Terenure putting in the groundwork

Women’s cricket making a comeback in 2020

Terenure CC has a proud history in women’s cricket that dates back to the teams that played as CYM in the 1980s. During this time the club entered teams in multiple divisions in the Cricket Leinster leagues. One of the stars of the show, along with other familiar Terenure names such as Nuala Whitney and Maeve Hoey, was former club president Róisín Taggart.

Women’s cricket in Terenure suffered a sharp decline soon after and it wasn’t until 2011 that another Terenure women’s team played in a Cricket Leinster league. This team had players of all ages who competed in the lower divisions. Sadly, the pool of players was too small and without new players coming into the set-up, they also suffered a rapid decline.

But hope is high for the Terenure women’s team which has been entered into the new fourth division this year. The main aim of the club with be to achieve the same high levels of enjoyment as the teams who have gone before them, while also laying the foundations to ensure that women’s cricket is played in Terenure for many years to come.

“Girls’ cricket began again in Terenure in 2016 when we noticed that there was an increasing number of girls playing in the younger age-group teams in boys’ cricket which would have facilitated both genders at that point,” said Diarmuid Lynch, one of Terenure’s coaches. “A strong link with Rathfarnham Parish National School was vital to this, as well as a growing number of sisters who were tired of being better than their brothers in the boys’ teams and wanting a team of their own! Immediately it was clear to see how much the girls enjoyed playing with their friends and peers in a girls only league which was an instant reward for all who had put so much time into the foundation of these teams,” he added.

Last year, Terenure began planning in earnest for the rebirth of women’s cricket at the club. The foundations had already been laid by the girls’ teams that were playing league cricket. The girls playing in these teams were now of an age where players from other clubs would begin playing in their club’s women’s leagues.

“We also found there was a keen interest from some of the mothers of both the girls and boys from the youth section in outshining their kids by playing some cricket themselves,” chuckles Lynch. “To kickstart the formation of a new women’s team we decided to run a Cricket Leinster supported ‘Give it a Blast’ evening for all the women to have a try. We played a match and had a barbecue afterwards,” said Madeline Lynch, Terenure Youth Coordinator. “Special thanks must be given to Isobel Joyce who was instrumental in the success of the evening. It was this event that made it very clear that entering a women’s team into the Cricket Leinster leagues in 2020 was achievable,” she said.

Before the pandemic took a hold of the country, Terenure had laid great plans for 2020. The women’s team, who borrowed some space and coaches from the youth section towards the end of 2019 after the ‘Give it a Go’ day, were to have their own dedicated coaches and training times. “Everything was geared up for lots of fun this year, and we are very hopeful that we will still see a Terenure women’s team grace the field in 2020 but not until it is completely safe to do so. Until then we will be washing our hands lots and perfecting our bowling actions in the mirror at home!” said Madeline Lynch with her customary cheerful attitude.