The Third X1 have reached the Final of the Middle Cup which will be played at the Vineyard on Monday August 2nd. The opposition on Monday will be Merrion and hopefully we will have big local support to cheer on our lads in our first final of the Leinster season so far.

Cricket Ireland announced this morning a squad of 12 for their forthcoming clash with MCC next week. The fixture takes place at Trinity College Dublin between Tuesday August 3 and Thursday August 5.

There is just the one new face in the ranks, with Pembroke fast bowler Allan Eastwood gaining recognition after impressing former Ireland senior coach Adi Birrell in recent times.

Five of the side have played for the senior international side, with Albert van der Merwe from The Hills being given the captaincy role once again. Another Hills man Jeremy Bray continues in his coaching role with the A squad.

Play on all three days starts at 11am, and entry to the game is free.

Ireland v MCC at Trinity College - Tuesday August 3- Thursday August 5 - Games start at 11 am

The Hills Annual Golf Classic will be held on Thursday the 5th of August in Skerries Golf Club. There are still some tee times available, 4 balls cost €240 per team which includes a meal afterwards in the golf club. Contact Joseph Clinton (086) 600 6149 or Martin Everard (086) 256 3023 for tee times. There are also some open opportunities for sponsorship, why not sponsor a hole it only costs €100 and your company name and logo will be prominently displayed on the course.

Saturday was a great start to the weekend with the First X1 beating Malahide by 7 wickets. Max scored 60 no and Mike 38 no in the chase for the Malahide total of 153.

The Third X1 saw off Malahide in the Middle Cup semi final to ensure a home team participating in the final in The Hills. Andrew Moore with 3 for 26 kept the Malahide total to a reachable 182. It was a closer affair than the First X1 but in the end we had 2 wickets in hand. Jason Magee 69 no and Garry Hynes 63 no saw the side home safely. Out Fifth X1 saw off Pembroke by six wickets with Nick Farrell 86 no and Christivan Maritz 56 no doing most of the damage for The Hills. Also on Saturday the U11's beat Clontarf and the U13B's saw off the Merrion Challenge.

This week sees two major visit to the Vineyard, on Tuesday we play host to Primrose Hill CC from London at U13's. The following will be representing The Hills for this game which starts at 10:30: Darragh Coleman, Darragh Martin, Ian Byrne, Ultan Doherty and Rhiannan Pope. Good luck to them all as I hear the boys from Primrose are pretty good.

On Wednesday we host a large party of children from Guichen in France which is twinned with Skerries. This will be the first time that they will have been introduced to cricket and it is a great chance for our own children to meet new friends.

On the more normal cricket from this week we have:

Mon 19th July Ladies 1st Rush Home
19th July 17 North Rush/Hills Team 1pm Malahide Home
Tues 20th July 1st 20/20 The Hills 2 Home
20th July 2nd 20/20 The Hills 1 Home
20th July U13 Selection Touring side Primrose Hill CC Home
Wed 21st July 15B 1 pm start Knockharley/Mullingar Home
21st July U13's Plus Cricket Event Guichen (France) Home
Thurs 22nd July 1st Christie Russell Cup Final Away
22nd July 11 Girls 2 pm start Railway Union Home
Fri 23rd July 1st X1 ISC Waringstown Home

Interesting week with the big highlight being the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup match against Waringstown on Friday.

Under 11 he may be but he is already making a name for himself. Heinrick Walser has been picked for the North Leinster U11 team to take on South Leinster tomorrow in Pembroke.The game starts at 11 am. Good luck Heinrick in the game and congratulations on your selection, well deserved.

The remedial work on the playing surface of the nets has been completed and they are now reopened for all practice sessions.

Jeremy Bray and Albert van der Merwe have been selected for the Ireland A team that take part in the European Championships in Jersey.on July 13th-July 19th. Jeremy is given the task of Player/Coach while Albert will captain the side until Andrew Poynter arrives after his efforts with the senior squad at Stormont against Bangladesh. Congratulations to both on their selection.

Phil Simmons said of the squad: “It’s an important competition as it gives the players a chance to claim a spot in the squad for the World Cup next year. There are places on the plane to be had, and it’s up to the guys to show me what they can do. They know what a great opportunity this tournament offers them".

