The Distaff side 1987

When Fergal Tobin took over the publication of the Club’s Programme, he recognised that the Ladies Club (before amalgamation) did not have a voice.  Therefore, he offered a column to Stella Downes, who wrote about all club matters both playing and social.  Her social commentaries were hugely popular unless of course you featured in them.  One of Stella’s great talents was to avoid naming names while making it perfectly clear just who it was that she was talking about.  The column was called “The Distaff Side” and this one is from 1987 immediately after a disastrous Cup Final defeat to YMCA for the 1st team but as Stella says – what a night!  P.S. no one was hurt in the making of this column.....

 Disgraceful Behaviour                      Stella Downes

It’s amazing how many post mortems can be conducted after a single match. The Senior Cup final was one such game.  Well this article is not even going to mention cricket – but what a night it was!  When the game ended early, there was always a danger that the night in the bar would be a non-event, with the victorious YMCA team gone home to Claremont Road and a disheartened crew left supping pints in the corner, discussing the good old days of Clontarf cricket when a collapse in batting was unheard of. The night however took a totally different turn.  The expected exodus never occurred and when the band struck up, there was no way anyone wanted to leave with so much dancing going on in the aisles.  The antics that followed were quite incredible.  Just when things were really getting going, a hush descended over the bar as the Mighty Atom hauled himself up onto the rafters to set the standard for a chin up competition.  One young lady was hoisted up and was assisted in shattering the record.  The look of astonishment on the face of the drummer was a sight to behold as she beamed at her audience while passing 25.  He was obviously unaware that she was being given several helping hands.

Later in the night the victorious Ladies 1^st XI returned with the cup and joined in all the fun. Out of this arose a great mystery: where did the cup disappear to? Is it possible that a freckle faced young gentleman took it home when he couldn’t get his hands on the captain of the Ladies 1^st XI? One very busy young gentleman was the upwardly mobile stylist of the club, who took a stream of women to the changing room to show them his trophy.

The person perhaps made most infamous by the night would have to be the young batsman turned footballer who decided to kick anyone with whom he had had disagreements in the past, firmly believing that they would remember nothing in the morning.  One of the victims was the man generally known as the Bullfrog.  Another and perhaps more famous person was none other than the captain of the club who was unceremoniously dumped on the pitch, treated to physical and verbal abuse and then left to wander aimlessly towards what he thought was the pavilion but was in fact McTiernan’s hedge.

The Secretary of the club, who wishes to be renowned for his “loveability” obviously enjoyed the whole thing as he was found the following day snoring peacefully on one of the new benches while supposed to be watching the cricket. All in all it was a memorable night for those of us sober enough to remember it – everyone else mush depend on hearsay.

So far this has been a very successful season for Clontarf Ladies with both the 1^st and 2^nd XI winning their respective cup competitions.  At this stage, the 1^st XI are in the final of the 40 over league while the 2^nd XI have won their league.  Congratulations to Sandra Spence who took 8 wickets for 18 runs in the 2^nd XI cup final, that’s some bowling by any standards!         

2011 All Ireland under 13 Final

The Under 13 All Ireland Cup, named after the great Phoenix batsman David Pigot, pits the Cup winning sides from the North West, Northern and Leinster Cricket Unions.  Clontarf have won the trophy before, but never more dramatically than in 2011, when it took one of the most remarkable spells of bowling to bring the Cup back to the Northside of Dublin again.

The Final of 2011 was against Bready in their home ground at Magheramason, near Derry and the Team Manager Gerry Delany arranged a bus to allow the team and supporters to travel in style.  This team had actually played the Bready team two years previously in the Under 11 All Ireland Semi Final, a game that was won before we beat CIYMS in the final in Clontarf.  However, Bready were the dominant side in the North West and would undoubtedly challenge in the Clontarf side, who themselves were in good form, having won the Leinster Cup against Pembroke and would go on to win the League in some style.

The long journey was broken by a stop along the way for some food and a chance to stretch, so when we arrived at the wonderfully appointed Bready Cricket Club, the team were raring to go.  Senior player, Eoghan Delany helped the Club Coach Rod Hokin to take the warm ups and get the team ready for the battle ahead.  There was sense of excitement about the team who clearly could not wait to get started.

