Sunday 6th of April 2014 will go down as a special date for Ashbourne Cricket Club as it was the club's first ever game of cricket. The opposition was their near neighbours Swords Cricket Club and the setting was the magnificent Newbridge Estate.
The weather didn't look too promising when the team congregated at the Community Centre in Ashbourne but by the time the toss had taken place the sun was out and it began to dry up.Having won the toss, Captain Terry Bruton elected to bowl first. Pictures were taken and the newly sponsored shirts were on display.
The honour of bowling the club's first ever ball went to fast bowler Jeff Conway. It didn't take long for the club's first ever wicket to fall. This honour went to the other opening bowler Dipu Chandran. By the end of the Innings, Swords had accumulated 124 runs from 30 overs.
Ashbourne took 6 wickets in total from 6 different bowlers (1 each for Jeff Conway, Dipu Chandran, Graham Conway, Andy Robertson, Shahid Hameed and Renjith Alias). In truth, Ashbourne could have restricted Swords to 100 or below but the captain gave everybody an over or two to bowl. There were 10 different bowlers in total. Ashbourne had a number of inexperienced eager players playing their first ever game of cricket, which must be applauded.
After the break, Ashbourne set out to chase down a seemingly very achievable total of 125 off 30 overs. It didn't quite work out that unfortunately with Ashbourne being bowled out cheaply for 75 from 28.2 overs. Ashbourne started brightly with opening Batsmen Graham Conway and Shahid Hameed but then the wickets started to fall too regularly. Terry Bruton top scored with 23 and Shahid Hameed scored 14. Everyone else chipped in with a few runs but no one really took the innings by the scruff of the neck.
It must be said that there was a very slow/wet outfield and runs were hard to come by. In the end, Ashbourne were not too concerned with the result as it was an opportunity to give everyone a chance to get involved in the action. It was certainly a promising start for the new club who, it must be said, still have many more players to come into the team. A special mention must go to 15yr old Odhran Quinn-Lawless who fielded and bowled very well and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. He is definitely a player with a bright cricketing future ahead of himself. Also, special thanks to our 12th man Jamie Scott who played with Swords CC as they were one player short.
Next Sunday sees Ashbourne making the trip to Longford Cricket Club where they will hopefully try out more players and get the club's first ever win.
Team: Graham Conway, Jeff Conway, Renjith Alias, Dipu Chandran, Terry Bruton (c), Odhran Quinn-Lawless, Darragh Morrissey, Gavin Lynch, Andy Roberston, Danny Persse, Shahid Hameed.