For the Northern Ireland Cricket Academy 2005 would mark an historic first, as it embarked on a tour to Cape Town.
From its inception in 2000 the Academy sought to bring together the best young players in the NCU and NW regions for specialised coaching under the umbrella of the Northern Ireland Cricket Association.
The initial plan was to target two age-groups, U16/17 looking towards the Ireland U19 squad, and a second U12/13.
The older squad would train and seek matches in Scotland against regional sides there. The plan for the younger group was that their winter training should lead to a pre-season trip to Lord’s where they would use the indoor school and get a chance to see behind the scenes at the ‘Home of Cricket’.
The thinking behind that was that such an experience would put cricket at the forefront of their sporting ambitions at a time when other sports were competing for their attention.
During the Pavilion tour, that first group paused in the Long Room under the portrait of Don Bradman. Our guide reminded everyone that his Test average was 99.94 and that this led the field by quite a distance. He casually asked if anyone had an idea of who was next in the list - “Graeme Pollock 60.97,” came the shouted answer from one of our party!
And having established our credentials our tour continued with less of the ‘I didn't know they played cricket in Ireland' attitude.
There were further tours to Hampshire, Kent and La Manga before the ambitious plan to tour in South Africa was conceived.
Former Instonians’ professional Russell Adams was employed by Western Province at that time and acted as go-between in planning.
The two week trip would be a mixture of matches against district sides within Western Province and some cultural/educational sightseeing.
The squad of thirteen chosen while advertised as U17 included four who were Under 14 and it is three of these that feature in my chosen pics.
Seven of the thirteen have subsequently played senior International cricket which seemingly confirms both the Academy concept and the selection itself.
back - Ian Johnston, Gordon McKenzie, James Shannon, Lee Nelson, Steven Moore, James Hall, Bobby Rao, Brian walsh. front- Stuart Thompson, Chris Dougherty, Paul Stirling, Gavin McKenna, James Magowan, Greg Thompson (capt.) Michael Heaney, Robbie Kirk, Jason Milligan.
The below photo is of two hot but happy match winners at Durbanville.
It was a coming of age moment for two of the youngsters when they batted together to win a game by one wicket putting together a partnership that belied their years.
I captioned their photograph at the time as ‘Durbanville Heroes’ - Paul Stirling has of course become a hero in numerous other venues and Michael Heaney, although lost to cricket when Ulster Rugby came calling, made a name for himself as the scorer of a debut try against Munster at Thomond Park.
Durbanville heroes Michael Heaney and Paul Stirling
My favourite pic from that tour is one of another of the fourteen year olds, it’s of Stuart Thompson on Seaforth Beach.
Stuart decided to forgo lunch and investigate the local wildlife. After all how often in your life will you get to share a beach with penguins?
Stuart Thompson with the penguins