I have long wondered about this question, particularly as I have moved from Howth to Balbriggan. No cricket between Howth and Clontarf but then as soon as you pass Malahide, which has a club, every town in Fingal is blessed with a club. There is a cricket club in Malahide, Portrane, Rusk, Lusk, Skerries, Ring Commons, Balrothery, Balbriggan, Ongar, Tyrellstown and possibly a few other places. Nowhere in Ireland has such a strong cricket profile- here we find out why.
In this episode, I discuss with Jim Bennett, former President of Leinster Cricket and Chair of the Hills Cricket Club in Skerries this question, because he has written the book The story of cricket in Fingal. The discussion has left me wanting more. Cricket is the sport which generates the best writing and commentary, Jim contends. He recommends CLR James Beyond a Boundary, which I will surely follow up on. CLR James was a great writer and I have one of his other books, which is The Black Jacobin- the story of the slave uprising in Haiti 1789.
CLR James chronicles the only successful slave revolt in history and provides a critical portrait of their leader, Toussaint L’Ouverture, ‘one of the most remarkable men of a period rich in remarkable men’. James was also even an acquaintance of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, but I digress. This podcast is about cricket and there is nothing that says Summer like cricket. I have even included the BBC cricket theme tune music.
The grounds in The Hills are impressive, as they are in the North County club. As I look at both clubs, I have a niggling feeling, these clubs would really benefit from cycle paths to give children direct access to their facilities. If I had stood once again for local election, I would have made that an issue. These are great facilities and they should be opened up to all who wish to access.
My discussion with Jim, brings great insights into the sport and the culture within the game from the story of the relationships which laid the basis for clubs formation to more recent trends of young people from places like Afghanistan finding their home in playing cricket in Fingal.
I hope you enjoy this episode. If you do, please comment below. If you don’t, please also comment below. Please review, share and like on spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It all helps to build profile for this podcast, which I hope to help to make a home for local and regional audio content.
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