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Cork County began the defence of their Munster Senior Cup crown with a tough Quarter Final draw at home to Limerick Raiders. The fixture brought together the two finalists from last season’s competition where County romped home to a 10 wicket victory. The 2011 Cup draw had been unkind to two of the strongest sides in the province as they clashed at such an early stage of the competition.

After a positive batting performance last weekend away in Malahide with rain preventing a possible victory for the Mardyke side, captain Bruce Koch had a full strength squad to choose from with the exception of Robert Duggan. Chris Banon and Andrew Saul returned to the side in what looked to be a very strong County team.

Winning the toss, Koch had no hesitation in choosing to bat in the hope that the strong batting line up would embellish his decision. The developing opening partnership between Ross Durity and Shannon Madden continues to blossom with both providing a solid base to the innings once again. The South African duo of George Barry and Bruce Koch followed at 3 and 4 with displaying some powerful stroke play and looked to take the game away from the Limerick side. However, both fell in unfortunate circumstances with the ball holding up slightly off the wicket in both cases. Chris Banon followed and looked to be returning to form with some composed strokes off his legs and square of the wicket. Banon fell after misjudging one off his legs picking out the square leg fielder.

Man-of-the-match Sidhz Joshi along with Darren Fogarty consolidated the innings and soon began to develop a crucial partnership with Joshi in particular crashing some big stokes over the long-on and long-off boundaries. Fogarty provided able support allowing Joshi to impose himself on the Limerick attack and onto his first century for CorK County at the Mardyke. It was truly an excellent and composed innings from the Indian all-rounder who didn’t give a chance before reaching his ton and departed having scored 110. Fogarty was dismissed caught behind by Faizan for 31 while Matt Reed provided some lower order runs finishing on 22 to push the Cork County total to 314-9.

Limerick Raiders required just over 6 an over to chase down the daunting target of 315 to win and remain in the 2011 Munster Senior Cup. However, from the outset Cork County were determined to extinguish any hope of an upset with the opening seam attack of Banks, Barry and Koch proving too much for the Limerick top order. Matt Reed and Ciarán Healy replaced the seamers to bring the Limerick Raiders innings to an end with the home side bowling them out for just 109 resulting in a 205 run victory and a place in the Munster Senior Cup semi-final. It was a superb all-round effort from the Cork County and in this ominous form it would be hard to see anyone stopping them on their charge to another league and cup double this season.

The Mardyke also welcomed a famous cricketing figure on Saturday with South African test captain Graeme Smith popping in to enjoy some cricket while in Cork with his fiancée Morgan Deane. Graeme was more than happy to sign autographs and have pictures taken while also enjoying some great shots from Ross Durity.

Cork County 314-9 beat Limerick Raiders 109 all out by 205 runs at the Mardyke.

Cork County: B. Koch*, R. Durity, C. Banon, D. Fogarty, C. Healy, S. Joshi, S. Madden+, G. Barry, M. Reed, A. Saul, K. Banks.

Limerick Raiders: A. Khan*, S. Alam, U. Khan, A. Ahmed, F. Bhagat, M. Faizan +, M. Sharif, M. Ahmed, K. Javid, S. Javid, J. Arshed and Q. Zaidi

Cork County begin the defence of their Munster Senior Cup title on Saturday at the Mardyke when they take on the side they defeated in last season’s final, Limerick Raiders. The draw has been unkind to both of the strongest sides in the competition as they are drawn together at the Quarter Final stage. Cork County can select from a full squad with the exception of the injured Robert Duggan and have announced a very strong side for Saturday’s quarter final tie.

After last weekend’s impressive showing in the Leinster League Division 2 clash against Malahide when County were on course to set Malahide a challenging total before the weather intervened. Cork County finished their innings in the 41st over on 209-6 with captain Bruce Koch looking in ominous form on 60* while opener Ross Durity (35) and overseas player George Barry (32) also made good starts. After a strong showing for the 2nd XI when be scored 84 runs on Sunday, Chris Banon returns to the side to replace Des O’Leary while Andrew Saul also comes back into the side to replace Andrew Wootton.

