In the 1970s club cricket in Leinster was quite different from today. All games, except the 60 over cup which replaced the timeless version in 1971, were timed games. Teams, often the weaker ones, might play for a draw. Scores were low with totals over 200 very rare. Wickets might well be uncovered and not just during the game but in the week leading up to a match.
The batting was often timid and an aggressive approach was often just a last resort. The bowling, however, was generally of a higher standard than the batting. In order to win games bowlers had to get wickets and not just prevent runs being scored by bowling negatively to defensive fields. In comparing the cricket played today with the version seen over 40 years ago you would have to say the batting is far superior, the fielding likewise but the bowling, if anything, is worse.
Why this should be so, especially as there is a far more professional approach today, in club, interpro and Irish cricket, is a difficult question to answer.
The Irish side of the last 10 years and its management, which has had great success and is mainly responsible for the huge upsurge in interest in the game nationwide has had the following quicker bowlers bowling in crunch games: Johnston, Murtagh, Cusack, Sorensen, Langford-Smith, Mooney, O’Brien. The first five all learnt their cricket outside Ireland and some, especially Johnston, have given immeasurable service to their adopted country.
Nothing wrong with that but where are our home grown international bowlers? At the moment we have several batsmen – Porterfield, Joyce, Stirling, O’Brien NJ, Wilson and Balbirnie – all contracted to counties and doing well. All learnt the game in Ireland. There are some promising young seamers such as Young, Chase, McCarthy and McCarter. They need more exposure and probably need to get it in England.
There has been criticism that the team playing in the World Cup needed to be freshened up but there was a reluctance to give match experience to youth. As regards spin bowlers, Dockrell is on the books in Somerset and McBrine looks promising but are others pushing them? Spinners need to learn the arts of spinning the ball, bowling with drift and dip and taking wickets with guile. They should be seen as much more than bowlers who “take the pace off the ball”.
The successful amateur bowlers of the 70s such as Alec O’Riordan, Dougie Goodwin, Simon Corlett, Dermott Monteith were better bowlers than the professionals of today despite the fact that they were basically weekend club players. I believe that there are a few reasons for this.
Michael Halliday played 93 times for Ireland, 25 times as captain and was later a national selector