The Under 13 girls dished up a nail biting game at The Vineyard yesterday with North Leinster coming up just 3 runs short of the target.

The Hills U 13's were well represented with four girls getting called into the side. South Leinster batted first and were held to a lowish score of 72 all out in 16 overs. A Mc Donnell top scored with 11.

Rhiannon Pope and Katie Boylan took two wickets each for 20 and 15 respectively. F Gill from Malahide took three wickets for just 12 runs.

In reply Samanta Keegan top scored with 13 supported by Rhiannon Pope(7), F Gill(8) and U Hoey(12) but it was the bowling of A Stokes,5 for 11, for South Leinster that shaped the result.

North Leinster reached 69 all out in 17.3 overs just 3 runs short of the target.

As we have a need to carry out repair work on the playing surface in the nets, they will be closed for all practice from today. We hope to have them reopened in the near future and we will notify all captains and mentors when the work has been completed. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Monday the 5th of July sees The Hills host the North Leinster Vs South Leinster Interprovincial for Under 13 Girls. The game starts at 1 pm and with several of our own U13's listed earlier in the squad we would all be hoping that they will be in the team on the day.

Tomás Murphy has been picked for the Ireland U17 panel that will play a nine match series in August in the revamped U17 European Championships. Ireland who are the defending champions will play their first game against Jersey in The Hills on August the 4th.

Congratulations Tomás on your inclusion in the panel and I am sure after the exertions of a Leaving Cert you will be glad of the chance to get fully back into your game.

More details on: http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES3/articles/000037/003799.shtm

Club Development Officer Albert van der Merwe has been included by Cricket Ireland in the Ireland Senior Squad for the upcoming RSA Series Vs West Indies A being played in Belfast on June 23rd and 25th as well as for the upcoming World Cricket League being played in The Netherlands from July 1st to July 10th. Congratulations Albert and the best of luck in the games. Full details on the cricket Ireland web site; http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES3/articles/000036/003636.shtml

Mrs Hope Kerr, wife of the late Bob Kerr, together with Matt Sheridan officiated at the Vineyard for the drawing of the next round of the All Ireland Cup.

The Draw for the next round is as follows:

The Hills v Waringstown

Glendermott v Fox Lodge

Coleraine v Railway Union

North County v Merrion

Matches will be played on July 3rd

Cricket Ireland this morning announced details of the Ireland A training squad, and their confirmed fixtures for 2010 to date. Recently retired senior international batsman Jeremy Bray has been chosen as captain for the squad, with Senior international coach Phil Simmons keen to utilise his considerable experience with what is primarily a very youthful squad.

Simmons outlined his thoughts on the composition of his squad saying, "I want to keep Jeremy involved even though he's hung up his boots in terms of the senior squad, and he's keen to get involved on the coaching side of things. Adi Birrell will be in charge of the squad for most but not all of the games and he'll be helped out by Mark Garaway, who is our cricket Operations Director. We will use other coaches as and when we identify a need for them."

Our own Club Development Officer Albert van der Merwe has also been named in the squad. Good luck to them both.

The squad in full is as follows: Jeremy Bray (Captain) (The Hills), Andy Balbirnie (Pembroke), Andy Britton (Fox Lodge), Jordan Coghlan (Clontarf) George Dockrell (Leinster), Chris Dougherty (Bready), Phil Eaglestone (Strabane), Shane Getkate (Malahide), James Hall (Waringstown), Nigel Jones (Civil Service North), Gary Kidd (Waringstown), Fintan McAllister (Malahide), Rory McCann (Instonians), Graham McDonnell (Pembroke), Niall Mc Donnell (Strabane), Andrew Poynter (Clontarf), Eddie Richardson (North County), James Shannon (Instonians), Reinhardt Strydom (YMCA), Albert van der Merwe (The Hills), Craig Young (Bready).

Cricket Ireland has two reasons to celebrate following the announcement today of the global winners of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme annual awards.

Jim Bennett and Rob O’Connor are the two worthy recipients, winning their accolades for the Volunteer of the Year Award, and the Photo of the Year respectively.

Jim has been a tireless worker for Irish cricket at youth level, and has been a pivotal figure as Ireland’s under-age teams have dominated European cricket over the past decade. Players who have come through the much vaunted Irish youth system include Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan, the O’Brien brothers, Boyd Rankin, Gary Wilson and current captain William Porterfield.

