and by request for other matches: . Thursday and Friday - 5.30 pm . Saturday and Sunday - 12.30 pm

To host a function at the Club please contact our Club Manager Anne Fitzsimons at [email protected]. We can arrange catering to your specifications.

 Training Times

Team Day Time

Seniors – commencing April 2

Men 1-3 Tuesday & Thursday 6.00-8.00 pm

Men 4-8 Wednesday 6.00-8.00 pm

Women Monday 6.00-8.00 pm

Youth – commencing April 27

Cubs Boys & Girls Sunday 9.30-10.45 am

Minor Boys & Girls (5th and 6th class) Sunday 9.30-11.00 am

Junior Boys & Girls (1st and 2nd year) Saturday 9.30-11.00 am

Colts (3rd and 4th year) & U17 Wednesday 17.00-19.00 pm MAIN CLUB SPONSOR

We are delighted to announce that Avitor Limited are our new main club sponsor for 2019. Avitor specialise in the distribution of Audio Visual and Information Technology as well as offering a full install service throughout the whole of Ireland.

Avitor take over the mantle of the club’s flagship sponsor from Paddy Power, who we would like to thank for their generous support over the last number of years. We are very excited to begin what will hopefully prove to be a long, happy and mutually beneficial relationship with Avitor.

About Avitor

Avitor are distributors of Audio Visual and Information Technology, specialising in a select range of Interactive Touch Screens, Collaborative Solutions, Digital Signage, Wireless Presentation Systems, and Hotel TV Systems.

Avitor provide first class service and support whilst supplying IT and AV as well as offering a full install service throughout the whole of Ireland.

Avitor have fine digital demonstration rooms where all their products are available to be viewed and experienced at their Glasnevin, Dublin base.

With a combined knowledge base of over 60 years between them, the Avitor team have the experience, know-how and solutions for all your AV and IT projects.

See their website https://www.avitor.ie for further information, or phone 01-912 1330.

Merrion Cricket Club sign sponsors We would like to thank our existing Club sponsors who provide valuable financial support to the Club. We encourage you to support these businesses in return.

Personal and corporate sponsorship is a vital part of the Club’s funding. If you, a friend or family member work in a company that might be interested, please contact our Chair of Finance, Philly Quinlan, for further information at [email protected] or 086 834 1313.