The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) returned to Cork for the first time in 2 years and brought with them some serious cricketers to face a Munster Heat (Emerging Series) team, which included U17 development players, bolstered by a couple of Reds senior interprovincial squad members
In May each year, Irish based MCC members engage in what’s called the Southern Schools Tour, where they play matches in Cork and Limerick/Kerry, followed by three in Dublin. This is then followed by a mini Cork only tour in August.
In a slightly different set-up this year, the Munster side had players from three separate environments. Two Reds players, Vice-Captain, PJ Moor and Fionn Hand, joined a squad that was predominantly composed of Munster Heat squad members who competed in the Emerging Series this year. In addition, 4 U17 players from the Heat development group, were rewarded for their performances during the season and allowed to showcase their potential in these games.
Match one on Wednesday 25th was an evening T20, where The MCC batted first, scoring a competitive 150 for 8. Fionn Hand and Zubair Khan both claimed 3 wickets apiece and debutant Eshan O’Sullivan was also on the board snaring MCC batter Gumbs with his very first delivery.
In reply, PJ Moor and Brandon Kruger put on 24 for the first wicket, but three quick dismissals saw the MCC gain a foothold in the game. Murtaza Sidiqi scored a trademark quickfire 21, including one ball which was smashed into the tennis courts.
With the game evenly poised, Fionn Hand proceeded to hit some of the biggest balls seen at The Mardyke this year. His 68 not out consisted of two 4’s and six 6’s. Fittingly, Fionn brought home the win for Munster, hitting the second ball from the last over out of the ground.
Day & match two on Thursday 26th, was a 50 over contest, which the MCC side seemed to be better equipped for, skills-wise. They scored 245 which seemed a little below par on the day, but the two-paced wicket was tricky to score when facing consistent length or hard length deliveries. The wickets were shared around with development squad member Estmullah Ibrahimi being the top performer claiming 3 for 48.
The reply began well with Moor scoring 59! However, the rest of the Munster players struggled to support their captain and finished 105 runs short.
This mini-series was the last of the representative matches for the locally based Munster players, in a challenging Covid affected 2021 Season. Overall, there have been some good individual performances. Developmentally the squad has worked well and is in a good place ready for some hard training over the winter.
The final Munster matches of 2021 will be the Munster Reds, competing in the third and final Inter-Provincial T20 Festival in mid-September.
Match 1 (T20) Summary
Munster Heat 154/5 (Hand 68*, Sidiqi 21, Kruger 21, McCabe 2/16, McDonnell 1/16) beat MCC 150/8 (McCabe 39, Smith 33, Gumbs 29, Hand 3/21, Khan 3/27, O’Sullivan 1/39) by 5 wickets.
Match 2 (50 Over) Summary
MCC 245/7 (Davies 105*, Gumbs 49, Delaney 44, Ibrahimi 3/48, Hand 2/26, Gautam 1/15) beat Munster Heat 140/10 (Moor 59, Saghir 23, Hand 19, Gumbs 2/7, McDonnell 2/12, Ryan 2/36) by 105 runs.
Squad for T20
- PJ Moor (C/WK) (Munster Reds)
- Fionn Hand (Munster Reds)
- Brandon Kruger (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Jack Buss (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Adam Hickey (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Luke O’Reilly (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Zubair Hassan Khan (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Awais Saghir (Munster Heat/County Kerry Cricket Club)
- Barry Vosloo (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Eshan O’Sullivan (Munster Development Squad/Cork County Cricket Club)
- Mosawer Sidiqi (Munster Development Squad/ Limerick Cricket Club
Squad for 50 Over
- PJ Moor (C/WK) (Munster Reds)
- Fionn Hand (Munster Reds)
- Brandon Kruger (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Jack Buss (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Adam Hickey (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Luke O’Reilly (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Zubair Hassan Khan (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Awais Saghir (Munster Heat/County Kerry Cricket Club)
- Barry Vosloo (Munster Heat/Cork Harlequins Cricket Club)
- Estamullah Ibrahimi (Munster Development Squad/County Kerry Cricket Club)
- Sunil Gautam (Munster Development Squad/Cork County Cricket Club)
