On an autumnal Friday evening at the Mardyke, more than 80 excited kids celebrated an exceptional season representing Cork County Cricket Club at various youth levels in Munster competitions.
After a full season of cricket, teams at U11, U13 and U15 gathered to receive their trophies and medals, and enjoy their end-of-season party, organised by Sukhi Byrne and the youth committee.
Cork County Chairman, Peter Dineen, presented U11 medals to delighted players and commented “This is a great evening for the club, and thoroughly deserved by all the players and parents. The founding father of our youth section, Dermot Giltinan, passed away just over a year ago, and he would be so proud of the youth section today.
John Buss, Operations Manager at Munster Cricket, was on hand to present the U13 and U15 trophies in the Munster Super Leagues and T20 competitions.
Cork County made a clean-sweep at U13 and U15 this year, a testament to the hard work of coaches Steve Ross, Mick Hull and Bruce Newton. Both teams went on to represent Munster at All-Ireland level, where anomalies in regulations saw them face older teams in away fixtures. Cricket Ireland has promised to iron these out for next year.
The U13 T20 was won by the Cork County Sharks, captained by Cillian Ross, and the U13 Super League was won by the Cork County U13s captained by Mark Donnelly.
At the U15 level, Cork County won both competitions and was captained by Cronan Healy-Browne.
John Buss from Munster Cricket praised the players for their hard work in training and the great spirit they showed in the competitions. He praised the club and youth committee for their efforts in coaching, training and supporting their players.
The youth section at Cork County continues to thrive and a full programme of winter training will commence in the coming weeks. Older youth players continue to develop. Exposure at the adult level, as well as youth interprovincials, saw the likes of Niall Donnelly (16) make his first team debut during the final round of competitive fixtures, and there’s plenty more talent waiting to prove themselves.
The cricket season comes to an end this weekend and Matt Reed, the club Grounds Manager, will get to work preparing for next season when Cork County hope to build on a very successful season.