Cricket Ireland President Arthur Vincent paid tribute to both saying: “This is great news for Irish cricket and I’m delighted for both winners. Jim Bennett is a dedicated and tireless volunteer for Irish youth cricket, and it’s thanks to the likes of stalwarts like Jim why our youth system is the envy of many countries. He is quite simply a fantastic servant to the cause of cricket in the country and the award is richly deserved. Jim is a gentleman and a great ambassador for Irish cricket.”

Well done Jim having already received the European Award to be recognised on this way is a great honour both for yourself and for our club.

Up and coming all rounder Thomas Murphy has been named in the Leinster U17’s training squad. As well as playing both NCU and North West in May, the squad will also take part in a tour to the UK (Swalwell CC, Newcastle) in June (21st-25th).

The squad will partake in the ‘Hilton Newcastle Gateshead Triangular Series’ that will involve a series of games against NUSC-CC and Scotland U’19’s.

The best of luck to Thomas.

Cristivan Maritz has been selected to take part in the U15’s coaching squad in advance of the summer schedule. This schedule will include: Ten coaching sessions between now and Easter will give the boys an opportunity to further develop their playing skills and to try to gain selection onto the Leinster U’15’s squad for this summers playing programme. As well as playing in the interprovincial series next July, the squad will also take part in a tour to the UK next August (2nd- 6th). The squad will partake in the Staffordshire Youth Cricket festival that will involve games against Staffordshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Cheshire and Lincolnshire.

Heinrick Walser has been selected for the training squad at U11’s. In addition to training and coaching sessions and domestic interprovincial matches the team have a planned tour to Wales later in the summer.

Good luck Cristivan and Heinrik and we wish you well for selection in the summer squads.

As we have now successfully launched the new website we are now ready to accept advertisers on the site. The advertisers will receive a full year’s advert on the rotating banner at the top of the web site for a special introductory price of €150.00. This is incredible value considering the exposure the club has, not just within its own membership but across Fingal, Leinster and Ireland North and South. If you know someone that might be interested in exploring this opportunity please contact by email: info@thehillscricketclub.com or any of the committee.

The Hills hosted a special tribute to one of the great men of Leinster and Fingal cricket recently. They gathered in their droves from all across Leinster and Fingal in the clubhouse of The Hills Cricket Club in Skerries to pay tribute to Thomas Mc Grane for his incredible lifetime contribution to the game of cricket. The tributes were led on the night by Arthur Vincent, President of Cricket Ireland, who thanked Tom for his work not just in Fingal but also in Leinster. Arthur praised all the Fingal Clubs for their continued contribution to cricket in Ireland as well as the warmth of the welcome he had always received when visiting clubs in the area both as an official and a player. Matt Sheridan, President of The Leinster Cricket Union reminded the assembled audience that Tom was an honorary life member of the LCU in recognition of his contribution to that organisation. Siobhan McBennett representing the Leinster Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association thanked Tom for his great contribution to umpiring in Leinster.

Seamus Clinton, President of The Fingal Cricket League, cited Tom’s work as one of the key reasons that cricket continues to flourish in Fingal today. The Presidents of the four clubs in Fingal namely; David O’Connor; North County, Ivan Harper; Balbriggan, Jim Bennett; The Hills and the incoming President from Rush Ann Harford presented Tom with a water colour of local interest specially commissioned for the occasion. Formalities concluded and it was down to tales of previous matches, personalities, runs hit, catches held and dropped, wickets taken and the odd questionable umpiring decision. Whatever the competitive banter amongst the four clubs present, they were all united on Friday night in paying tribute to one of the great men of cricket, Thomas Mc Grane.

Generosity from supporters and club members and friends continues to amaze with a further €700.00 lodged to the Concern Worldwide Haiti appeal. This brings the total funds raised to nearly €12,000.00. Many thanks and congratulations on stepping up to the challenge to help this more than worthy cause.

