READY TO NIALL DOWN HIS PLACE
Burke won’t shirk the challenge of becoming a key man for Tribe this year
some pain as he left the field after suffering the damage to the hand which gives him the power when batting.
After treating it with ice he then headed to hospital for the X-ray that confirmed the minor break.
He returned to the team hotel in the afternoon and with the injury taped rather than in a splint.
Morgan’s role in England’s rise to tournament favourites cannot be understated, having just captained the team for the 100th time.
“He’s massive,” said recalled spinner Liam Dawson.
“The cricket that’s been played over the last four years has all been led by him. Hopefully he is all fit, ready and raring to go.” JOE MCDONAGH CUP HE’S been a borderline selection for the last couple of years but Niall Burke is ready to grasp his latest opportunity.
It was Burke’s ill fate that when Galway ended their All-ireland drought in 2017, he had started each of the four games in the run up to the final only to lose his place. He came on and slotted two crucial points in the three-point defeat of Waterford but it may have seen him typecast in that role to a degree.
Burke was sprung from the bench in Galway’s first three Championship games last year, then started the next three.
Out for the drawn semi-final against Clare.
In for the replay after Gearoid Mcinerney was ruled out through injury.
Omitted for the final as Mcinerney returned.
For the Tribe’s Championship opener against Carlow earlier this month, he started once again and was even entrusted with the frees by Micheal Donoghue owing to Joe Canning’s (inset) absence.
When asked if that responsibility helps in his goal of becoming a regular starter again, Burke said: “I suppose it does.
“I don’t think about it either way but it’s nice to be taking them. I enjoy taking them.
“Everyone wants to be on from the start and getting 70 minutes so I was delighted to get the opportunity the last day.”
Tomorrow, Wexford come to Pearse Stadium for both teams’ second game in the Leinster Championship.
Galway narrowly missed out on two-in-arow last year and the opportunity to emulate the county’s most celebrated hurling team of 30 years earlier, something that may not come around for this bunch of players again.
For Burke’s part, he says he moved past that disappointment swiftly.
“At this stage now it’s gone. The way it is with hurling you kind of have to move on straight away because once the Championship’s over you’re into club and we went to the Sydney Irish Festival after that.
“We came back then and got into some preseason training, although I went off with the club, but there wasn’t just enough time really to stop and think about it.”
While they lost an All-ireland with the county, he and Mcinerney won one with their club in January as Oranmore-maree claimed the intermediate title at Croke Park after Burke hit 1-11 in the final against Charleville.
“It was amazing. It wasn’t looking good for us for a long time. We were six points down at half-time.
“I suppose the way we won it, as much as winning it, was something special that we’ll remember forever.
“Just winning it with your friends and your housemates is something that you remember forever.”