DAVID DELANY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Time for another interview with a Cricket Leinster alumni and in the hot seat is Clontarf CC and Ireland fast bowler David Delany.

Q David, thank you for sitting down with CL over WhatsApp to conduct this interview. Many will wonder why we cannot meet in Dublin?

Thanks for the invite. Pleased to say, given the weather in Dublin compared to here, I am in South Africa playing for Uitenhage CC in the Eastern Province Premier League and staying here at Muir College, coaching the U14s and assisting with the 1^st XI during the week.

Q We will get to the TY scheme in a minute, but can you tell us how your recovery is going, and how you have ended up in Uitenhage, given all of the challenges around Omicron. There must have been some tremendous support in South Africa to help make it possible?

It has been a particularly frustrating, difficult, and despairing 2.5 years since July 2019 playing with severe knee pain which has culminated in two surgeries since. The recovery was lengthy and arduous, especially after the second surgery (Jan 2021) but I got extremely diligent care and support from the Santry Sports Clinic strength and conditioning coaches, my family, and close friends.

I remember some particularly sobering experiences in 2021 which I thought had ended my cricket career but my Mum, Dad, brothers (Eoghan, Niall & Andrew), Laura Cullen, Gerry Murphy, Simon Johnson, Brían O’Rourke and the Clontarf Cricket Club community were always incredibly supportive and believed in me when I thought all was lost.

As you know, we met in September 2021, where you queried about what my plans were for cricket going forward and that there was an opportunity to coach and play in Gqebertha, South Africa (modern-day Port Elizabeth) at Muir College for their 200^th-year celebration and the local cricket club Uitenhage CC (who play in the Eastern Cape Premier League) respectively. I mulled over the idea in my head for a few days and having talked to a few people and explored was it a viable option for me; I decided to pursue this invaluable opportunity. I worked incredibly hard on my fitness, particularly on my knee recovery and cricketing strength. I developed a knee strength program by researching YouTube, asking personal trainer friends (Kevin McDermott from Clontarf CC), and searching the world wide web.

On my cricket journey, that was a bit trickier to get a “cricketing load” into the body. I asked Peter Johnston (head of the u19s and Cricket Ireland Academy) and Albert Van Der Merwe (National Pathway Manager for Cricket Ireland) if I could join some sessions with their u19s panel in North County CC indoor facility. The coaches kindly agreed and before Christmas they generously allowed me to practice with the teenagers, I was mightily impressed by the calibre of local Leinster players in their roster from 15-year-old Reuben Wilson to 18-year-old captain Tim Tector.

We departed for Gqebertha, South Africa on the 8th of January with a two-stop flight route via London and Cape Town. Upon arrival in Gqebertha, we were greeted with a warm welcome by Mr. Lynthin Gouws. We drove through the city to our new place of residence in Uitenhage for the next 10 weeks and settled into our new abode at the school hostel. For the initial few days, we were magnificently cared and looked after by Mr. Gouws, his wife Lynn, and their two young children, Carter and Emily. At the same time, we met the headmaster of Muir College, Mr. Robin Stephenson, when he kindly invited us around to his home for a “braai” with his wife, Penny, and their youngest son, John. The family extended a very cordial welcome to us, and we sat and ate a delicious meal, chatted cricket, and all our ambitions for the days ahead. Mr. Stephenson is a keen admirer of cricket (and an exceptionally good spin bowler in his day by all accounts) and I would regard him as a “cricket man” with an intense passion for the sport at the school. For me, it was great to interact with someone my age with similar interests and passions as John Stephenson has; we have gym sessions daily along with an old Muir friend of mine Duncan McFarlane, and all love to play touch rugby at night against the hostel boys. Both Duncan and John have been extremely hospitable and welcoming to me and the boys. Luckily, I have had the pleasure to meet many of their friends and have made new friendships for life. Last weekend, we were invited to Duncan’s family home to celebrate Duncan’s birthday with his parents Mr. Frank McFarlane and Mrs. Ingrid McFarlane, their daughter Sarah and Duncan’s girlfriend Cameron McLaren. Also, it was a nice occasion to celebrate John McNally’s 127 on the weekend vs Alex Road High School.