The toss was lost and Clontarf were asked to bat first on what was an excellent pitch with long boundaries, particularly straight.  Colin Curry and Andrew Delany opened the batting, Colin has an incredible record in The All Ireland competitions and indeed it was his feets in the 2009 Under 11 competition that saw Clontarf emerge as winners.  This time Colin and Andrew started cautiously in the face of good, tight bowling.  However, Colin  opened his shoulders as the partnership developed, clearing the ropes on a number of occasions.  He fell for an excellent 64 and Andrew was unfortunate not to reach his half century, falling on 48.  It took some big hits from Sean Dunne at the end to bring the total to 154 for 3 at the close of the innings, after 30 overs. 



Colin Currie

The North West is legendary for their teas and this was no different.  Suitably fed, the team came out for the 2^nd innings full of adrenaline.  Perhaps too much as the early bowling while quick was also a bit wild and Bready clinically put away the bad balls and happily accepted the freebies, by way of wides and no balls, offered.  Sean Dunne and Sean McCarthy pulled back the Bready’s fast start, to some extent but they were going at 6 an over and well on target.  McCarthy got in on the act again in catching Bready dangerman, Andrew Austin but his partner Reece Kelly merely took up the reigns and took Bready to the edge of a great victory.  Scorer and Manager Gerry Delany was feeling the pressure too, forsaking the score box and pacing up and down the car park. Coach Rod Hokin, seemd calm enough and if he was then he was the only one in the ground. 



Rod Hokin

Needing 18 off the final 3 overs, with 6 wickets in hand, David Delany recalled himself to the attack, David’s opening spell was not amongst his best however, what followed was simply extraordinary. 



David Delany

In 5 balls he clean bowled 5 batsman and only missed the last by a whisker.  In fact both umpire and wicketkeeper could not believe that it missed and both held their heads in their hands (resulting in a bye!).  Laura Cullen, who travelled to the game as a supporter, was also in charge of the Twitter feed, her comments are worth recording:

-          19 off 18.

-          Wicket!!!!!!! David Delany! 19 off 17

-          Wicket AGAIN! David Delany hat-trick ball! 19 off 16!

-          HAT TRICK DAVID DELANY!

-          4 WICKETS IN A ROW? I dont even know what that's call!

-          5 IN A ROW...

-          And the last ball went for a bye. Best over i've ever seen

The game of course was not yet over, with one wicket still standing but the following over, Sean McCarthy ran out the last man and victory was Clontarf’s.

It was an incredible finish to the match played in a wonderful spirit, a fact which did not go unnoticed by the neutral supporters. The following day both Joe Doherty, the Chair of Cricket in Cricket Ireland and Hope Kerr, the sponsor, publically paid tribute to both teams.

    

Peter Prendergast on batting

Another piece of Peter Prendergast wit, this time he discusses batting:-

Both sides of the coin

 

Peter Prendergast

Recently I decided to be less neurotic about my batting. First off I intended to rid myself of all superstitions. Previously I wore a particular pair of shoes on match days, selected a particular bowler with whom I warmed up. The right pad went on before the left. Regardless of weather conditions, I batted in a sleeveless sweater. Never would I put on my batting gloves before I was thirty yards or so from the crease. Upon reaching the wicket, the umpire gave me guard of middle and leg through I bat on leg stump or outside. The list had broken through two lean seasons. Rather than recognise that my superstitions were nothing more than hokum, I kept adding to them in the hope of finding the right combination. Sometimes I stole other people's superstitions, then jettisoned them once they didn't work. Ha! I'd think, no wonder that guy never gets any runs. Now it's July, I've missed half the season through injury and I'm right back where I started. Only now I won't bat in a cap and I suspect that my new Pony Cricket boots have a hex on them.

Peter Prendergast and his Pony boots

Unlike most things, batting doesn't seem to get any easier the more I do it. I often suspect there is some sort of joke being played on me. Cricket shows me a glimpse of the purest pleasure in the form of an off drive and then it's right back into the trough of mediocrity again. Some days every shot I play ends up at extra cover, two days later square leg has a pain in his face picking up the ball and tossing it back to the bowler. I go to the nets to iron out a particular fault and stumble across another far more worthy of attention. It can be very confusing. Five knocks in a row last season I was caught at mid-off, and now that I've solved that one, first slip has been having a fine time of it. Somewhere along the way I pick up some runs and I'm in buoyant form for a week. Sustaining a run of form, however, that's a more difficult task.

