August Bank Holiday Monday is the traditional day for the final matches of the William Webster Cup – a cup presented in memory of Willie Webster. He was involved in Civil Service CC for many years and served on the Junior Branch of the LCU both as a committee member and as Chairman. But another legacy of his contribution to the game is the present competition which took over from the Business Houses League which Willie ran for many years. It was always known for being social cricket with a competitive edge and the present competition is likewise. There were no concessions made to the Laura Boylan and Miranda Andrews who were both playing for Dublin Fire Brigade.
This year saw 16 teams play in 4 leagues before the four teams qualified for the finals on Monday. RTE beat the Defence Forces in the third/fourth place play-off in a close game. But the final went one better in that it ebbed and flowed with tidy bowling from the female duet from the Hills keeping the pressure on the ESB; three overs to go in the second innings and Dublin Fire Brigade seemed to be in control but then lost the momentum to leave ESB favourites; a big over put DFB back in the frame and after the second last ball, the scores were tied. The last ball went straight through to the keeper, there was a frantic scramble and a runout at the bowler’s end, leaving Tony Connell (who runs the competition), calling for a Super Over. A tidy over from of bowling left ESB under pressure and the DFB chased the total with Rob Howell hitting the winning runs and following up his 34 in the first innings.
The Webster Cup is like Taverners cricket in that it takes place outside the competitions run by Cricket Leinster. Only a few players in the competition play league cricket on a regular basis. At the last calculation, it appears there are about 400 Taverners playing matches regularly.
Great thanks are due to Civil Service CC for continuing the tradition of the competition, to their President Fintan Butler, to Chairman Tony Connell and all members who support the competition; especially their groundsman Conor McElhinney who prepares the wicket for the weekly matches from May to August. Tony presented the trophy to Ben Wedick, captain of Dublin Fire Brigade on behalf of the Webster family. Meanwhile Willie’s grandson, Mark was playing for Civil Service CC in Ashbourne continuing the family’s association with the club.