In terms of cricket, I am the head coach of the u14’s boys' team at Muir College and work alongside teaching colleagues, Mr. Lee-Roy De Vos and Mr. Mzizi to deliver high energy, fun, and inclusive practice sessions to ensure every child is engaged and making progress, regardless of their ability. Last weekend, the team got our first victory of the season against Westering High School in Port Elizabeth. I was extremely proud of the team as we had worked tirelessly all week to ensure we were prepared for their fast-opening bowlers and accurate middle over bowlers, with a 60-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Additionally, I assist head coach, Mr. Lutho Pohlongo with the 1st team squad in delivering competitive and goal-orientated practice sessions. During the school week, I am assigned players during P.T. (Personal Training) lessons to develop individual skills and game awareness, whilst also preparing the boys for their opponents on the weekend. Usually, I have about 25 - 30 hrs of coaching sessions during school time and coach 3-4 sessions of official practice times from 2.15 - 4 pm per week.

On my cricket journey in South Africa, I have been playing for the local club side Uitenhage in the Eastern Province Premier League. The standard is of remarkably high quality, having taken the field with Eddie Moore (pictured) for Uitenhage and recently, we played Jon-Jon Smuts from Old Grey CC. I would say I have been privileged in my life to train and play with and against many international players of high- calibre but I have never seen anything as remarkable as Jon-Jon batting. Bowling to him felt a useless endeavour as he had astonishing time to either stroke or crash the ball around the ground, ending his innings on 82 off 27 balls. Thankfully, the game was not ruined, and Uitenhage won the game where I was the man of the match with 70 not out and 5-20 off 8 overs.

Apart from that, I have only featured in 3 other games, unfortunately, as I cannot play if the games are scheduled on Saturdays with my coaching responsibilities. On a positive note, I recently scored 65 not out for the Uitenhage 2nds and 3-24 off 6.4 overs. Furthermore, I have been asked to practice with the Eastern Province Warriors squad in the future and to play club cricket in Johannesburg next winter. Hopefully, both opportunities become reality.

On a more local note, the club cricket scene is in stark contrast to the one I am accustomed to in Dublin, the players all play with an intense passion and “sledging” is commonplace within a day's play, and umpires do not interfere with the escalating scenarios. I really enjoy the passion the game is played in, and once the game finishes we share a drink and joke around about the games play. The players share a unique connection and bond, one that cannot be described aptly, especially with the local Port Elizabeth team Gelvandale Cricket Club, who have in their ranks former Muir College and Phoenix off-spinner Branam Adams leading their attack. My favourite part of the game is surprisingly the drink afterward because I am told stories about players' lives, how they grew up, their journey to play cricket, and their ambitions for the future.

By playing club cricket I have expanded my social network, for instance, I have a great friend on my team named Dylan Thomson who recently moved on from Despatch Krieket Klub, but took me to their clubhouse recently whereupon I met a former overseas professional for Carrickfergus Cricket Club, Ross Gelderbloem. Furthermore, I was surprised to meet Rudi Koertzen, the former international umpire who has appeared in 108 Test matches and 209 One-Day internationals who prepares the wickets at Despatch.

Q Many heard the Cricket Leinster Transition Year Programme given a plug by Niall O’Brien in the recent ICC TV coverage of the Ireland u19 matches. Being part of Muir College, do you second the comments from Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie about the college, and what would you say to young TY students thinking about spending time at the college in 2023?

https://www.cricketleinster.ie/news/the-current-test-captain-who-played-for-muir-college

Well, I attended Muir as a learner in 2014 as part of my school Transition Year (with Rory Anders, Cameron Shoebridge, and Danny Hogan) so I had established a wide network of contacts during my time and knew a vast array of players at the local Uitenhage cricket club. It was marvellous to meet up once again with some of the players I played school’s cricket with we laughed, joked and recollected stories we shared nearly a decade ago. In fact, we recently recalled, in 2014, me and Cameron played for Muir College against the visiting Leinster u16’s in a memorable match that Leinster won by 5 runs. I remember coming across both Josh Little and Harry Tector in that game for the first time. We flew from the Eastern Cape and played at the St Stithians festival in Johannesburg the following week. It was a memorable tournament for the Leinster team as we came into the festival of cricket as mighty underdogs. Initially, we were ridiculed and labelled as “Ireland doesn't play cricket” by the fellow teams and coaches. However, on day 1 vs Hudson Park, we scored a competitive total and Rory Anders bowled a ferociously fast opening over and I backed him up by hitting the opener in the head in the 2nd over. The next day Rory and Colin Currie both scored 101 and 100 respectively, accumulating a total of 212-1 off 39 overs, I’ll let you guess who was the one wicket that day......it won't be too taxing to guess it was me obviously!

