News

A magnificent century from Clontarf Cricket Club’s Colin Currie has Ireland Under 15’s to a crushing victory over Jersey and extend Ireland’s lead atop the ICC European Under 15 Division 1 Table.
On day two of the ICC European U15 Division 1 Championship, in overcast conditions at Rugby School, Ireland took a stride clear of the pack, comprehensively defeating Jersey by 191 runs to pick up their second victory in as many days.

Invited to bat first, the Irish racked up 283 for 8, the cornerstone of which was a superb century from Colin Currie. His 128 came at just under a run a ball and was laced with twelve boundaries and two sixes.

Sharing stands of 64 with Andrew Delany, 85 with Fiachra Tucker, and 94 with Ross McCay, Ireland had reached 243 for 2 before Currie was finally dismissed, caught by Grant Donaldson off the bowling of Solomon Warner.

Jersey threatened to halt Ireland’s momentum, with Grant Donaldson bowling a tidy spell and Warner (4-56) picking up three more wickets in the closing overs, but Rory Anders’s brutal 27 from only 13 balls wrested control back to the Irish camp.

Anders (2-19) then struck in his first over, removing William Robertson; when Donaldson and Robert Duckett joined him in the pavilion, the score 38 for 3, Jersey’s hopes rested with skipper and MVP at last week’s U-19 tournament, Jonty Jenner.

For a while, hope sprang: Jenner raced to 44 from only 39 balls, smashing seven fours and a six. But when he was trapped lbw to the impressive leg-spin of Tucker, Jersey folded, losing their last seven wickets for forty runs and being dismissed for 96.

Tucker finished with 3 for 10, while Conor O’Gorman (2-21) cleaned out the tail.

Clontarf's Colin Currie makes a magnificent century for Ireland Under 15's http://t.co/Q5Pcp8jqha 206 for 2 v Jersey pic.twitter.com/PTXjNFrNaR

— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) August 14, 2013

Tomorrow, the Irish face the Netherlands knowing that victory would make them firm favourites to regain a championship they last won in 2007. Jersey, meanwhile, need to bounce back against the Scots, who put in a dominant performance against Guernsey today.

On the second ground at Rugby, Scotland launched their campaign with a dominant performance, defeating Guernsey by 173 runs.

Batting first after captain Shujaa Khan had won the toss, Scotland amassed 313, which may take some beating as the highest score of the week, despite not using three overs.

Rory Johnston scored 80 in quick time from the opener’s berth, striking fourteen boundaries, Finlay McCreath contributed 57, while both Gillin (27 from 19) and Carnegie (22 from 11) played aggressive cameo roles towards the end of the innings.

For Guernsey, their captain Tom Nightingale and Declan Martel both picked up four wickets to finish in credit, but some poor fielding and as many as 45 wides meant that the Channel Islanders needed six an over from the start of their innings.

And while Guernsey made a positive start, reaching 87-2, thanks primarily to Nairn Guilbert’s 36 and despite early breakthroughs from Euan Dawtrey (2-25), scoreboard pressure told in the end.

Indeed, from the respectable position of 123-4, Guernsey’s tail collapsed to 140 all out, Ryan Cameron taking 3-16 in a very economical ten-over spell.

Guernsey now have two days of rest before the grudge match against neighbours Jersey, while the Scots have more than thrown their hat in the ring as title contenders.

Brief scores:
Ireland v Jersey at Rugby School, Ground 1.
Ireland won by 191 runs
Jersey won the toss and elected to field
Ireland 287-8 (50 overs)
C Currie 128, S Warner 4-56
Jersey 96 (24.5 overs)
J Jenner 44, F Tucker 3-10

Scotland v Guernsey at Rugby School, Ground 2.
Scotland won by 173 runs
Scotland won the toss and elected to bat
Scotland 313 (47 overs)
R Johnston 80, F McCreath 57, T Nightingale 4-48, D Martel 4-65
Guernsey 140 (45.4 overs)
N Guilbert 36, R Cameron 3-16

ICC European U15 Division 1 table (as of August 14)

P W T NR L Pts NRR
Ireland 2 2 0 0 0 4 2.780
Scotland 1 1 0 0 0 2 3.460
Jersey 2 1 0 0 1 2 -1.610
Netherlands 1 0 0 0 1 0 -0.600
Guernsey 2 0 0 0 2 0 -2.642

Fixtures:
At Rugby School:
• 15 August
Jersey v Scotland (Ground 1)
Netherlands v Ireland (Ground 2)
• 16 August: Reserve day
• 17 August
Scotland v Netherlands (Ground 1)
Guernsey v Jersey (Ground 2)
• 18 August
Netherlands v Guernsey (Ground 1)
Ireland v Scotland (Ground 2)

ICC Europe
Rory Anders put in another fine all-round performance © ICC/Cricket Europe
No