Cricket brings out the basest instincts in me. As soon as I'm out, in the immediate aftermath of a cheap dismissal, I want to go home. If I owned the ball I think I'd stick it in my pocket and stalk off out the gate. No! I'd tell the other twenty-one, I'm sorry, but you knew what you were getting into. And this from someone who has held selfish players in contempt. I've watched opponents loose games for their team through playing for themselves and part of me has been delighted with the proceedings, but there's always been another part which has wished for a big lummox like McClean to pick the guy up over his shoulder, march to the boundary and toss him headlong into Johnny Barry's back garden. Yet failure makes me petty myself. It's a dreadful game to become intense about. There seems to be some sort of fascination about cricket that it attracts so many of us who take it personally, who mull over failure to a ridiculous degree, who tolerate all the lousy days in the hope that there's a good one on the way.

For most of one recent season I'd been watching cricket. On St Patrick's Day some clown kicked a football at precisely the same moment as I did and broke my foot. For two months I missed the involvement, the company and the competition and felt grateful to be relieved of the tension, the soul-searching and the feeling of having let others down when I failed. It's not easy to watch. I wanted the team to win and for others to do well, but not so well that I wouldn't be wanted when I was fit again. Injured players are entirely irrelevant; they regard themselves as part of the team but they have nothing to do with the day's play. Other people are kind. They ask you about your injury and say they hope to see you playing again. Then they talk about something else but you've no interest. They've come to enjoy the game and to see their friends and they watch without the same investment of emotion that you do. When injured I stayed out of the dressing room because it hurt not to be involved, away from the spectators because I was in some odd state of agitation and had nothing to say for myself. Instead I walked around the pitch alone. And after the game I declined to go for a drink. The same bar, the same people, but it's different. It's different because I haven't been tearing my guts out hoping for others to succeed where I've failed, because I haven't been muttering and swearing when a catch goes down or sniggering when Fitzer takes one on the shins at extra cover. It occurred to me that there are spectators and players and the things are fine once you know which you are.

Being injured did, however, give me the chance to consider why I play cricket. Two solid months thinking about this and I'm still none the wiser. Why put myself through the wringer? I hate fielding and no captain is foolish enough to allow me to bowl. Batting is probably enjoyable when you're 150 not out on a belter of a wicket tonking some poor medium pacer to all corners of the ground but I've never been in that position. For the most part it's fraught with tension. Part of the reason is that I've nothing better to do. In fact I probably have nothing at all to do. For those of us who have been part of a team since we were children, it's part of our identity. The game affords us companionship and sometimes respect. But more critically, I think that on occasions, cricket has forced me to be braver and to show more nerve then I would otherwise be inclined to. Though it’s very cruel as a game, it exposes people and I suspect that that's the part I'm addicted to, ill-prepared though I often am for the bounce of failure.

I think I'm going to play as long as I can. Another year of Senior cricket maybe and then it's off to the seconds where no doubt I'll be just as neurotic. I'm thirtysomething now - easing into middle age quite gracefully.

I think - and in a way I'm looking forward to dropping down the sides. If my knees hold up I intend to play soccer until I'm forty. My uncle, kind but old duffer that he is, recently offered to buy me a set of golf clubs and I think I'll take him up on the offer. One recent Sunday Deryck and I got to talking about golf and he explained how he liked the way golf was entirely down to the player himself, that there was no one else to blame when things went wrong. It's not a game that particularly appeals to me, however. I'll play when there's nothing else for me to play and only then. The truth is that I can't see much point in hitting the ball when no one else's hopes are riding on where it lands. I suspect I'll be a solitary figure on the course, tramping off at a forty-five degree angle after my ball, thinking about the good old days when I was tearing my hair out over cricket. There's much I would change about my career - for a start I'd bowl ten overs a game, and I wouldn't have been in Greece when Deryck caught Rod Green's skier off Fergal O'Mahony's head - but in a strange way I won't want to forget the failures either. They're part of the involvement and I think that's probably what I'll really be trying to hang on to.

Beckett Cup wins in the 1970s

Beckett Cup Wins

Clontarf won the Beckett Cup, a cross border competition, twice in the 1970s.  The first report is a contemporary newspaper report while the second win had a dramatic finale and is drawn from various sources.

1970 Beckett Cup Final

“Clontarf score exciting win”

Clontarf won the Beckett Cup (40 overs) by 8 runs after an exciting finish against Donemana at Castle Avenue, yesterday.  Only 9 balls remained when McDermott, Clontarf’s captain, caught Dunne, to finish off the visitor’s innings.

