HALVERSTOWN: 183 for 5 off 30 overs
Batting: S. Hayes 28* ; K.Hodson 21*; M.Coyle 20 ; C.Johnston 18 retd ; G.Scott 15
Bowling: D.Drumm 3-2-5-2; J.Kirby 3-0-7-2; B.McAllister 3-1-3-1; M.Coyle 3-1-3-0
CARLOW: 25 FOR 5 off 13 overs
Batting: R.Corrigan 10; T.Nolan 8*
Bowling: J.Dooley 5-0-25-2 ; Platt 2-0-19-1; P.Corrigan 7-0-41-1 ; P.Goddard 7-0-41-1 ;
B. Broderick 3-0-13-0; D.Fitzgerald 5-0-26-0; T.Platt 5-0-27-0
Jimmy Dooley is an honest man. And without him there might not be any cricket in Carlow.
My first match report this season was Oaks v Kilkenny, in which a letter to the Kilkenny Journal newspaper in 1895 was quoted. Kilkenny was, in the late 19th century, a cricket mad county and the letter writer proposed that cricket clubs might help to establish the then struggling game of hurling. How times change!
The first recorded cricket game played in Carlow was in 1823 with Carlow Cricket Club established in 1831. However it went the way of many other cricket clubs over the years, only to be re-established in 2011. Jimmy Dooley is closely associated with the great Eire Og GAA team of the 1990s and in 2010 was also named their Clubman of the Year. How fitting that a proud GAA man should be so closely associated with re-establishing cricket in Kilkenny’s neighbouring county!
Cricket was re-established in Carlow following the settling there of Rohingya refugees, who like their cricket. This has now led to Carlow fielding league teams as well as a Development Team. I contacted Jimmy thinking that they played social fixtures too. Jimmy hummed and hawed: could he or couldn’t he put a team together- and if so there would be a lot of beginners. I have heard this before, only to be hammered all over the pitch by people from countries where they are born with a cricket ball in one hand and a bat in the other. Cautiously I put out a team with a few beginners, the rest reasonably regular social players- though a late withdrawal saw me draft in Kevin Hodson, now a league player. The result was a stronger team than I had planned- and much too strong for Jimmy’s genuine beginners.
The Oaks put on 183 in our 30 overs with Stuart Hayes , Kevin, Michael Coyle and Cecil particularly impressive with the bat and Gavin Scott scoring well on his debut, turning out not to be a beginner. Carlow’s bowling varied but Jimmy Dooley’s 2 for 25 caught the eye and Broderick bowled 3 tidy overs. Work on the bowling would save a lot of runs, given that over 30 wides were conceded. Rain stopped play when Carlow were struggling on 25 for 5: runs were hard to come by, with Corrigan the only one getting to double figures. All Halverstown bowlers bowled well, despite holding back Kevin in reserve! Two successive wicket maidens by myself was a novelty but Carlow based Jon Kirby did damage too with his excellent 2 for 7. Nevertheless, for Carlow it was an honourable draw.
Yes, Jimmy Dooley is an honest man. I hope he knows I am too!