We finished the tournament strongly only losing one game to St. Stithians, whereupon we first came across Curtis Campher opening the bowling for the hosts. I vividly remember Colin Currie dispatching Curtis for a one-bounce four off the 1st ball of the 2nd innings with disdain.

If you want to put the work in, someone at Muir College will support you. That is the ethos here, and one that I know is very much shared by Cricket Leinster coaches, and in my opinion is why the relationship between the Cricket Union and Muir has developed, evolved, and progressed over time is due to this compatible nature of both parties. I came to Muir as a mediocre and unexceptional player compared to my peers and left with a new skill set, mindset, and confidence which enabled me to play for Ireland. I owe a lot of this progress to Mr. Joe Suti.

Q David, you have come a long way from 2009 when you were the ‘Find the Fast Bowler’ winner and looking back, there have been many challenges you have faced, where so many hoped you would have a smooth passage to the national team your talent deserves, if possible, could you name a few of these challenges you have faced and how to emerge successfully from these? What advice would you give the younger David, or, wish to pass on to the young talents coming through the Cricket Leinster Pathway?

I have faced many challenges not only in my cricket journey but life in general, and I think I have spoken aptly about the injuries, recovery periods, and mental toll as the biggest setback I have had in my life. I think the best advice I could have given myself was from a book I read, and it is relatively simple guidance: “to just do the best you can at any given time, and if you're proud of your effort than anything around or of a result, good or bad, is meaningless”. The quote resonates well with me, particularly after my long period of injury, the arduous recovery training, and the fall out of the Cricket Ireland contract situation where I received, I felt to be, unfair criticism for a situation that was complicated and deeply personal for me and not the truncated explanation provided. The outcome of the saga changed my mind set and my attitude - the way I choose to see and respond to events, situations, people, and myself. So, in keeping with this, my next piece of advice to younger me and young people would be “sometimes the worst things that happen in our lives put us on the path to the best things that will ever happen to us”. I think this will resonate with many adults and emphasized to young people who think that all is lost, for example, when they do not make their local, provincial, or national underage teams or more generally, their dreams and ambitions seem to slip or crumble away from them. There are always positive aspects to take from all situations.

On a less philosophical note, I think it is always important to listen to the Cricket Leinster coaches and support staff. Challenges will come, become resilient and work on your mental toughness. I always tell the kids on my u14’s Muir team, that I don't care about winning I just want to see improvement and development. There are no shortcuts to success, and I have seen that highlighted here in South Africa. Some of these young boys and teenagers I train and practice with every day are the strongest, toughest, and most resilient kids I have ever met in my whole life and potentially in the world! Life in Ireland is contrasting to the one I have faced here, and I think it's particularly important that we remember how lucky we are, to stay humble and modest. Lastly, I would say to any young player; give your all, take chances and visit places you might be too afraid or scared of, travel the world and play cricket on that journey, come to Muir College in South Africa and live an adventure.

David, thanks for sitting down with us to cover this piece. I think anyone who reads this will agree you have been incredibly candid in your answers, given people an insight they have never had of you before, some challenges you have been facing, and will be thrilled you are so committed to the journey back to the top of your game.

On behalf of all Irish cricket supporters, may 2022 be the year David Delany takes the cricket world by storm, as there are few to come through the CL pathway that have more talent than you.

Thank you for the very kind words, I would like to thank all the Cricket Leinster team who helped me on my cricket journey from a young age until the present, and hopefully, I can progress on to a brighter future in cricket for 2022 and beyond, which hopefully would involve playing for Ireland someday when the time is right.