Club News

🏆 Halverstown Cup Final

Two Mile House NS 97 v Scoil Mhuire Ballymore Eustace 93

“Marvellous.” The word Richie Benaud might have used to describe the Halverstown Cup Final—because this match had it all: runs, brilliant fielding, and wickets galore. In the end, it was Two Mile House NS who edged out the win, 97–93.

For those new to schools’ cricket, the format is 10-a-side, with 5 boys and 5 girls on each team. Batting is done in pairs for 4 overs (24 balls), so every player gets equal time with the bat and ball. These two schools had already made it through a tough group stage against four other schools over two weeks—so the stage was set.

Two Mile House won the toss and chose to bowl first. But before a ball was bowled, a special guest rang the ceremonial bell: Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. She arrived with Senator Vincent Martin, taking time to meet both teams and wish them luck before ringing the Halverstown Bell to begin play.

🟢 Scoil Mhuire Bat First

Early wickets fell quickly, vindicating the decision to bowl first. Captain Jack of Two Mile House must have been pleased. Donagh stood out with the ball, claiming 3 wickets in his spell.

But Scoil Mhuire showed resilience. Mia and Rory produced a solid partnership of 21 runs without losing a wicket. By the end of their innings, Scoil Mhuire posted a competitive 93 runs.

Would it be enough?

🔴 Two Mile House Chase the Target

They came out with purpose. The opening pair of Jack and Erin put on 32 runs in just 4 overs.

But Scoil Mhuire weren’t done yet. Evan bowled a spell worthy of Lasith Malinga—snaring 3 crucial wickets and swinging momentum. Captain Katya, originally from Ukraine, showed sharp tactics and added another wicket to her name.

It all came down to the final over. Evan vs Grace and Noah. A wicket would have clinched it for Scoil Mhuire—and they almost had it on the final ball. But Noah, who had earlier taken 2 wickets, calmly found the winning runs.

The resulting roar from Two Mile House was more Lansdowne Road than Lords. The celebration said it all.

👏 A Match to Remember

It was a match where everyone played their hearts out. Scoil Mhuire walked off with pride, knowing they’ll be back next year—perhaps to lift the cup themselves. Two Mile House will return too, ready to defend their title.

Syl Merrins from Kildare Sports Partnership attended and said the event “can only go from strength to strength.” Other notable visitors included Minister of State Martin Heydon, Nina Carberry, and Councillor Tracey O’Dwyer.

🙌 Thanks and Presentation

Before the presentation, Stuart Conroy—schools coach and Halverstown CC Secretary—thanked all schools, teachers, and Kildare Sports Partnership for their vital support. He also acknowledged Cricket Leinster, especially umpires Naomi Scott-Hayward and Anne O’Meara.

Finally, the moment came to award the runners-up medals to Scoil Mhuire, and to hand over the Halverstown Cup and winners’ medals to the champions, Two Mile House NS.

🏏 Summer Camps 2024

Our Summer Camps for 2024 are back! Once again, we will be running:

• “Smash It” Camp – for Boys and Girls aged 6 to 8
• “It’s Wicket” Camp – for Boys and Girls aged 9 to 13

Please ensure you select the correct link for your child based on age group and whether they’re a new or returning participant.

📅 Camp Dates & Times

• Week 1 – Friday July 5th – 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Week 2 – Friday July 12th – 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Week 3 – Friday July 19th – 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Week 4 – Friday July 26th – 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Week 5 – Friday August 2nd – 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM
• Week 6 – Friday August 9th – 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM

📝 Registration Links

• Smash It – Returning Player
• Smash It – New Player
• It’s Wicket – Returning Player
• It’s Wicket – New Player
• Boys Only (Aged 9–13) – No Kit Included (€50)

*Note: The Boys Only Camp does not include any kit (bag, t-shirt, or bat). The cost is €50 instead of €65.

🏏 Indoor Nets – A Great Success

The Indoor Nets held at Kilcullen Community Centre wrapped up at the end of March and were a big success!

We had a fantastic turnout over the 7 weeks:

• 38 adults attended the adult sessions
• 25 children participated in the youth sessions

This strong attendance will hopefully put us in a great position as far as preparation goes, with the season now only a matter of weeks away.

Huge thanks to all of our dedicated coaches, and to Enda at Kilcullen Community Centre for the generous use of their fantastic facility.

🧠 Quiz and Awards Night 🏆

Halverstown CC will be hosting their annual Quiz Night and Player of the Year Awards on Thursday, March 21st at O’Connell’s Bar, Kilcullen.

🕗 Start Time: 8:00 PM
💰 Entry: €40 per team of 4
Flying solo? No problem! Pay €10 and we’ll find a team for you.

🎁 Prizes for the Winners and a Raffle on the night!

We’ll also be presenting our Player of the Year Awards for the H1, H2, and Oaks teams, and this year introduces a brand new award – Most Improved Player.

🧡 These fundraising nights are vital to the club’s success, so please come along, bring your friends, and support Halverstown CC!

🏏 Indoor Nets 2024

Indoor Nets is back for 2024 and we are delighted to return to Kilcullen Community Centre! Sessions will be available for both Youths and Adults.

📅 Dates: Saturday, 17th February – Saturday, 30th March
📍 Location: Kilcullen Community Centre

Youth Sessions (Ages 9 to 13)

• Time: 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM
• Cost: €25 for all 7 sessions

Adult Sessions

• Time: 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
• Cost: €45 for all 7 sessions

📞 To book your place, contact Stuart Conroy at 086 1613353.
Spaces are limited so make sure to reserve early!

