Hi Everyone,

And now the end is near……

The end is fast approaching and we enter a very busy part of the season. Teams are fighting for top spot, middle spot or even any spot at all.

All our youth teams both boys and girls are finishing their seasons and lots of our players have gone on to representative level with both Leinster and Ireland. Believe me there are too many to mention here. I congratulate everyone on their success and I know you will all be involved in further training and development over the winter.

The most successful team in the club this season are undoubtedly the girls U15 team. They have already won the cup and are playing the league final on Monday at 2pm in Pembroke. They are a blend of U15’s, U11’s and U9’s which is good for next year and win or lose this game they have had a fantastic season. Very well done to them and they would love your support.

I would like to thank all the coaches, managers and parents who have supported and looked after all our youth teams. The Club appreciates all the time you put in. We are the envy of Leinster with the amount of teams we have and their success. That is down to you all. Thank you.

I was delighted recently to be involved with the live streaming of the Irish lady’s games against Sth Africa. Brookettes, Kim, Louise, Shauna and Meg were all on the squads for the T20 and ODI series. As an ex international, I can’t tell you how proud I was to see our team beat Sth Africa in one of the T20’s and one of the ODI’s. This was a momentous achievement in the global woman’s game and will have far reaching implications. All our players were terrific and Kim was one of the three nominations for player of the series. Well done to them. They play Bangladesh next in early September in Bready CC. Check out the Cricket Ireland web site for info.

Barry McCarthy continues to impress with both Durum and Ireland. Just yesterday he took 4/64 for Ireland against Pakistan. Fantastic bowling. He will play them again tomorrow in Malahide and we wish him and Ireland well.

The Ladies teams are also finishing their competitions. With all three teams expected to finish second in their respective leagues. Well done to all. These teams are a mixture of youth and experience which bodes very well for the future of the club. They are also very fortunate to be coached by Miriam and managed by Amanda, so the captains have just had to concentrate on matters on the pitch. Thanks to all involved with the lady’s section of the club, it is vibrant and thriving.

The men’s teams have had mixed success. We are extremely proud of our firsts who we expect to finish second in the league. What a fantastic season they have had and it has come down to the one game against Tarf which we unfortunately lost. Well done to Conor, Paul and the boys on a terrific run.

The 2nds and 3rds teams are expected to finish mid table with the 4ths and 5ths slightly lower then mid. These teams are also a mixture of youths and slightly older than that and I sincerely hope that they have enjoyed their season. I know that the captains have sometimes struggled with numbers and I thank them for their perseverance. I have particularly enjoyed watching double headers in the club and admired the total commitment from all the players. Well done everyone. We unfortunately had to withdraw our 6ths from the league, which was very disappointing for the club.

I am aware that the LCU are trying to address the “spirit of cricket” issues in the lower men’s leagues and I have to comment that they unfortunately have some way to go yet.

Off the pitch the club is hopping with events most Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights. This has left Saturday and Sunday nights generally free for the members. I have enjoyed very pleasant weekend evenings with everyone watching sport and listening to the cricket chat. I am disappointed that a couple of fundraising events that were planned didn’t happen, but that’s the way it goes.

Dates for your diary.

Saturday Aug 27th; The Annual Dinner, tickets 40.00 for adults and 30.00 for students. This will be a great night compared by the fantastic Andy Balbirnie. Speakers include, Clare Taylor of Yorkshire and England, Henry Tighe Pres of CI and Johnboy Mooney of Ireland. Please sign the sheets in the bar or let me know directly.

Wednesday 31st Aug; 7.30pm The AGM

Saturday Sept 10th; The Awards Night

Tuesday 13th Sept; Hand over to MFC

This is my last newsletter as I hand over the Presidency of this fantastic club to Sean on the 31st August. I want to sincerely thank my Exec Committee for all their support, commitment and hard work over the last three years. It is intensely challenging running a club such as ours, as you have to try to achieve a balance between the club and its members, who are like your family, and making sure the club remains solvent. I totally appreciate all the work you have done along with your ‘day jobs’ and I feel we have achieved a lot, both for the cricket end and the development of the facilities

I would finally like to thank all of the members for your support over the last three years. I am honoured and enormously proud to have been the President of Pembroke Cricket Club.

See you in the club at the weekend.

Janice

The Club Annual Dinner will take place on Saturday August 27th at 8pm in the clubhouse. Sumptuous meal costing €40.00 and €30.00 for students.

Speakers include Clare(Romper)Taylor ex Yorkshire and England International, John(Johnboy)Mooney Ex Irish International, Henry Tighe President of Cricket Ireland and compare Andy Balbirnie.

Places are limited so please sign up now, sheets are in the bar or contact me directly.

Cheers, Janice

Hi All,

As you know this is Horse Show week.

This year Pembroke is providing car parking for some of the competitors. There will be 2 horse box vans in the car park from Friday until Sunday and a further 5 from Saturday to Sunday. The owners will be around in the evenings and are welcome to use the showers and the bar over the weekend.

Members and visiting cricket players and supporters are please asked to park their cars on the Junior Rugby pitch at the car park end during this time. There will be a parking attendant on site to help with this.

Please pass this info on to anyone visiting our club this weekend. Thanks.

Cheers, Janice

Craig has sent his last honours board (for a while anyway) so click the link below to see how we are all doing.

PCC Honours Board 14th July

You can blame me (Niall) if it's not quite as pretty as it should be as I had to manhandle it a little to put it up here.

Last weekend was one that seemed to have everything. The weather washed out any ideas of play on Sunday and saw the Firsts (at YMCA), Thirds (at Leinster C.C.) and Fifths (at home to Merrion) all called off leaving players to decide whether to admit to their other half that their game was off or take to a bar to watch another day of international sport.

Saturday had seen the Sixth team of 10 take on the students of Dublin University in the Minor Cup. Despite losing the toss Pembroke were happy enough to bat first. However a series of collapses and plenty of low scores saw the side struggle to 74. Thomas Musgrave put up some resistance and was rewarded with a 20 run partnership that meant the team did have something to bowl at. Extras also contributed well with 21 meaning the 10 bats had accumulated just 53 runs between them.

Pembroke did not defend 74, but of note Thomas Musgrave took his first two wickets in adult cricket and will remember the day with fondness for years to come. Akil Joseph also recorded his first wicket as Dublin University went on to pass our score.

Tea was taken outside as a student picnic before various members of both teams rejoined to the bar to watch Ireland playing rugby in Pretoria. That should give you some idea of how long the game lasted.

DUCC now progress to the quarter-finals with our best wishes as this had been a game played within the spirit of the game and without rancour and of course in the best setting for cricket.

The Fourths game at home to Dundrum however came from the other side of the tracks. As a game it was nasty, ill-tempered, and downright unpleasant. I have written more on this and the entire cheating situation within Leinster cricket and that article is available on cricketleinster.ie/news

So that is the cricket played. I have no idea of any midweek results for the Women or the Men or even the youth.

Scheduled games this weekend have been affected by the visit of VP Joe Biden. Despite his travelling to the West and to County Louth in search of his Irish heritage, the Office of Public Works have decreed that no team sports will take place in the Phoenix Park during his visit. The Zoological Gardens remain open, but team sports must rank high as a security risk. Thus the Sixes have yet another game cancelled, this time through no fault of their own and the Thirds also fall foul of the VP’s security precautions as they had been due to visit Phoenix.

This leaves the First XI game versus Phoenix, luckily arranged for Sydney Parade as the only game on Saturday meaning that if the weather cooperates there could be a sizable crowd as they try to hold onto first place in Division 1.

Sunday sees two games scheduled with the Seconds, minus their captain Bill who still have his arm in a sling, due to welcome Malahide 2’s, whilst the 6’s were due to travel to Adamstown. At this stage of the week, it is unknown if a team can be put together for this trip.

Tuesday could the busiest day for cricket with Merrion providing opposition to both the Seconds (T20 in Anglesea Road) and the Women’s Seconds (in Sydney Parade).