It was a momentous occasion for the youth representatives from various teams in Munster as they journeyed to Clontarf to be mascots at the Ireland v Pakistan T20 International on Sunday, May 12th. The clubs they proudly represented were Cork County CC, Cork Harlequins CC, County Kerry CC and Limerick CC.
The MCU children had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to form a guard of honour and wave flags, escorting the players onto the field of play. What made this experience even more memorable was the chance to meet their cricket heroes on the pitch. The excitement was palpable as they got up close and personal with some of the game’s greats, including Paul Stirling, Babar Azam, Andrew Balbirnie, and Muhammad Rizwan.
After the game, many players were kind enough to spend some time with the fortunate youths and give them their autographs. 7-year-old Ajay was delighted when he got he was able to get Lorcan Tucker’s autograph – who scored an impressive 51 runs on the day and is Ajay’s favourite player! Azam Khan asked one of the youths if he enjoyed the game and was more than happy to give autographs and selfies to the mascots.
The mascots were given this unique opportunity courtesy of the fantastic Cricket Ireland programmes “Smash It” and “It’s Wicket, which bring the fun and friendship of cricket to boys and girls aged 5-9 (“Smash It”) and girls aged 9-13. (It’s Wicket)
This national programme is available to cricket clubs and hubs across Ireland. To enquire how to get Smash It and It’s Wicket into YOUR location, email Programme Co-ordinator Glenn Brokenshire at programmes@Munstercricket.ie.
