It has been 10 years since the undisputed greatest night in the history of Irish cricket.
A famous victory over bitter rivals England in the 2011 ICC’s Men’s Cricket World Cup was a watershed moment for the sport on this island. Despite not reaching the same heights since cricket has gone from strength to strength over the last ten years.
Growth
One area where it has grown recently is Carlow and Kilkenny. Great work has been done by clubs in both counties to develop the game.
New Cricket Leinster Midlands Development Officer and Bagenalstown Cricket Club member Bernard O’Mara told KCLR’s Saturday Scoreline that he hopes to increase participation levels across Carlow and Kilkenny.
“It’s great to be able to look to improve cricket within the Kilkenny and Carlow area. My role is to go into schools and improve cricket in the area.
“I’ll be hoping that if we can develop cricket in schools that will transfer into the clubs,” said O’Mara.
Improvements
O’Mara pinpointed an area in which cricket needs to improve in the immediate future.
He said: “I think all clubs should be looking to provide cricket for women.
“It’s something that I’m passionate about and I know Carlow and Kilkenny cricket clubs are constantly working on women’s cricket and that’s really exciting to see.”
Funding
The Bagenalstown clubman elaborated on where cricket clubs can obtain much-needed funding.
“A lot of cricket clubs look at the sports capital grant for funding and they would look to develop their grounds so that they can get some funding.
“Cricket Ireland also gets investment from the government, but that would be for the elite level players.”
O’Mara also highlighted cricket’s biggest strength, saying that it brings different communities together more so than most other sports.
“Something that is really unique to cricket is that it brings different types of people together.
“You can have a different religion and different customs with someone, but the medium of cricket unites people and it’s brilliant in that sense.”
Listen to the full interview below: