In the final player profile of the summer, Cricket Leinster Youth (@leinsteryouth) talked to Ireland U19 bowler Bobby Gamble on his experiences of his tour to Durham with the Leinster development side and subsequently his experiences of playing with Loughborough and Somerset this summer.
So Bobby, how did this trip come about?
I arrived in Dublin just after the 2013 Leinster Development Durham trip. The lads that went gave it good feedback and said it was a really worthwhile trip. Before I returned for the 2014 season I got an email to say that I’d be going. Tours are always some of your best memories in cricket so it wasn’t an opportunity to be missed.
Was it beneficial to your cricket game and how?
The wickets we played on in Durham were flat so needless to say I scored no runs, but it was a good chance to practice one-day skills with the ball in tough conditions with small boundaries. In the league you’re often reluctant to implement new things for fear of it going wrong, so the developmental side of the trip allowed me to practice and trial new skills under pressure. It was really good preparation for the ‘power-play’ and ‘death’ bowling I did for the Ireland 19’s a few weeks following the trip to Durham. The NUSC side are normally very strong so the Leinster trips are always challenging in that respect.
What was different from the Irish set up to how it's done over there?
At club level, Leinster clubs are much better organized with regards to developing quality players through their summer academies than in England, where players often come through their schools, and school cricket is quite poor. At the professional level though, English clubs have the luxury of being able to bring in new people and ideas regularly. I’ve found that Ireland can be a bit of a bubble so it’s more difficult to get that influx of ideas.
What did you learn over the course of the trip?
Cricket-wise, developing bowling skills mainly. Otherwise, getting to know a lot of the lads better that I’d been playing against a lot in the league was beneficial and hopefully one or two can get a run in the Leinster Lightning side in the near future.
Did you have any personal highlights?
I didn’t do anything particularly memorable during that tour, but going into Newcastle to watch England against Uruguay in the soccer World Cup with Nigel Pyne was good fun. He was massively a ‘fish out of water’ being a Mackem in Geordie land……….
Finally, what's next for you? What's your next cricketing step?
I’ve just finished my first year at Loughborough University. I view Irish lads joining an MCCU as an absolute no-brainer if they’re serious about cricket. We had a good year, capped off by us winning the T20 comp so we’ll be representing Great Britain in the world finals in India in October. I’m also on extended trial at Somerset and loving it in the West Country. Taunton Vale is a bowler’s graveyard so I’ve had to learn quickly but I’ve had a really good few weeks recently so fingers crossed for the future.
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