2023 Halverstown 2 Season in Statistics

A second season in the league for Halverstown 2 (H2) turned out to be a little more successful than 2022, finishing 7th out of 9 teams in Division 19. You might think that we avoided relegation, partially by there being two teams below us but also because Division 20 was a Development Division. However, in 2024 all divisions will have 8 teams and, with extra teams in the league, there will be a proper Division 20. And we are in it. Restructuring is relegation by another name I guess.

I have again set out the top performances under various headings. We used 31 players in the season, 5 more than last year, and completed 13 games, despite a very wet summer. We won 4 of them. First chart is Top Batters, with a minimum of 3 innings for inclusion.

H2 Top Batters 2023

I wrote last year that statistics don’t lie, merely our interpretation of them. I am not sure how to interpret Stuart Conroy topping the averages despite only 3 innings and his averages distinctly influenced by a 41 not out! It was just enough to beat Matt’s fine season with the bat and to finish ahead of son Sean, despite the latter’s super total of 193 runs. Sean’s 91 not out at Leinster was unforgettable, as was Adriaan’s accompanying 54. I said that we needed more batters in double figures. We got it, with our top ten scoring an average of 158.7 runs, up 22% on last year.

H2 Top Wicket Takers 2023

Again our bowlers performed well, taking more wickets than 2022. The positions and figures are taken directly from Cricket Leinster stats, so me being above Matt, despite taking the same number of wickets, is due to the other factors! Worthy of note is that 22% of Kevin Hodson’s overs were maidens. Even more worthy of note is Brian McAllister’s excellent “Fifer” versus Ongar, accounting for over half of his wickets for the season!

H2 Average Runs per Wicket 2023

It is easier to do well in this stat if you bowl a few overs, take a couple of wickets then move on to H1—as illustrated above! The more you bowl the harder it is to rank highly here. Kudos therefore to those who carried the bowling weight of the season, even if the average runs per wicket doesn’t look as good. Take this stat together with economy rates for a fuller picture.

Best Bowling Economy Rates

Our economy rates were, once again, very satisfactory. I drew the line at 5 runs per over, tough but it represents an opposing team scoring 200. This left Stu Hayes marginally outside with 5.11—exactly the same as last year! Junaid’s performance was outstanding given the number of overs he bowled.

Top All-Rounder Performances

This is a new statistic to me and don’t ask me how Cricket Leinster weights runs scored versus wickets taken to come up with the positions, but here they are anyway. Well done Ahsan, Junaid and Matt, who were very close.

Catches and Stumpings

Our field catch rate was 2.3 per match, just a fraction down on last year. Junaid took 6 of them, several of them caught-bowled. Tojo, in just a handful of games, took 4 and Jim 3. Matt, Stu Hayes, Brian and Ahsan took two apiece. Cecil had a season to remember behind the stumps, taking 5 catches and 3 stumpings, his 8 wickets comparing with 3 last season.

Conclusion

Again, what can we learn for the coming season? We have worked on our batting and there is a distinct and noticeable improvement. Nevertheless it does need more work, this time in aiming for more consistency across the season. Our bowlers have improved with both bat and ball, but we could do with some more wickets taken by change bowlers.

We fulfilled all our fixtures and I hope had some fun. Again, thanks to Cecil for his Vice-captaincy: it would be impossible to function without his help and advice.

Des Drumm, 23/01/2024

2023 Halverstown CC AGM

Notice of Annual General Meeting – Halverstown Cricket Club

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Halverstown Cricket Club will take place in Fallon’s of Kilcullen on Thursday 30th November 2023 at 8pm.

The Halverstown Acorns

On the back of two years of Summer Camps and Primary Schools coaching, we were able to bring back underage cricket to Halverstown. We have a crop of kids aged between 8 and 12 that have taken to cricket like ducks to water.

They got their first taste of competitive action on September 1st as Bagenalstown brought a team to Brannockstown. We play pairs cricket where everyone gets to bat for at least 3 or 4 overs each, and every player gets to bowl.

The game was a big step up from the drills and training sessions they’ve had over the summer. There was a big crowd of parents there from both teams to cheer on the kids. Bagenalstown have had a full season of playing games and were very experienced, but our Acorns gave their all with bat and ball.

We followed up this game with a trip to Bagenalstown for a Blitz tournament with games against Carlow and Wexford. The experience of the game two weeks previously had stood to them and they all played with so much more confidence.

Current Halverstown Acorns Squad:

• Elise McConaghy
• Sile Conroy
• Stephanie Johnston
• James Lynch
• Theo Lynch
• Jack Lynch
• Naomi Williamson
• Drew Williamson
• Ivan van Wyk
• Noelle Rosa
• Nolan Rosa
• Innayah Zafar
• Aryan Mehmood
• Zainab Shah

An Appreciation of John Browne

John Browne passed away on the 10th July 2023. His was a life of two halves – the first devoted to rugby, the second to a love of cricket.

He came to Halverstown after he finished a long rugby career with Tullow RFC. I have no idea how he found out about Halverstown or why he chose to come to play here, but it was a lucky turn for our club.

He took up the game in his thirties and had an immediate appetite for all its skills and tactics. He played as often as he could as well as, in due course, organising and captaining Halverstown all over the country and on tour in the UK — notably against the Lords and Commons XI in London.

His stature, his physique, and his reputation meant that he had to be a fast opening bowler and he worked hard to master all the attributes needed to deliver and improve. John’s batting was not his best talent and he quickly reconciled to being a happy number 11. A cricket bat never looked at home in his hands – not big enough in any direction!

It was as captain, organiser and encourager that John will be remembered in Halverstown. There are no statistics to describe this except how many games he played in, how many people came to cricket on his watch as captain and how many played their game and loved it.

John had great energy, determination, excitement, knowledge and everlasting humour which all found a home in cricket at Halverstown.

We send our condolences to Noreen and to his daughters Thea, Jan and Fleur.