It was McDermott’s match.  Opening the innings he scored 96 (one 6 and nine 4s) before being run out in a misunderstanding with Spence.

Clontarf qualified for the final as last year’s Leinster midweek 20 overs League winners: Donemana’s qualification was their winning the mid Ulster Cup.  It was the third attempt at disposing of the 1970 final.  The previous fixtures had been rained off.

Clontarf

E.A.McDermott run out                                                96

F.J. Carroll run out                                           16

L.P. Hughes b J.Cochrane                             0

A.W. Spence lbw  McBrine                           26

G.P. Murphy c and b Curry                           4

P.M. Murphy run out                                     2

S. Ellis run out                                                    1

M.R. Bunworth c Curry b McBrine            7

R Taylor b Curry                                                                2

D Taylor not out                                                3

H. Honohan c Curry b McBrine                   2

Extras                                                                    10

Total                                                                      169

Bowling J Cochrane 1 for 55, Curry 2 for 45, Caldwell 0 for 36, McBrine 3 for 22

Donemana

J Cochrane b Bunworth                                                 11

D.V. Caldwell b P Murphy                             20

I Cochrane b Bunworth                                                 7

R. McBrine c G.Murphy b P. Murphy       12

A. Fullerton c Ellis b P. Murphy                   2

B. Curry run out                                                3

I Doughterty c G.Murphy b R.Taylor        58

F. Kee c Honohan b R.Taylor                        14

B Corry b P. Murphy                                       0

A Dunne  c McDermott b R.Taylor             12

H. Henderson not out                                    8

Extras                                                                    15

Total                                                                      162

Bowling  Bunworth 2 for 25, P. Murphy 4 for 60, R. Taylor 3 for 43, Ellis 0 for 19

Clontarf win by 8 runs

1972 Beckett Cup win

Like the 1970 version of the event, the 1972 had its scheduling problems and this final only took place on 8^th September 1973, with Castle Avenue again the venue.  This time Brigade was the opposition and they had some star players in their ranks.  Clarke Nicholl, who was an outstanding player for the North West interprovincial team led the batting line up but Clontarf had a stroke of luck in the their top bowler Roy Torrens (currently manager of the Irish international team) was on away on a tour to the United States and Canada with the Ireland squad.  Clontarf were without their frontline batsman, Noel Grier but otherwise it was a strong home side.

The game itself was something of a thriller, as Sean Pender of the Irish Times reported “a more exciting, fictional finish would test the flair of even the great story tellers”.  Bridgade batted first in this 40 over game and managed 113 for 8, with David Todd top scoring with 29.  Ernie Bodell showed his quality in returning bowling figures of 5 for 43 in his 16 overs.  Clontarf seemed well on course to win the trophy when they were 87 for 4 with 12 overs remaining.  Enda McDermott and Podge Hughes were at the wicket and going well.  They had, however recovered and earlier indifferent start with a partnership of 45.  Podge was better known as a fast bowler but he was also a fine striker of this ball and he had made 27 (2 sixes and 1 four) when he was bowled by Ray Hepburn. At 99, Enda fell for 41 but with 4 wickets remaining and only 14 runs required, there was no panic.  However with just 7 needed Bernie Daly was bowled by opening bowler John Watson, things were getting too close for comfort. Todd then disposed of Peter Daly with 5 required and 2 wickets left. Bill Dalton Brown, a West Indian opening bowler, brought the score to 112 before he played on to Watson, leaving the final pairing of Ernie Bodell and Michael Delaney at the wicket.  Delaney survived a huge LBW appeal first ball, and in the confusion Ernie Bodell called for and got home for a single leaving the scores tied. There were 2 more balls left, in this the penultimate over, but Bodell failed to make contact with either, leaving Michael Delaney to face the final over facing David Todd. With the second ball, Todd skittled Delaney leaving the cores level and the match tied.

Brigade: 113 for 8.  D. Todd 29, E. Bodell 5 for 38

Clontarf: 113 all out. E McDermott 41, L.P. Hughes 27, D. Todd 5 for 22 (16 overs),Watson 3 for 44, R. Hepburn 2-12

Match tied.

