On Friday 3rd June in glorious sunshine YMCA hosted a super 8’s tournament for four National Schools - St.
Matthew’s Irishtown, Kill of the Grange, Rathmichael and St. Aidan’s Tallaght.
The eight-a-side tournament was played with plastic bats and ‘wind balls’ with the emphasis on fun and participation. The boundaries were small so fours were abundant adding to the excitement. Each school played three matches and in each match every player bowled one over and kept wicket for one over and batted for two overs in pairs. It’s an ideal format to bridge the gap between ‘schoolyard’ cricket and ‘club’ cricket. It was St. Aidan’s first taste of cricket outside the schoolyard and they thoroughly enjoyed the experience, improving with every game.
For the record, St. Matthew’s, who had some experienced cricketers on their team, were unbeaten and Kill of the Grange, Rathmichael and St.Aidan’s each won one game and lost two.
Cricket has seen increased participation levels in South Dublin following a joint partnership between South Dublin Co Co and Cricket Ireland. Sports and Recreational officer Alison Silke has supported many new initiatives in the area to date (school coaching visits, provision of equipment to schools, new club development i.e. Adamstown, coach education etc). ‘We are delighted to be working in partnership with the cricket union and are very excited by the levels of activity currently being displayed across South Dublin. We worked closely with Adamstown CC and their establishment of a new ground at Corkagh Park and we are currently looking to support a similar venture within the Tallaght area (Rathcoole Park)’.