Halverstown - The cricket club reviving sporting tradition in Kildare

It is strange to say that one of the biggest sports in the world doesn't get the recognition it perhaps deserves in Europe. Even closer to home cricket may not be recognised as the sporting giant that it is, even despite the deep history of the game on our soil in Ireland and over the water to Britain.

Kildare once had as many as 27 cricket clubs in the county dating back to the 1920s, it now has three. After a significant dip over the years it can now once again call itself a growing sport in the county with expansion of its clubs.

One of those clubs is Halverstown Cricket Club, just a stone’s throw away from the town of Kilcullen, the club’s genesis dates back to 1885 and aligns with the release of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the United States. 

Similarly to Twain’s daring young character, Halverstown has laid its wicket in many locations, first of which was in Old Kilcullen. Despite the occasional venue change, it was never far from its spiritual home and now resides on the picturesque banks of the river Liffey in Halverstown thanks to the Beaumont family.

Halverstown is the oldest cricket club outside of Dublin that is still in operation on the emerald isle. It also boasts the oldest player in Cricket Leinster with decades long member Des Drumm still lining out for the club on a regular basis at aged 74. 

Des who has operated as a spin bowler for much of his career recalled his favourite moment from his time with Haverstown actually being with a bat-in-hand in a game with White City from England.

“I think of myself as a spinner, the ball doesn’t always agree,” Des laughed.

Typically not being called upon until later in the day for batting, Des one day he was shoved to the top of the order by his captain and had to adapt on the fly. As it turned out his efforts earned commendation from a cricketing legend and cultural icon.

He recalled, “I batted rather well, I batted out until the end. I didn't score many runs but I kept myself in the game and hung on. We managed to earn a draw against White City. During the game their president arrived and when I walked off after the game he said ‘well batted young man’ and shook my hand…that was probably my greatest memory, him shaking my hand.”

The White City president was Basil D'Oliveira, a cricketing great and revolutionary figure in sporting history. D'Oliveira was born in Cape Town but after emigrating in his twenties was selected for an English Cricket team tour of South Africa. 

The South African Prime Minister at the time viewed D'Oliveira's inclusion as not acceptable due to his ethnicity, and the tour was cancelled. South Africa was excluded from Test cricket for 22 years and this event known as The D'Oliveira Affair was seen as a watershed moment in the sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa.

Halverstown’s sporting history touches far and wide and that cricketing multiculturalism that can be historically linked to D’Oliveira can be seen now at the club with a wide range of nationalities and ethnicities playing for among their three teams.

Club secretary Stuart Conroy said, “You will see every type of nationality at the club, Indian, Pakistani, Australian and the Irish and English amongst many others.”

“It’s a great mesh of different people and one thing we have noticed is that, especially with the Asian lads that have come to the club, they are taken aback by how well everyone gets on together.

“In some clubs in Dublin there can be clique’s and some players don’t fit into that group. That is partly why we have so many people come down to us is that they can come here and not have to think about or factor in their nationality and identity. They just want to come up and play cricket.”

The welcoming nature of the organisation and its inclusivity is one of the club's triumphs in its history. The team’s success on-field has been varied over the years with honours sprinkled across its history from league championships as recently as 2017 and a Midlands Cup win going back to 1980.

The wins are a focus of any club with a competitive architecture but the honour for the senior members is encouraging a next generation of cricketers to come through. 

Halverstown have a view to begin a junior team starting at U11s in the near future to build on their recent work in bringing the sport to schools around the county. This will add to their three senior teams which includes a first, second and social team, the latter of which is for beginners, younger members or those who may be older or retired.

“We have visited schools locally and gave them some coaching and a chance to play cricket. They loved it. Especially the girls who maybe prefer a sport that is more skill-based and without physical contact so we would love to build on that,” Stuart said.

In parents and older people outside of the game of cricket there is a perceived difficulty with cricket about its complex rules and understanding them. However, younger generations are excited by the game due to its simplicity of objective in hitting a ball and scoring runs. The game's style is full of enjoyment and filled with the improvement of essential motor skills for children to learn.

Halverstown’s next major plans are trying to get Irish cricket star Kevin O’Brien to visit the club. O’Brien is very much the name that might be produced if you asked someone on the street for an Irish cricketer. O’Brien holds the world record for scoring the fastest century (100 runs) ever in 50-over World Cup. And it is that batting power that Halverstown are hoping to pick up from the star.

“We want him to do some coaching, mainly around batting because it wins games and it is something we have struggled with in recent years. If you can bring in someone who is one of just a few people in the history of cricket centuries in all international formats, it’s incredible. And that name recognition would be great for the club,” Stuart explained.

Both Stuart and Des are encouraging all ages and abilities to come down and view the incredible facilities and have a go at cricket in Halverstown. More information about joining the club can be found on their website HERE.