LEINSTER U17 NAVY TOP THE TABLE

The curtain has come down on a thrilling U17 Girls’ Interprovincial Series, with both Leinster Blue and Leinster Navy delivering some standout performances across an action-packed few weeks of cricket.

Across T20 and 35-over formats, the series saw young cricketers from across the province put their winter training into action and step up in competitive environments. It was an exciting development opportunity for all involved to grow their game — and they didn’t disappoint.

The penultimate matches in Campbell gave Cricket Ireland’s tournament manager a bit of maths to do as we had teas, as it was so close that net run rate was likely to come into play. Cricket Leinster (CL) Blue won the morning match comfortably by 21 runs against the North West, with stunning performances by Morrisey (70 off 50balls) and Moore(30 off 34balls) as well as O’Brien (3-0-9-3) and O’Reilly (3.4-0-13-3) with the ball. While CL Navy beat the NCU by 5 wickets in the 19th over. It was an absolute clincher, with captain Aisling Lawlor scoring a 4 to win, and ending up on 49 not out.  It all came down to the last match of the series with 3 of the four teams within reach of the cup: CL Navy; CL Blue; and NCU.

We had nail biter finishes to the series with two very close matches. NCU made 130 for 8 off their 20 against Leinster Blue. O’Reilly again with 3 wickets, claiming both openers.  With the NCU bowling line up, Leinster were looking at a tough batting innings ahead of them for their last match. Butterly and Foysal had an opening partnership of 29 but the wickets started to fall. Morrisey held her own as the other end started to collapse; 4 wickets in 4 overs. The run rate continued to stay high and a 57 run partnership from Morrisey and Hayden brought the team up to 118 of 18.4 overs before Minford claimed Morrisey’s wicket. With just 13 runs needed off 8 balls Hayden and Scollard had to go for it, and that they did. Alas, the NCU bowling was and fielding was tight and Leinster fell 5 runs short.

Meanwhile, Leinster Navy struggled to keep their wicket, leaving opener McLean under pressure for runs and performing against the odds scoring 61 off 59 balls, 61% of the team's total and scoring the most 6s of the tournament (5). They weren’t sure it would be enough against the North West, and that proved to be the case. Despite excellent fielding, tidy bowling (only 6 bowling extras), NWCU took the win on the last ball of the innings.

Notwithstanding the final match defeats, CL Navy came out on top by 1 bonus point. NCU fell into second place, followed by CL Blue and NWCU came in 4th.

Cricket Leinster would like to thank everyone who made this series possible — the coaches(Eimear Richardson and Chuka Uba), manager (Naomi Scott-Hayward), umpires, scorers, ground staff, administrators (Sorcha Cunningham) and our host clubs (Oak Hill, Stormont, CIYMS, Holywood, Lairne and Campbell College). A special thank you goes to all the parents, guardians and supporters for your constant encouragement, energy, and support throughout the series.

This tournament is a vital step in our girls’ development pathway, and we’re incredibly proud of the progress these players have made both on the pitch and off.

As we move into the next phase of the season, we wish all our players the very best as they await news of selection for the Irish U17 squads. The commitment, skill, and sportsmanship on display during this series bodes well for the future of Leinster and Irish women’s cricket.

Well done to all involved — and we look forward to seeing many of these names again at higher levels in the seasons to come!

Leinster Blue

Leinster Navy

Coaching and Management Team

The Squads will be coached by Eimear Richardson (CL Blue) and Chuka Uba (CL Navy), and managed by Naomi Scott Hayward.

All scores can be found in the match centre here:

https://live.nvplay.com/ireland/?tab=c_matches#c63469c39-802d-4cc9-839f-11858bd994b8

Tournament Stats: