CORK COUNTY marked their entry into Leinster senior cricket with a thoroughly satisfying 69 run victory over Trinity at The Mardyke on Saturday. The performances of left-armers John Power and Keith Banks had a significent influence but the students' generosity in providing 51 extras also helped Cork's cause considerably.
Apparently, the blame lay with the Lekka ball, which refused consistently to go where it was supposed to. Consequently, the seamers served up 39 wides between them, in conditions which should have been beneficial. One umpire admitted to being exhausted by the end of the innings as only Conor Hoey, with 4 for 11 in 13 overs of leg-spin, managed to get through his spell without bowling a wide.
Cork will probably feel they should have made more runs after Shane Connole and Stephen Hickey gave them a 52-run opening but Hoey's introduction was incisive. First, he lured Hickey out of his crease to provide Colm Morgan with his first stumping victim of the season and then he tore the heart out of the middle order. Mark Barriscale shaped impressively before completely misjudging a full toss from Mark McAteer and so it was left to Peter Coleman (and the Trinity seamers) to bring the score towards respectability.
Trinity's reply began disastrously as Banks, operating off his shortened run-up, removed both openers in the space of a couple of overs. Adam Synnott was progressing well before he hesitated in going for an easy second run and Ray Wong's throwing accuracy did the rest.
It was left to the old-timers' graduates Nicky Johnston and Hoey to rescue the innings but Power was irresistible on a drying surface. Almost immediately after beating Hoey, he trapped Woodie O'Neill lbw offering no stroke and the contest was effectively over.
Not surprisingly for this time of year, the spinners dominated everywhere. At Malahide, Mark Clinton and Matt Dwyer took eight wickets between them as the home side had to field a severely weakened side. Earlier, Declan Moore made a bright start to the season with an undefeated half century.
Jamie Carty and Cian Armstrong formed another successful spinning partnership at Castle Avenue, where Rush scored a notable victory over Clontarf. Like Malahide. Clontarf were significantly under-strength. Once Armstrong took the vital wickets of Deryck Vincent and Andre Botha. Carty mopped up the tail. receiving excellent support from Dara Armstrong behind the sticks.
Leinster's Peter Byrne continued his impressive start to the season with another five-wicket bag, this time against North County. As a result, Leinster required just 109 for victory.