Munster Senior Cup – Quarter Final:
Saturday 28th May:
Cork County v Limerick Raiders, Mardyke (12.00 p.m.)

1. Bruce Koch*
2. Keith Banks
3. Chris Banon
4. George Barry
5. Ross Durity
6. Darren Fogarty
7. Ciaran Healy
8. Sidhz Joshi
9. Shannon Madden+
10. Matt Reed
11. Andrew Saul

Cork County make the long trip to Derry this weekend to take on Eglinton at Woodvale Road in the 1st Round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup. It will be a repeat of the first Round clash between the two sides from 4 years ago when Eglinton came out on top by 50 runs when they set the Cork side a target of 261. The Cork County squad will be weakened due to injuries and eligibility issues with former captain Robert Duggan sidelined with a broken toe while both Sidhz Joshi and wicket keeper Shannon Madden are ineligible for the competition. All-rounder Andrew Saul is also unavailable for the trip up north so captain Bruce Koch will be relying on the squad’s strength in depth to mount a challenge this Saturday. The squad in full is as follows:

Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup 1st Round:
Saturday 14th May, Woodvale Road, Eglington.
Eglinton v Cork County

1. Bruce Koch*
2. Mirza Baig
3. Chris Banon
4. George Barry
5. Ross Durity+
6. Darren Fogarty
7. Ciaran Healy
8. Des O’Leary
9. Barry O’Sullivan
10. Matt Reed
11. Andrew Wootton
12. Kevin Bray (12th man)

The squad will be travelling by bus to Derry on Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday. Anyone wishing to travel and stay with the team, please contact William John Bradley at corkcountycc@gmail.com or contact the Club on 021-4272569. All support is greatly appreciated. CCCC….

Munster League Division 1:
Monday 2nd May:
Cork County v Cork Harlequins, Mardyke (12.00 p.m.)

1. Bruce Koch*
2. Keith Banks
3. Chris Banon
4. George Barry
5. Darren Fogarty
6. Sidhz Joshi
7. Shannon Madden+
8. Des O’Leary
9. Matt Reed
10. Andrew Saul
11. Andrew Wootton
12. Ashley Jones

Munster League Division 2:
Saturday 30th April
Cork County 2 v Co. Galway, Mardyke (12.00 p.m.)

1. Kevin Bray*
2. Mirza Baig
3. Tim Clifford
4. Oliver Creedon
5. Noel Cronin
6. Ciaran Healy
7. Ashley Jones
8. Barry O’Sullivan
9. Cian Scannell
10. Brian Scott
11. Mike Straight+

Munster Minor Cup
Monday 2nd May
Co. Kerry v Cork County 3, Tralee (12.00 p.m.)

1. Mike Straight
2. Areeb Mian
3. Cian Scannell
4. Barry O’Sullivan
5. Afzal Mohammed
6. Sean Power
7. Ian Coleman+
8. William Bradley*
9. Hugh O’Brien
10. Noel Cronin
11. Kevin O’Sullivan

The Munster U-17 side to face their Leinster counterparts at the Mardyke this Sunday has been named. The match will act as a trial for the Southern XI, which will take part in the 2011 U-17 Interporvincial tournament later in the season. Play starts in the Mardyke at 12 noon.
The squad in full:

1. Eric Cotter
2. Anthony O’ Reilly
3. Ru Jones
4. Rory O’ Keeffe
5. Brad Morgan (all Cork Harlequins)
6. Cian Scannell*
7. Brian O’Leary
8. Hugh O’Brien (all Cork County)
9. Alam Morshed (Kerry)
10. Tomas Turkington
11. Luke Deane (both Midleton)
12. Cillian Greenwood (Ampleforth College)