Capped 11 times for Ireland in 2004 and 2005 Naseer Shoukat will be playing his cricket with The Hills Cricket Club for the 2010 season. Naseer has had a distinguished career with both Ireland and with Rush Cricket Club for the past 15 years. Commenting on the development Jim Bennett, President of The Hills said “with the new structure in place for the coming season we are delighted that a man with such a pedigree would be with The Hills for the challenging season ahead”. Naseer won the O’Grady Cup in Leinster for the 2009 season for his bowling taking 28 wickets and making just short of 500 runs with the bat.

The Leinster League is undergoing considerable structural change for 2010 with the old Senior 1, Section A-B, Senior 2, Senior 3 etc being replaced with Leagues Divisions numbered 1-13 with each league made up of 8 teams. The Hills have a team in both Division 1 and Division 2. “With 2 teams competing at this level, 2010 will represent a considerable step-up for many of our players and having Naseer on our team is a big bonus for us” commented Bennett.

Naseer is originally from Pakistan but has been resident in Fingal for more than 15 years.

Our fund raiser held in the clubhouse last Friday produced a wonderful result with the club depositing over €11,000 to date to the Concern Haiti appeal fund. The generous response from the members, supporters, parents and the business community enabled us to run the very successful auction and raffle. Everything from aromatherapy products to cricket bats, paintings, skips, fruit hampers, signed jerseys and special discount vouchers made sure that there was something for everyone. Jim Bennett did a great job as auctioneer, ably assisted by Sean Hoare and Malcolm Byrne. Local Concern man Donal Darcy gave us an insight into what it’s like on the ground in Haiti and what efforts are being put in place by the Concern team to alleviate the tragic circumstances of the people of Haiti. Martin Byrne entertained us during the auctioneering intervals. Well done to the organisers and a big thank you to all who contributed in so many ways. Your generosity continues in abundance.

Our President has just been awarded a prestigious European Award, ICC Europe announced the European regional winners of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme Awards for 2009. Jim Bennett, our President, was awarded Volunteer of the Year for his tireless services to the development of youth cricket and cricket coach education over the last decade. Well done Jim very well deserved and a great honour for The Hills to have you on our team.

Jeremy Bray has announced that he will retire from international cricket after playing 83 times for Ireland. Jeremy scored over 2,800 runs in his Irish career scoring seven centuries en route.

Explaining his decision, 36-year-old Bray said, “I’m not getting any younger, and it’s hard to get up to the levels of fitness now required for international cricket.
“The team has an incredibly demanding schedule over the next few years, and I couldn’t commit myself fully to that programme.” “I have had some wonderful memories and will always be grateful to Ireland for giving me the opportunity. I’d like to thank Adi Birrell for the faith he showed in me, and Phil Simmons for giving me the chance to make a comeback after being out of the side for two years. “The Irish fans are superb, and I’ll never forget the atmosphere of the World Cup in the West Indies.”

Jeremy made his Irish debut in 2002 and is in 9th position both in overall total runs and on averages.

Commenting in the development Martin Byrne, Chairman noted; “Jeremy has been a great contributor to the Irish cricket team since he made his debut in 2002, he has also been a great boost to The Hills. We wish Jeremy all our best wishes and thanks for his efforts and the great enjoyment he has provided us in the Irish shirt but we are also delighted that Jeremy will continue his playing career with The Hills for the 2010 season and hopefully many more to come”.

CP: Hi Matt, pleased with the way the preparations have gone?

MD: The preparations have gone fairly well, though we are restricted to the weekends. We’ve had Trent, Alex Cusack, Whitey and Kyle involved so that’s been good. We have laid down fitness regimes and its gone well. To be honest though it is a disadvantage playing the tournament out of season. We’ve been restricted to indoor nets. It’s not ideal.

CP: What is the news about Graham McDonnell – already down in Sydney?

MD: Well he was carrying an injury when he went there but I believe he it is ok. The reports coming through from his coach down there at Mosman have been good.

CP: Have you a clear idea of what your starting XI is going to be for the World Cup opener against South Africa on Jan 15th?

MD: It would be wrong to say that I have pre-conceived ideas about the starting XI.

I guess as with most teams you have a core of about 8 players who could be fairly confident about their place. But because it’s being played out of season a lot will depend on how the guys are shaping up in training and in the warm-up games. There are plenty of places up for grabs.

By the time we are back, I think all the lads will have had a good opportunity to contribute.#

CP: How much will the conditions be a factor?

