IRELAND will play at their 27th home venue next Friday, when Milverton takes a well-deserved bow for the European Championship game against Norway. It is a remarkable testament to Matt Dwyer, who has served Ireland with distinction as player, selector, assistant coach and now as coach of the Under 19s and curator of the best tracks in the province.
'It's a huge honour for the club', says Willie Dwyer, brother of Matt and a key figure at the Vineyard since his return from sundry city clubs. 'There has been a lot of hard work over the years by a lot of people to get to where we are now.'
On Thursday night plans were afoot to replant the flower beds to ensure a display of the club colours – and those of Norway – of red and blue, while Matt was working on two meticulously prepared pitches with his team of Sean Hoare, Sean Guthrie and Mark Everett. The key to the success of The Hills CC is that they never sit still. It seems that every time you visit there is something new to savour. This weekend they unveil three new net pitches costing 35,000, a physio station and broadband wifi, while there is a five year plan for an extension to the ground and a pavilion redevelopment. The problem with parking will be solved with the help of their neighbours.
'We're hoping for a big crowd', Dwyer explains, 'it's a great day for the area too and we hope the people turn out for the first international in Fingal.' For that reason it is a pity that the two other games set for Friday will be played at nearby North County and Malahide – and that 12 of the 15 games will be staged north of the Liffey. Milverton is the fifth new venue this century, but the first new one in Dublin since 1990 when Kimmage staged its only international.
Watch out too for Dwyer's foray onto YouTube, where his pitch reports for the DGM league final were a delight. 'We'll have something up next week' he says, 'And we'll be broadcasting the game on the big screen in the bar.'
The playing side, too, has not been neglected although the club was disappointed not to have reached the All Ireland Cup semifinals yesterday. That wasn't the fault of Jeremy Bray, who scored his seventh Bob Kerr Cup century in two seasons at Milverton. The club have also hired a development officer, Albert van der Merwe, on a two-year deal, and he has done great work in local schools.
The Vineyard will be echoing to all sorts of strange accents next week – they also host Scotland v Holland next Saturday and Holland v Denmark the following Thursday.
By the way, don't expect there to be too many Vikings returning to take on the Irish in Fingal next week – the Norwegian team that qualified for this tournament was entirely composed of men with south Asian names.
THE COUNTDOWN to the Twenty20 World Cup qualifier continues, with tickets now on sale through clubs and www.ticketmaster.ie, with a £25 ticket admitting to all 11 games. The revised schedule was announced this weekend, with the plum fixture of the opening match against England at Lord's now the prize for second place. The winners play India and Bangladesh in Nottingham.
THE MOLINS brothers were in the runs last week when playing for an Israel XI against India A in Ashdod, in a series commemorating the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the state of Israel. The visitors were too strong, winning the ODI series 3-0 against a team that included test stars Jonty Rhodes and Adam Bacher. Greg Molins made 55 and added 115 for the fourth wicket with Bacher in the second game, while Jason top-scored with 35 in the third ‘international'. Rhodes made just 17 runs in the series.
THERE IS an interesting timeline to be drawn between two games arranged for today. While the Ireland team take on the north-west based professionals in the ultra-modern Twenty20 format at Beechgrove (5pm), there is a hark back to the earliest days of the game at Furness House, near Naas in Co Kildare.
A 'Match at Cricket', under the first published laws of 1744, will take place at 2.30pm under the aegis of the Irish Georgian Society. Curved bats, two stumps, underarm bowling and three-cornered hats will be the order of the day and particpants will dress in period costume. Admission is free, bring your own picnic and the IGS will provide tea.