SPORTS | Cricket
Dublin University CRICKET CLUB
(DUCC)
by Gerard Siggins
Participants in the DUCC 175th anniversary game. Back row: Prof Jim Wilson (president), Ian Morgan, Ewan Crawford, David Pigot, Charlie Butler, Conor Hoey, Jonathan Harte, John McGrath, Michael Halliday, Michael Rea, David O’Neill, Chris Harte, and Graeme Guthrie Front: Oliver Posgate, Richard Forrest, Iain Synnott, Eoghan Delany, Carl Hosford, Gerard Siggins, Prof Trevor West, Nick Wheeler, Dominick Joyce, Cormac Neill, Graham Walsh, Apoorv Vyas, and Aidan Neill.
T
he Cricket Club celebrated its 175th birthday in June 2010 with a commemorative match and dinner. It was a glittering occasion for a Trinity club which has had a few lean years – and one which inspired several who attended to resolve to join the battle to restore its fortunes. A committee was formed and has helped with fundraising and other initiatives to assist the student club. Briain O’Rourke, the leading coach in Leinster, was recruited and a Newcastle University player was funded to travel to play on an exchange scheme. A Friends of Trinity Cricket bursary has also
Two one-day matches were staged under the captaincy of Conor Hoey and Johnny McGrath, and those who played included former Irish internationals Michael Rea, Mike Halliday, Chris Harte, and Dom Joyce. The guest list included dozens of former captains and those who travelled came from Australia, Singapore, France and Canada, as well as many from the UK. It was memorable event for a Club with many memories. College Park was in spectacular condition and David Hackett and his hard-working grounds staff were further rewarded when the ground was selected to host the Leinster Senior Cup final for the first time since 1949. An Ireland ‘A’ fixture against MCC was also held in July. But while the 175th birthday was enjoyed, it is fair to say that the scores of returning players found the club at perhaps its lowest ebb. The 2010 season saw the first XI relegated from Division 2 of the Leinster Senior League, in the first season the leagues were reorganised. Cricket in College has always been hamstrung by the short Trinity term, with many students disappearing far and wide by the middle of June. DUCC have had to cram their fixtures into the often damp depths of April and College Park is studentfree for the best of the Irish summer. New term structures have made this situation worse and the first XI league season is now over by the third week in May, although the intervarsities competition and junior league sides carry on to the end of June. While the first XI finds itself in the unfamiliar territory of Division
Cricket has been played in Trinity since the 1820s, but the first evidence of a constituted club dates from 1835. The 175th anniversary celebrations saw more than 80 former members return to College Park.” been inaugurated which will commence for 2011–12 and has already drawn great interest from leading schools players. The Club has already seen an upswing in interest, partly spurred by the excellent performances of Ireland at the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. One of Ireland’s leading batsmen in the tournament, Ed Joyce, is a Trinity Economics and Geography graduate and played for DUCC each season from 1999–2002. Cricket has been played in Trinity since the 1820s, but the first evidence of a constituted club dates from 1835. The 175th anniversary celebrations saw more than 80 former members return to College Park. 56 | Trinity Today
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