Stirling is thrilled to be named Player of Decade
PAUL Stirling was last night named the ITW International Player of the Decade at the annual Cricket Ireland Awards, held virtually because of the pandemic.
The prolific opening batsman represented his country 216 times from 2011-2020 — only Kevin O’brien played more — and scored a remarkable 7,021 runs, almost 1,500 more than anyone else. He hit 11 hundreds and 44 half-centuries.
But, as he admitted in receiving his award, he only completed the decade after being forced to choose between Ireland and Middlesex.
“It was the toughest decision I have had to make professionally,” said Stirling. “Playing for the same two teams for so long equally, with basically the same coaches, Phil Simmons and Richard Scott at Middlesex, it made it even harder. You were so settled, had been there a long time, a family feel at both clubs, I kind of wanted someone else to make the decision for me.
“But it got to the very latter stages and I had to make it myself. Once the decision was made, to come back to play for Ireland full-time, that was the route to go and you’ve got to give it everything.”
And that’s what he did last year, so Stirling was also named ITW Men’s International Player of the Year after scoring 434 runs in a season restricted to just 12 matches, the highlight being his superb 142 in the victory over world champions England at Southampton. He has already added another three centuries this year and is excited for the future, but also remembered how it all started at his home club, Cliftonville.
“I remember watching that massive Cliftonville side in the mid-90s and playing there from the age of seven to 15 and that whetted my appetite to go on and play for Ireland,” he said.
The Hanley Energy Women’s Player of the Decade award went to Kim Garth, while Simi Singh dominated the representative season to such an extent that he was on a shortlist of one for the Test Triangle Inter-provincial Player of the Year prize.
The prolific John Anderson was the winner of the O’neill’s Club Player of the Year for the third year in a row and Alana Dalzell, a regular with Bready Men’s 3rd XI, made her Premiership debut in 2020 and was named the Female Player of the Year.
The most emotional award of the night went to the late Roy Torrens. His good friend Robin Walsh received the Gibney’s Outstanding Contribution and Service to Irish Cricket award on behalf of his widow Joan, and their three daughters.
“Roy was one of the greatest figures in Irish cricket, a senior club player at 15, played his first international at 18, a chairman of selectors, past president of Cricket Ireland and for 10 years the most magnificent manager of the Ireland team,” said Walsh.
Bready received the Spirit of Cricket award for their exceptional help, supporting elderly and vulnerable residents in the area during the pandemic. They have so far provided more than 3,000 meals.
Awards: Player of the Decade – Male: Paul Stirling; Female: Kim Garth. Players of the Year: Men’s International: Paul Stirling. Inter-provincial: Simi Singh (Leinster Lightning): Super Series: Laura Delany (Typhoons); Club Male: John Anderson (Merrion); Female Club: Alana Dalzell (Bready); Club of the Year: Limerick; Official of the Year: Ian Houston; Outstanding Contribution to Irish Cricket: Roy Torrens; Volunteering Excellence Award: Michael Hickey; Outstanding contribution to coaching: Brian O’rourke; Spirit of Cricket Award: Bready CC; CWI Hall of Fame: Peter Gillespie, Catriona Beggs, Jimmy Boucher.
IT was a tough first day for Ireland Wolves on their tour of Bangladesh yesterday, not helped by some ‘home’ umpiring.
More than one batsman looked aghast when they were given out as they collapsed from 111-4 to 151 all out. By the close of the first day of the four-day game in Chittagong, their hosts, who have called themselves a Bangladesh Emerging Team, had reached 81-1 with captain Harry Tector the only successful bowler.
Tector insisted he would be bowling much more on this tour, after getting his first chance in the Ireland side against Afghanistan in his 28th international last month, and seemed determined to make up for his first-ball duck by introducing himself in the eighth over of the Bangladesh innings.
He was forced on early to replace Graham Hume whose first bowl for the Wolves didn’t go to plan, being hit for seven fours in his three overs with the new ball. Fortunately at the other end, Mark Adair, in his first red-ball game since the Lord’s Test match 19 months ago — when he took six wickets — bowled four successive maidens, although three of them were to captain Saif Hassan who has so far faced 72 balls for his 22 not out.
Hassan, at 22, is one of the most experienced members of the opposition, having already hit 2,362 runs in his first 41 firstclass matches, with a top score of 220 not out.
The Wolves surprisingly did not select late call-up, Woodvale’s new signing Ruhan Pretorius, for the game. Only Hume, with 97 previous first-class appearances, has made more than his fellow South African’s 67 but he will sit out the first four days’ action alongside Shane Getkate, Josh Little, Ben White and Neil Rock.
The exclusion of Rock leaves Lorcan Tucker with the gloves for the duration of the opening match, a reflection of his disappointing tour in the UAE, but he enjoyed a faultless 23 overs behind the stumps — which is more than can be said for the majority of the batsmen, too few of whom threatened to build a big innings.
It was an encouraging start with James Mccollum, apart from Adair the only other player with Test match experience, and Jeremy Lawlor staying together for 15 overs to see off the new ball.
Mccollum was just getting into his stride, having hit two fours in three balls from Tanvir Islam, but facing the first ball of his next over he was the first batsman to be harshly adjudged leg before wicket, trying to sweep the slow left-armer.
New batsman Stephen Doheny dominated most of the strike for the next few overs and Lawlor, who after moving north from Phoenix will be playing for Carrickfergus this year, probably paid the price as he top edged opening bowler Khaled Ahmed and the slip fielder, running backwards, held a fine catch.
Two balls later, Tector tried to cut his first ball but only edged it into the wicket-keeper’s gloves and after hitting two boundaries, Doheny chased a wide ball and played on to leave Ireland on 62-4 at lunch.
Curtis Campher was joined by Tucker and the two senior internationals led the recovery in impressive fashion, happy to play out maidens and wait for the bad ball. They had added 49 when Tucker went for the reverse sweep but it only ended up in the hands of slip.
Adair announced his arrival in the middle with a huge straight six but next over missed with the sweep shot and he could have no complaints with the umpire for that one.
Campher, however, couldn’t say the same as, on his first-class debut, he appeared to get a huge edge before the ball hit his pads but the umpire didn’t see it and the Wolves’ slide was on because in the previous over Gareth Delany, forgetting it was a four-day game, hit his fifth ball straight to long-off.
There was still time for one more poor umpiring decision with Hume, surely batting too low at No.9, amazed to be given out caught behind.