News

The NWCU have launched the 2022 Cricket Player’s Survey to help hear the views of players across the Union.

The NWCU are hosting a number of open sessions for next season’s U17 Warriors Boys & Girls Squads.

The Ireland men’s senior squad departs for Australia today ahead of the upcoming T20 World Cup with North West Warriors players Stephen Doheny, Conor Olphert and Craig Young taking their place in the 15-man panel.

It looks set to be a busy schedule for Andrew Balbirnie’s side- they will play warm-up matches against Namibia and Sri Lanka on 11 and 13 October respectively before heading down to Hobart for three vital games that will decide their future in the competition.

Ireland will play Zimbabwe, Scotland and the West Indies at the Bellerive Oval between 17 and 21 October in one of two Qualifying groups, with the top two teams from each of those joining the eight countries already qualified for the finals phase.

Warriors’ skipper Andy McBrine can consider himself very unlucky not to have made it four from the region- the Donemana all-rounder has done little wrong in 2022- although this was always going to be a difficult process for selectors.

On the flip side it’s fantastic to see Conor get his chance to shine on the biggest stage in world cricket and hopefully the Bready pace bowler and his former clubmate Craig Young will see plenty of action throughout the tournament.

Both players were hampered by injury in the past 12 months so it’s fantastic to see them fully recovered and hopefully sharing the new ball in the green shirt over the coming weeks.

Stephen Doheny’s inclusion is also fully merited after an impressive season for the Warriors and the ‘keeper/batsman will give ‘Balbo’ a quality option at the top of the order.

The tournament will certainly shorten the winter for Irish cricket fans, especially if Ireland can get through their qualifying group, and the best wishes from all North West supporters to the squad as they set out on their journey.

The North West Cricket Union has confirmed that its annual prize-giving dinner will return this year and will be preceded two weeks earlier by a first-ever separate Youth Awards night.

The latter will take place on Friday 4 November at the new Cricket Centre at the Waterside Shared Centre and will be a celebration of boys’ and girls’ cricket throughout the region and beyond.

The presentation is a tribute to the players, coaches and volunteers who took part in what was a fantastic year for underage cricket across the region.

The senior presentation is back for the first time since 2019 and will return to its ‘spiritual home’ at the White Horse Hotel on Friday 18 November.

As well as acknowledging those who enjoyed successful seasons in 2022, guests will be joined by recent retirees Boyd Rankin and William Porterfield who will both reflect on their careers at the highest level of our sport.

Details of tickets for both events will follow in due course.

A century from Clontarf skipper Julie McNally saw the Leinster side claim the All-Ireland under-13 cup this afternoon with a 91-run win over hosts Bready at Magheramason.

Julie retired unbeaten on 100- a brilliant innings made from just 65 balls and containing 14 fours.

Genevieve Morrisey added 26, Sinead Thomson 18 and Gemma Sargent 15 as the visitors posted a daunting 196-3 from their 20 overs.

Bready battled hard in reply- Millie Spence making 35 at the top of the order and Sophie Hamilton 15, but they never really looked like causing an upset.

There was a consolation for the North West side at the end of the game as they were presented with the domestic under-15 championship after going through the 2022 season with an unbeaten record.

Earlier in the day, Bonds Glen were beaten in the semi-final of the under-15 cup, also by Clontarf.

Hannah Skinner made 27, Jessica Cooke 20 and Lucy Thompson 11 as the Bee Gees made 94-4; Alyssa Pasley and Gemma Sargent both returning figures of 2-14 for the visitors.

‘Tarf had little difficulty in rattling off the required runs- Alice Walsh with 48 not out and Lucy Barry making an unbeaten 34 in a 10-wicket victory.

The North West Cricket Union is currently seeking an Expression of Interest for those who would like to get involved in coaching young and developing players in the union.

Fox Lodge ended the domestic season with another knockout success on Sunday as th3ey beat Donemana by 5 wickets at the Holm to claim the Midweek Cup.

Billy Dougherty’s men had already secured the Midweek League but were thwarted in their efforts to claim the ‘double’ as they were restricted to 115 all out batting first.

The skipper top scored with 29, with Dwayne McGerrigle adding 26 and Jake McGerrigle 20 in their fairly modest total with Levi Kerr (4-17) and Andrew McGinnis (3-33) doing the bulk of the damage with the ball.

Alistair Doherty hit 29 in the Foxies’ reply, with TJ Nicholl (26) and Aidan Logue (21) combining to get their side home with more than 5 overs to spare.

Andy Stevenson of the Derry Midweek League presented both captains with their trophies after the game.

Newbuildings under-15’s added the NW cup to their league and ‘The Hundred’ titles on Friday night with an impressive seven wicket win over Bready at Bonds Glen.

Batting first, Bready started very well with openers Matthew Collum (26) and Ben Campbell (21) putting on 59 for the first wicket.

The Newbuildings bowlers all managed to keep things fairly tight however with a wicket apiece for Sam McClintock, Lewis Campbell and Jack McIvor, while Sam Stott only conceded 13 runs from his 3 overs and Charlie Downey just 19 from 4.

A final total of 101 from 16 looked competitive, but the Foyleview side were bang on track in their reply.

Jack McIvor top scored with 25- earning himself the man-of-the-match award- with skipper Downey adding an unbeaten 21 and Sam Stott 13 as Newbuildings reached their target with nearly three overs to spare.

And in a touching tribute, Charlie Downey dedicated the win to their former team-mates, Reuven Simon and Joseph Sebastian who lost their lives this week in tragic circumstances at Enagh Lough.

Bready’s domestic dominance at underage level continued in style at Eglinton on Wednesday night as the Magheramason club’s under-13 side beat Eglinton by 10 wickets in their cup final.

Both sides and all supporters observed a minute’s silence in respect of the two teenagers who died so tragically this week at Enagh Lough.

Harry Coyle made 27 and Rhys Thompson 17 as the villagers were restricted to 93-9 in their 20 overs- Swarnim Jha with a man-of-the-match winning 4-13 for Bready.

Sam Loughlin picked up 2-28 but a dogged Eglinton side made their visitors battle hard despite the margin of victory.

Suyash hit 3 fours in his 41 not out and Ben Campbell was unbeaten on 40 as Bready never lost a wicket in the chase.

The winners will now go forward to play Instonians in this weekend’s All-Ireland semi-final and the best wishes of everyone in the NWCU go out to the Bready youngsters for that game.

Bready claimed the under-11 cup on Tuesday night following a 17-run win over Donemana in a cracking final at Killyclooney.

Ben Campbell made a superb 67 (5 fours) for the Magheramason side as they posted a total of 136-2 from their 20 overs.

Kartik added an unbeaten 30 (5 fours) and Zak Loughlin chipped in with 21, but the Holm side gave themselves a chance with some good knocks of their own.

Ollie Britton led the way with 43 (5 fours and a six) with Riley Boyd and Seth Rainey both making 19.

Bready’s bowlers kept their heads however and led by Harry Mutch (3-16) and Oliver Spence (2-20) the league winners managed to restrict Donemana to 119 in reply.

A great game in front of a crowd of more than 200 as Bready made it a full season unbeaten to finish as double winners.