...and this will end their nomadic season to date. They return in strength given their position at the top of the league table with joint leaders Bangor, and while the club has been known to bottle in similar situations down the years, there’s steely grit about this team that seems destined to win promotion.
The club’s return to home territory could not have been planned better, given their opponents Armagh are firmly rooted at the bottom of the league table, and their earlier meeting at the Mall resulted in a 145 runs win for the County Antrim team. Nothing can be taken for granted in cricket, but the Moylena team will be expected to notch up their twelfth league win, and head towards the finishing line with six games to play.
Muckamore deserve a lot of credit for their enterprise this season, and while some sceptics might take a cheap dig at their ability to recruit better players to boost their squad, the reality is that you have to recruit to improve, or you risk losing your better players to more ambitious clubs, and remaining in the pack. The addition of experienced players like Wayne Horwood and Ralph Coetzee and a good professional in Indrajeet Kamtekar was good business and forward thinking, although the Muckamore gurus are well aware that the need to build their squad is ongoing, especially when you move up the ladder.
For many years Muckamore appeared more comfortable in the pack than playing with the big boys, and their sporadic insertions into the top section were usually followed by relegation a short time later. But things appear much different these days at Moylena, and if the numbers of young players at the club are as healthy as have been quoted, they must be doing something right. And hats off to their Supermarket-style promotion earlier this season to bring cricket into the public domain. Gimmick or not, it was entertainment and refreshing. Cricket needs clubs to think outside the box, and initiatives like this can only be good for the development of the game.
Muckamore deserve much better than they have delivered down the years. Our generation has seen great service at the highest level in local cricket from Muckamore icons Ferguson Grainger, Billy Boyd, Paddy O’Hara and in more recent times Andy Clement. At club level there are few cricket stalwarts to match the commitment and loyalty of men like John McCormick, Ivan McCombe, Fred Ashton, Harry McFadden, Sinclair Hamilton, Benny Craig et al, who have come through the tough times, and now seem determined to establish the club in the Premier League.
It may be premature to start talking about a return to the halcyon years of the two Archies, McQuilkin and Campbell, the spin kings of Ulster cricket in their heyday, but Andy McCulloch has a team that is better prepared to re-enter the top section than many that have gone before, and returned just as quickly. Of more importance, there’s enough steel in the team to win promotion, and that was their main goal this season. Success in Twenty20 and Ulster Shield competitions are icing on the cake.
If there is one thing that Muckamore has which is priceless, then it is their beautiful Moylena ground, and their return will be welcomed throughout local cricket.
Welcome home and good luck for the rest of the season.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