Coach: Ted Williamson

© 2011 Munster Cricket Blog

Cork County began the defence of their Munster Division 1 title with a tricky home fixture to 2010 surprise package, Limerick Raiders. Both sides had enjoyed some memorable encounters during the 2010 season which culminated in a thumping 10 wicket victory for County in the Munster Senior Cup final. The fixture also marked the first chance for new skipper Bruce Koch to lead the side out in a competitive fixture. The Mardyke side also welcomed all-rounder Sidhz Joshi back after two years away in India and wicketkeeper Shannon Madden after his return from a season in Australia. Ross Durity was missing due to exam commitments and overseas player George Barry would not be available until the May bank holiday weekend.

The early start to the 2011 season was reflected in the wicket at the Mardyke which proved to be low and slow in the April conditions so the toss would be crucial to the outcome of the game. Raiders captain, Azeem Khan, duly won the toss and put the home side into bat. Des O’Leary and Madden opened the batting for County as they endeavoured to get the innings off to a steady start on the slow wicket. O’Leary made some typical lusty blows down the ground as he attempted to prevent the Raiders opening attack from settling while Madden sought to work the new ball and take advantage of the gaps in the field. Madden’s innings was ended by an excellent catch by Shani Alam at silly mid off the bowling of Azeem. Robert Duggan joined O’Leary at the crease and both tried to consolidate the innings and get to grips with the slow pace of the wicket.

Seemingly in control, O’Leary momentarily lost concentration as he was adjudged stumped after he left his crease having mistakenly thought that the ball had beaten the wicketkeeper. The dismissal of O’Leary brought the captain and 2010 Munster Player of the Year, Bruce Koch, to the crease as he looked to establish a solid partnership with Duggan and give some momentum to the County innings. The Limerick side knew that Koch was the key wicket if they were to upset the home side. Koch as usual looked at ease in the middle until he inside edged a short delivery which stayed low onto his stumps. Koch’s dismissal was greeted with great joy by the Raiders players. Chris Banon replaced Koch at the crease and played a number of nice shots down the ground and to the leg side before veteran Shani Alam got one to beat his outside edge and knock his off stump. County were now in trouble with four wickets down and required a big partnership from experienced pair of Duggan and Andrew Wootton. Duggan began to play his shots as he had adapted to the pace of the wicket. His progress was halted, however, after he was struck flush on the foot by a yorker from seamer Usman Khan which x-rays later confirmed had resulted in a broken toe for the number three batsman. Distracted by the injury, Duggan was soon clean bowled by Khan and Raiders could sense an upset on the cards.

West Indian all-rounder Andrew Saul replaced Duggan and looked to accelerate the run rate with typical West Indian gusto. Saul’s brief cameo was ended when he was out to a good catch on the boundary at long on. Sidhz Joshi joined Wootton at the crease and began to work the ball around with his trademark craft and skill. As he adjusted to the conditions, Joshi soon expanded his shot play with some impressive sweeps and drives through the covers. Joshi was ably supported by Wootton until his demise when he was adjudged LBW by umpire Michael Hickey to a ball from off spinner Aftab. Big hitting Darren Fogarty joined Joshi in the middle and both steered County towards a respectable target, both began to pierce the Raiders ring field at regular intervals. Joshi was spectacularly run out on 45 by some sharp fielding by Alam off his own bowling. Matt Reed soon followed after a mix up between the wickets with partner Fogarty. Fogarty then was the final wicket to fall with the score on 162 after he was caught in the deep by Usman Khan.

With a target of 163 to win, Limerick Raiders required a solid start and to see off the ever threatening bowling of Bruce Koch and Andrew Wootton. Koch began his spell bowling a great line and length and with some excellent pace. The Raiders opening pair of Azeem Khan and Khuram Javid found the going tough with the ball whizzing past the outside edge of the bat on regular occasions. Wootton finally made the breakthrough by clean bowling Azeem by getting one to nip back in off the seam. Wicketkeeper Mohammed Faizan was in at three would he too found the going tough with Koch now in full flow and getting the most from the wicket. Faizan was adjudged LBW after he was trapped in his crease due to the extra pace of Koch (3-30). The other opener, Khuram Javid, was slowly beginning to adjust to the conditions and began to play some expansive shots down the ground and pounced on anything short. First change bowler, Matt Reed, was on the receiving end of some big hitting from the Limerick Raiders opener as Khuram dispatched one or two deliveries onto the Mardyke.

