Lightning bat on as game fizzles out into a draw

If one arrived this morning at Pembroke Cricket Club, there would be have been little, if anything, to recommend. It was dark skies and persistent rain that was the order of the morning session. The gloomy weather summed up the match situation pretty well, with no possible chance of a result available to either sides.

After an early lunch and numerous pitch inspections, it was decided play would commence at twenty to three with 48 overs of play left in the day. The Knights fielders took the field in a slightly sluggish manner and nobody could really blame them. There was absolutely nothing to play for.

All eyes were on Andrew Balbirnie, who resuming on 81, could have added some brightness to the day by contributing a hundred. However, it wasn’t to be as a good looking delivery took his off bail for 85, a wicket for the deserving Nathan Smith.

This brought Lorcan Tucker to the crease, who was looking to make amends after a uncharacteristic poor day with the gloves on Tuesday. He did so immediately, clipping delightfully off his pads for a boundary. Himself and Dockrell began to create a useful partnership with Dockrell hitting back to back boundaries. James McCollum’s brief spell didn’t create any danger for the duo.

Tucker then was on hand to dispatch carbon coby boundaries to mid-wicket off Getkate to move into the twenties. The skipper Dockrell managed to make a half-century himself, the eight of the game but like the previous seven, fell short of a hundred. He fell stumped off Cameron-Dow with Rock doing sharp work behind the stumps.

North County talisman Eddie Richardson was in next and immediately took the aggressive route. In truth, the small partnership between himself and Tucker was the only real excitement of a pretty drab day.

Richardson departed for a breezy 29 off Shannon’s part-time off breaks and hands were shook soon after. Leinster finishing up on 448-7, with Tucker 41 not out.

Covering this whole game has brought some interesting questions to the forefront of those who watched. Firstly, to produce results in this format, it surely must be a four day competition. Players are rarely getting exposed to the pressure cooker of having to bat out the final day, or take three wickets in the final session. This game was a prime example of this.

After four sessions of play it was quite apparent that no result would reached. It made for turgid viewing. There was quite a lot of personal achievement in this game, but at what stage does personal achievement and team success correlate? Or is there a correlation at all, because one can’t seemingly do both in this format.

Unfortunately from this game’s point of view, with only two and half days available due to weather, and the dead nature of the pitch, it was fighting a losing battle all along.

That being said there was some impressive performances throughout the game. James McCollum particularly stood out, stroking an effortless 93 on the opening day. Fellow Irish hopeful Jack Tector was not to be outshone through, recording a good 87 the day after.

On a tricky pitch especially for the seamers, the efforts of Tyrone Kane and Nathan Smith weren’t unnoticed. While Josh Little keeps confirming the promise that he has always shown.

The Leinster Lightning now conclude their campaign with a fifty over game at home to the North West Warriors. The match at Rathmines is a winner takes all game in the fifty over format on the interprovincials. Play gets underway at 10.15.