Pembroke CC – 2018 Review
In their 150th anniversary year Pembroke CC played a very important role in the 2018 season. As well as their own Premier League campaign the club hosted two Leinster Lightning Championship matches, the hugely successful T20 InterPro Festival, the Women’s Senior Cup Final and the Men’s Senior Cup Final.
On their day in 2018, Pembroke could beat anyone comfortably, YMCA (108 runs), but they could also be beaten comfortably as they were by Leinster (8 wickets) and YMCA (133 runs).
Fiachra Tucker, recently selected to return as 2019 captain, picked out their Irish Senior Cup second round tie at Comber against North Down as the highlight of the Pembroke season.
“Scoring 347 against North Down, away, was probably the high point. It was the ultimate team performance beating them by around 200 runs away in their place.
“That was 100% the peak of the season for me,” said Tucker who made 116 on the day, along with 93 from brother Diarmaid, 60 not out from Lorcan and another half-century from Theo Lawson before North Down were bowled out for 131.
That may have been the team performance of the year, but the individual performance of the year according to Tucker came from the Player’s Player of the Year, Jack Balbirnie.
“Jack Balbirnie took a 4-for and scored 65 in the last game of the season against YMCA,” said Tucker, noting an impressive all-round performance from Balbirnie. The 65 was his second half-century of the season and the four wickets took him to 30 for the season at a strike rate of 23.
The young player to impress Tucker most throughout the season was JJ Garth, and it’s fair to say Garth impressed many with his play in 2018. He toured Scotland with the Ireland Wolves and was involved in their home series with Bangladesh A.
Garth had season’s best figures of 4-7 against Phoenix in a crucial 9-wicket victory in front of the GOTD cameras, and while not in the side for his batting, Garth hit his maiden senior 50 against Clontarf, again in front of the cameras in the Leinster Senior Cup semi-final defeat to Clontarf.
In terms of the 2019 season Tucker is looking forward to the new season already!
Pembroke CC – 2018
Premier League – 4th
Irish Senior Cup – Quarter-finalist
Leinster Senior Cup – Semi-finalist
Alan Murray T20 Cup – 9th