Khuram continued to lose partners as the experienced number four, Shani Alam, was also trapped LBW by a delivery from Wootton. Sohail replaced Alam in the middle and he was determined to get his free flowing partner on strike as much as possible by nudging and working the ball into the gaps. However, Khuram then fell victim to a good catch on the long-on boundary from substitute fielder Ashley Jones off the bowling of Reed. The fall of Khuram gave the home side real confidence that they could go on and complete a comprehensive victory. Masroor Ahmed soon followed and he was replaced by the big hitting Usman Khan. Usman and number eight batsman Aftab Ahmed and both establish and threatening partnership, both complimenting perfectly. Usman proved the power and boundaries while Aftab ably manoeuvred the ball around to keep the scoreboard ticking and providing Usman with the majority of strike.

For Cork County, off break bowler Andrew Saul was now dominating the Limerick side with some excellent line and length, giving the Raiders’ batsmen no width to free their arms. Saul finished his superb ten over spell with figures of 1-14 with no less than seven maidens. Left armer, Sidhz Joshi, and off-spinner Ciarán Healy also combined to frustrate the Shannon siders as County sought to break the partnership of Aftab and Usman. The reintroduction of skipper Bruce Koch finally saw the removal of Usman who was tricked by a well disguised slower ball from the quickie and provided Healy at mid-off with a comfortable catch. The big wicket of Usman was soon followed by Aftab who was trapped LBW by Joshi. With the Limerick Raiders slowly edging towards the target of 163 for victory, the home crowd began to get a little nervous. However, the league holders showed great character and nerve as they picked off the final two wickets of Sajid Javid and Qasim Zaidi. Zaidi was the final wicket to fall to a great catch at slip by Andrew Saul off the bowling of Joshi (2-22).

The tightly contested match was the perfect opener for the Mardyke side as embark on a huge season for the club. Local rivals, Cork Harlequins, are next up on Monday May 2nd in Munster League Division 1 before the first Leinster league fixture against Terenure at the Mardyke on Saturday the 7th May followed by the eagerly anticipated Irish Cup tie away to Eglington in Derry on Saturday May 14th. It all bodes well for another hugely exciting season at the Mardyke.


Cork County 162 all out beat Limerick Raiders 152 all out by 10 runs at the Mardyke. scorecard

Cork County: B. Koch*, C. Banon, R. Duggan, D. Fogarty. C. Healy, S. Joshi, S. Madden+, D. O’Leary, M. Reed, A. Saul, A. Wootton and A. Jones (12th man)

Limerick Raiders: A. Khan*, S. Alam, U. Khan, A. Ahmed, F. Bhagat, M. Faizan+, M. Sharif, M. Ahmed, K. Javid, S. Javid, J. Arshed and Q. Zaidi

Munster League Division 1:
Monday 25th April:
Cork County 1 v Limerick Raiders, Mardyke (12.00 p.m.)

1. B. Koch*
2. C. Banon
3. R. Duggan
4. D. Fogarty
5. C. Healy
6. S. Joshi
7. S. Madden+
8. D. O’Leary
9. M. Reed
10. A. Saul
11. A. Wootton
12. A. Jones

Munster League Division 3:
Saturday 23rd April
Cork County 3 v Lismore, Mardyke (12.00 p.m.)

1. Bryn Nelmes
2. Ben Scott
3. Areeb Mian
4. Cian Scannell
5. Brian O’Leary
6. Barry O’Sullivan
7. Ian Coleman +
8. William Bradley*
9. Hugh O’Brien
10. Noel Cronin
11. Kevin O’Sullivan

For anyone who’s interest in the game of cricket has been ignited by the exploits of the Irish cricket team at this year’s World Cup then there is no better way to get involved in the game locally than by attending the Cricket Open Day at the cricket grounds in the heart of Cork City on the Mardyke on Saturday April 16th. The Open Day is aimed at all budding cricketers from the age of 10 upwards who wish to find out more about the game and the skills involved while also discovering what Cork County Cricket Club has to offer both on and off the pitch. Information will also be provided on the proposed training camps, schedules and games for the upcoming summer for those who wish the hone their cricketing skills. Membership Forms will also be available for anyone wishing to join the club and play for Cork County; Membership Forms can also be downloaded from the ‘Contact’ section of the club website www.corkcountycricketclub.com

The Cricket Open Day will commence at 2 p.m. and will last for approximately two to two and half hours depending on the numbers attending on the day. There will be a number of trained coaches on hand led by our Head of Youth Coaching, Dermot Giltinan, and Club Development Officer, Ross Durity, both of whom have extensive backgrounds in coaching. They will be ably assisted by some of the Club’s senior players and ECB Level 1 coaches so there should be plenty to keep everyone involved.

A senior 20Twenty fixture between Cork County and Limerick Raiders will be taking place at 4.30 p.m. to showcase the game of cricket with some of Munster’s leading players taking part including Club Captain Bruce Koch and U-19 rising star Chris Banon. There will be BBQ provided to feed all participants following the day’s activities and allow them to enjoy the 20Twenty match well fed. The Club bar will also be open all day to provide refreshments and snacks.

If you require any further information regarding the cricket open day or wish to find out more information about the cricket club please don’t hesitate to contact us on 021 4272569 or follow us on Facebook at Cork Countycc or on Twitter at Cork_CountyCC. Click on the images below to download the Open Day poster and Club information leaflet.

Just two weeks after returning home from the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Irish players were stunned to learn that they will not be given a chance to participate or even to try and qualify for the next event in 2015. Having beaten three full ICC members (Pakistan, Bangladesh and England) at two World Cup tournaments in the past four years, Irish officials were confident the team’s record would speak for itself.

“Monday was a dark day for cricket but a great day for greed and fear,” Ireland coach Phil Simmons said in response. “It is hard to find words to describe this despicable decision, made by some who want to keep things amongst themselves and some who fear us.” Ireland’s players also reacted furiously and those contracted to county teams in England, who favour the ten-team plan for Australia, were warned “to be very careful” about any comments made in public.

Former Ireland team captain and fast bowler Trent Johnston was in Cork in recent days to help train Cork County Cricket Club’s senior team and promote the game locally, and in an exclusive interview with The Cork News he stressed his opinion that current players, coaches and officials all have a responsibility to ensure development of the game here in the coming years.

“I still remember almost everything that happened at the 2007 World Cup,” he said. “I remember the deliveries; I remember the catches against Pakistan and all those sorts of things. They are great memories and the 15 players that went across to the West Indies will always have something special to share. It also kick-started what we’re experiencing now.

“People have asked how it compared with 2011. The victory over England was probably better than the wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh, but the journey that we had in 2007 will probably never be seen again from an Irish cricket team because it was our first World Cup, we made it through to the Super Eights, we beat a full member country in the Super Eights and we really ignited the interest in cricket in this country once again. That’s what has been most amazing about all of this.”

That same three-wicket win over England on March 2nd will always be remembered for Kevin O’Brien’s century, which was made off of 50 balls and was the fastest in World Cup history. The Irish chase (329 in 49.1 overs) was also the highest successful chase in the tournament’s records but while Trent and his team-mates were delighted by the victory, he admitted that the squad had ultimately failed to realise their own targets.