The Best Bowling

To take 10 wickets in an innings is, for a bowler, the pinnacle; you just cannot get better than that. It is, of course an extremely rare occurrence – in the Club’s history it was only been achieved on three occasions.   The three bowlers were S. Devitt in an under 14 game in 1956, Paddy Monaghan for the 5^th team in 1963 and Micky McTiernan for the 2nds in 1987.  Sadly, official records of these feats do not survive.  It has remained an elusive feat at Senior League Level and has only been achieved on four occasions.  On two occasions, however, Clontarf bowlers have been tantalisingly close; here is the story of those amazing spells of bowling.

For over 30 years, Ernie Bodell was a mainstay of the Clontarf bowling attack and as a seamer he earned six Irish caps (at a time when the Irish team played very few games).  In July 1950, he was a 21 year old beginning to make his way in the Senior Team.  The game in which he came so close to the ultimate was a two evening affair against Pembroke in the opposition’s ground at Sydney Parade.  Pembroke batted first, but Ernie had to wait for his chances as Alfie Cooper and Des Fitzgerald opened the bowling.  Alfie Cooper was himself an interesting character, he was capped not just by Ireland but also the USA, who he captained after he emigrated.   They made no inroads into the Pembroke line-up and Stanley Bergin and Ciaran O’Maille started very steadily.  Bergin, already, an international, was a very high class batsman (and father to Brendan who would later captain Clontarf) and only the previous week he had scored 34 and 20 against Nottinghamshire in a two-day game in College Park for the Irish side.  On this occasion, however, he met his match and was bowled by Bodell for 23.  What followed was an amazingly spell of bowling, not just because Ernie proceeded to take the next 8 wickets but 8 of the 9 wickets that he took were clean bowled.  Furthermore, his first 8 wickets were all bowled, the final one he caught and bowled the opener O’Maille who had stood firm while the carnage took place at the other end.  O’Maille made 67 and on his dismissal Pembroke declared, leaving Ernie with final figures of 19 overs, 9 wickets at a cost of 36 runs, and no doubt a sense of what might have been.  Pembroke wicket keeper, Joe Hopkins must have felt some relief that he was not asked to bat that evening.  The Pembroke innings therefore closed at 134 and Clontarf had to wait till the following evening to start their reply.   

Ernie Bodell

This was not to be a story with a happy ending, for when Clontarf returned to Sydney Parade the following night, they were unable to match Ernie Bodell’s heroics of the previous evening and were bowled out for 105, 29 runs short of their target.  Bodell, batting number 11 was at least able to hold his head up high as the “not out” batsman, but no doubt the final result tarnished slightly what was an outstanding individual display.

Fast forward 50 years to 1990, still in the Sandymount area, but this time YMCA’s ground at Claremont Road. It was here that Brian MacNeice would join Ernie Bodell in the record books.  Brian had started life as a wicket-keeper/batsman but he developed into a fine swing bowler who could consider himself unlucky not to have been capped. This time Clontarf were facing YMCA in the semi-final of the Wiggins Teape League.  YM were the outstanding team of the period and in the 1990 Leinster Senior Cup Final they had beaten Clontarf in heart-breaking circumstances, heart-breaking for Clontarf members anyway.  With home and psychological advantage, they entered this game as the favourites to advance to the final of this popular season ending competition.  When they restricted Clontarf to 177 for 9 in their 50 overs, they were firmly in the driving seat.  On the other hand, Clontarf will have been more than happy to reach that total, particularly as at one stage they were 44 for 4 and struggling.  Not for the first time, it was Enda McDermott who dropped anchor and steadily the ship, for without his 59 and some late hitting from Brendan Bergin and Feargal O’Mahony, Clontarf would have been in serious trouble.

Even so, defending 177 would be no easy job against a team with internationals Mark Nulty, Angus Dunlop, Keith Bailey, Stuart Taylor and Alan Lewis (who always seemed to up his game against Clontarf).  However, as early as the third over, YM were in trouble when Nulty was caught off the bowling of Brian MacNeice and not long after Brian bowled the Australian David Starkey to leave YM 18 for 2. This was the crucial period of the game, the big guns Dunlop and Lewis were at the crease and they consolidated.  At 42 however, Alan McClean caught Lewis and Brian had his third.  There followed a steady fall of wickets as Brian supported by the ever dependable Gerry Kirwan plugged away at the YMers.  The big wicket of Dunlop fell at 78 when Johnny Daly caught him behind the wicket and MacNeice had all 6 wickets to fall.  YM did recover again and Eamon Masterson, Stuart McCready and Neil Bailey all threatened to win the game, however after 23 consectutive overs, MacNeice had taken 9 wickets for 77 runs.  Then Stuart McCready danced down the wicket to Gerry Kirwan and tried to hit him out of the ground, he missed and Johnny Daly, only after encouragement from the bowler, took the bails off to leave YMCA all out for 133. Brian had come so close to a 10 wicket haul, but it was still an amazing feat not just of skill but also stamina.


