Kerry club in wicket form after nomination

THE typical Kerry ear isn’t familiar with the crack of leather against willow, yet our cricketing history is surprisingly nuanced.

Before the GAA burrowed a path into the hearts and minds of the Irish, the sight of a red ball hobbling over a boundary rope was as recurrent in Ireland, and Kerry, as it is now in Yorkshire, the Caribbean, and Australia. Hard to even imagine.

County Kerry Cricket Club came into some form of existence in 1872 when players padded up for overs at the military barracks square in Ballymullen. Nobody knew then that the future of their game on this island would be in painful contrast to the peaceful nature of the sport itself.

For decades, Kerry seemed an inhospitable environment for cricket. The Cable Company in Waterville played Kerry for the last time in the 1940s, and Kerry uprooted the stumps until the game wobbled back to its feet again some 40 years later.

Mulling over the archive, Chairman David Ramsey and Vice-Chairman Richard Rutland must be in disbelief at County Kerry’s health today; they recently gained a nomination for Tildenet Club of the Year, a nod to a year that’s featured playing success and a move to a handsome new home at The Spa.

“It’s honestly amazing, we’re in a state of shock here at the nomination; we wouldn’t have been expecting it, mainly because we haven’t finished doing up our grounds yet!” says David,the clubs chairman.

“The grounds are undoubtedly one of the finest grounds in Munster,” he adds.

“At our home ground, The Oyster Bowl, players look out from the crease at Tralee Bay and its surrounds, and they’d never have to ask why it’s seen as one of Ireland’s most picturesque sporting venues,” Richard said.

“And its beauty will soon be enhanced. We were recently granted planning permission to construct a traditional, wood effect, single-storey pavilion here at The Spa. That’ll be a great addition.”

Kerry’s teams excelled within the boundary in 2016. They claimed The Munster Minor Cup in July with a victory over UCC, and finished second in Ireland’s foremost championship, the Premier Division.

This upturn corresponds with the national narrative. In recent years, Ireland has downed opponents who live for cricket, like the West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and England, in World Cup matches.

But for Irish cricket to continue its ascent and shatter the glass ceiling, Richard feels the country needs Test status.

Clubs like Kerry normally play Twenty20 cricket, as matches only take a few hours to complete. Test matches, played between the world’s best international teams, can last for up to five days. It’s cricket’s premier format and is only open to ten nations at present.

Ireland has long been regarded as the strongest nation without Test status.

“Because we can’t play Test Cricket, world-class Irish players like Boyd Rankin, Ed Joyce, and Eoin Morgan have left Ireland in the hope of playing Tests for England,” Richard explains.

“So if we got that recognition, and we’re closer now than we’ve ever been, those players wouldn’t have to leave the country.

“Personally, I love all forms of the game,” he declares “but the country, and clubs like ours, will be boosted immensely when Ireland earns Test status. It has to happen for us all to reach our potential.”

Having spoken to Richard and gotten a sense of his love for cricket, it’s hard even for a writer with little knowledge of the game to wish against that happening.