“There was a lot of work put in between the two World Cups. Four years ago we had two contracted players at the World Cup; this time around, we had 13 contracted players and that’s a massive step. John Mooney was at a crossroads in 2008 and ready to pack it in, but he’s now on his second contract and could quite easily have been our Player of the Year in 2010.

“The game against England was the first time Ireland put 11 fully contracted guys on the field. The best thing is that there were only two guys not born in Ireland playing in that game. There are a lot of locals coming through and that’s the most important thing for us – making sure we develop kids, bring them along and get them up to standard. Irish cricket is no longer relying on four or five non-nationals to improve its team – the guys are doing pushed things for themselves and the structures are slowly being put in place.

“The quarter-finals were our minimum target, so we didn’t hit our expectations unfortunately. We knew we had a pretty good start with Bangladesh as our first team but we screwed up there when we should probably have won. We had a great victory against England, we pushed (eventual winners) India all the way and we might even have won that game if we got some extra runs in and I didn’t go off with a knee injury. John (Mooney) missed some stumps by very little and those kinds of things are the difference between facing Pakistan in the quarter-finals and going home.

“The main thing now is that we have to stay in front of the other sports nipping at the heals of rugby, GAA and soccer and the development of junior programmes is critical to that. We want kids to be playing our sport. Many of those development procedures are in place so it’s just a matter of taking them to the next level and getting our high-profile players out there and making kids aware that we want them to do well. We need to do the hard work just as much as the hundreds of volunteers across the country. We might not be at the 2015 World Cup, but we still need to keep cricket growing.”

And while ICC support for Ireland’s endeavours would be welcome, Trent has no evidence of a willingness to get the squad more involved internationally. “We’ve played 15 ODIs (one-day internationals) against full member countries since 2007 and eight of them have been against Bangladesh or Zimbabwe. We’ve played one of the top eight teams seven times and that’s not good enough – you can’t take any experience away from those games.

“We need to be playing the Australias, the Indias and the likes of Sri Lanka on a regular basis and we need to be part of the future tours programme, which lays out where teams will play for the next five years. That would be an enormous help in terms of sponsorship, media exposure and budgets. However, while there are a lot of things still up in the air right now, the biggest thing is that we need to concentrate on our own backyard and keep the kids coming through.”

Trent reintroduced his famed ‘chicken dance’ at the 2011 World Cup, much to the delight of the local Indian crowds. It all started out as a joke, though the signature move is likely to have seen its last days too. “I was on the dance floor one night back in Wollongong, where I’m from, and somebody said that I danced like a chicken. I wasn’t going to roll a beamer at Ricky Ponting or anything like that just so I’d be remembered at a World, but I thought I’d do the dance when I got a big name out. It was going to be retired until the next World Cup, but I won’t be there anyway by the looks of it.”

At the age of 36, Trent’s future plans have been a subject of interest for some time. “The mind’s willing, the heart’s willing and I’m enjoying every minute of it,” he concluded. “The ICC have made my decision to retire after the 2012 T/20 World Cup very easy. I know I have more to offer right now. I certainly don’t want to hold anybody back but if I’m still adding to the team, I’ll keep playing and if not… then thanks for the memories.”

Cork County Cricket Club will host an Open Day in their Mardyke grounds on Saturday, April 16th from 2pm. Adults and children interested in taking up the game are all welcome to attend as there will be plenty of players and coaches available on the day to answer any questions. For more information, log on to www.corkcountycricketclub.com.

Courtesy: Niamh O’Mahony (TheCorkNews)

A limited number of tickets for the One Day International between Ireland and England at Clontarf on August 25th are now avialable to members of Cork County Cricket Club on a first come, first served basis.

Ireland v England
Clontarf, August 25th

10 no. Adult tickets at €35 each
5 no. U-16 tickets at €14 each

Please contact Club Treasurer, David Griffin, at 021-4364735 or contact the Club at 021-4272569 to book your tickets for the eagerly anticipated ODI.

Bookings will only be accepted with cash or cheque as the Club has to pay for the tickets before April 18th 2011.