Brian MacNeice in action

 In the current league structures whereby bowlers can only 10 overs, it is unlikely that these feats can ever be matched never mind beaten but the challenge remains for the bowlers.  For now we salute the two bowlers who have set the high mark in the Club’s history.

Ladies cricket in the 1940's

The Leinster Ladies Cricket League was set up in 1941 and Clontarf were winners in 1942.  The following newspaper spreads come from the Times Pictorial (inc The Weekly Irish Times) and show the coverage Ladies cricket could generate.  Pages 1 and 2 come from 1943 and cover a North v South Dublin game in Leinster CC.  The batswoman walking out to bat on Pages 1 is Marie Callaghan who might be better known to current Clontarf members Marie Coffey who would still be a major player for Clontarf when cricket restarted in the 1970s.  (Note: by clicking on the image you will be able to see a larger version)

Page 2

Page 3

 This pages is from the same newspaper but from an 1947 edition and covers a Leinster trial.  This game shows Clontarf CC as it was up to the 50's i.e on what is now the rugby pitch.

The Marchant Cup and Clontarf

In what was a disappointing season for our 1^st team this year, one of the few bright spots was Bill Coghlan winning the Marchant Cup.  In doing so Bill became only the eighth Clontarf player to win this award which is presented to the batsman (other than overseas professional players) who has the best average in Senior Cricket. The award was first presented in 1921, so Bill’s achievement in topping the list allows him entrance to a very exclusive band of the Club’s elite.  The first winner from Clontarf was E.N. (Ted)Seymour in 1930 whose 337 runs at 37.44 was enough to bring the trophy north-side, however only one player has won twice, J.B. (Brian) Bunworth , in1968 and ten years later in 1978. The other winners were W.J. (Bill) Moynan (1945), W.E. Haughton (1948) with the highest Clontarf average of 70.80), N.C. (Noel) Mahony (1952), L.C. (Louis) Jacobson (1959) and M.P. (Michael) Rea (1991). 




Bill Coghlan is presented with 2012 Marchant Cup

 However, Clontarf’s association with the Marchant Cup is an extremely close one, in that the person the trophy honours was, in fact, a Clontarf member and player. The trophy was presented to the Leinster Cricket Union in 1922 by Thomas Frederick Marchant in memory of his son, who had been killed in World War 1.

Charles Stewart Marchant, (known as Stewart) was born on 21 June 1895 to Thomas and Kathleen Marchant of 16 Castlewood Park, Rathmines, only a stone’s throw away from Leinster Cricket Club. Stewart joined Clontarf CC in 1914 and before his 19^th birthday was opening the batting for the first team.  He did so with some success too, in his first and what would be only season, he played in 14 games, scoring 237 runs at an average of 19.75 with a top score of 49.  Between 1914 and 1918, there was to be no cricket and like many young men, Stewart joined the Royal Dublin Fussilers. Sadly, he was killed in action on 4^th June 1917 and was buried in Belgium.

The Marchant Cup was presented to the Leinster Cricket Union at their Annual General Meeting held in the Engineer’s Hall, Dawson Street in January 1922.  Appropriately, it was J.G. (John) Aston who presented the trophy on behalf of the Marchant family to the Union.  Not only was Aston the finest Clontarf cricketer of the time, he was also the person who had proposed young Stewart Marchant as a member to the club.  In a touching speech he spoke about the loss of a young man who had shown not just bravery in his military life but also of the loss of a talented sportsman.     It then fell on His Honour Judge Green, a vice president of the Union, to present the award to R.H. (Bob) Lambert who had topped the list for 1921 with an extraordinary average of 217.   Lambert was 46 during the 1921 season but he was possibly the greatest of Irish cricketers and it was entirely appropriate that his was the first name on the cup. Interestingly, he used the occasion of accepting the award to comment on the dearth of first-class bowlers in Ireland.  Clearly, despite his age, he still wanted to be challenged.

The Marchant Cup has not been to Clontarf often enough, so the challenge to the batsmen of the future is to rectify that.



War Memorial inc C.S. Marchant of Clontarf Cricket and Football Clubs