MD: Well there is a perception about New Zealand that it’s similar to Ireland but the more you look into it it’s not the case. For instance, the temperatures in Christchurch and Queenstown at the moment are between 25 and 30 degrees. I’d like someone to tell me in which corner of Ireland we get those temperatures! The heat will be a factor but we have a week in Sydney to get the body clocks right and to acclimatise so it shouldn’t be too bad. However, I don’t think we’ll be playing on green seaming wickets – I think it’ll be decent first-class pitches.

CP: What is your target for the tournament – to reach the Super 8s or to beat the USA and be competitive in the other matches?

MD: Listen, we’re not going there to be competitive. That’s a given. We qualified for it and when we pull on the green shirt we’re already competing. We’re going there to win. You can lose a match by 200 runs and turn around and win the next match. It’s not about being competitive. There’s no point in going unless we go there to win.

Our aim will be to topple one of the big guys in our first two matches (South Africa and Australia) and then beat the USA. The USA were the only side to beat us in Canada so we’ll be out to win that one. The tournament has three phases. The first is the warm-up, then the first three World Cup matches and then either the Super 8 or the Plate. Our immediate aim is to get as much as we can out of the four warm-up matches. Then our overall goal is to make the Super 8 stage. If we don’t make it then we’ll regroup and aim to win the Plate competition – that’s the second goal.

Matt Dwyer in conversation with Liam Rooney, Cover Point. http://www.cover-point.com

The draw for the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup has taken place and The Hills have been drawn away to Carrickfergus.  The match will be played on May the 8th, North County are at home to Eglinton on the same date.  Rush take part in the previous round at home to Lurgan on April 24th.

The full draw is as follows:

Round One - Saturday April 24th
A. Old Belvedere v Downpatrick
B. Rush v Lurgan
C. CYM v Cork Harlequins

Round Two - Saturday May 8
Phoenix v Glendermott
Railway Union v Winner of B
Leinster v Winner of C
Pembroke v North Down
North County v Eglinton
Brigade v Instonians
Bready v YMCA
Strabane v Merrion
Killymallaght v Clontarf
St Johnston v Malahide
Lisburn v Limavady
Civil Service North v Cork County
Carrickfergus v The Hills
CIYMS v Donemana
Ballymena v Fox Lodge
Winner of A v Waringstown

Fifths
- Player of the Year – Paul Butler
- Centurions – Paul Butler, Paddy Byrne

Fourths
- Player of the Year – Jason Magee

Thirds
- Player of the Year – Kamran Butt;
- Centurion: Kamran Butt

Ladies
- Player of the Year – Tracy Clinton;
- Centurion: Tracy Clinton
- Representative Honours – Laura Boylan, Ireland U17 and Gillian Hoare, Leinster U15 ; Winners of Leinster U15 Girls Championship with Malahide
- Individual honours at Leinster Level – Tracy Clinton (Batting) and Miranda Andrews (Bowling)

Youth Cricket
- Most Improved Player (Wentges Cup) Tomas Murphy
- Representative Honours- Tomas Murphy, Southern Schools

Firsts
- Representative Honours – Jeremy Bray played for Ireland in T20 World Cup and in ICC Trophy
- Luke Clinton won Fair Play Award
- Albert Van Der Merwe won All –Rounder of the Year in Leinster

Centurions
- Max Sorensen
- Jeremy Bray x 2
- Patrick Byrne
- Albert Van Der Merwe
- Mike Baumgart

Player of the Year
- Albert Van Der Merwe

Seconds
- Winners of Senior 2 League and will be playing Senior cricket next year
- Winners of Fingal Championship Cup

Player of the Year
- Malcolm Byrne

Friday night next the 3rd of April we launch the first Poker Classic in the Club House at 8:30 pm. We are hoping that this will be the first of many such events which will help us raise much needed funds. 

We need your help in several ways: 

•         Players who enjoy a good game of cards with great cash prizes. Player fee for the classic costs €25. 

•         Volunteers to help out with the running of the night and manning the bar 

•         People prepared to make some sandwiches for the night. 

This is a very important fund raising event for the Club and I would ask you all to help out in any way that you can. Pass along this information to your friends and let Johnny Archer know of your availability and willingness to help out on the night. Johnny can be contacted on 086 1661262. Even if you don’t play poker it promises to be a great night.