Mount Juliet willing to stage World Cup match

THE AUTHORITIES at Mount Juliet have approached the Irish Cricket Union with a view to staging the World Cup match which Ireland has been awarded, that between the West Indies and Bangladesh, on May 21st 1999. I gather that Mount Juliet is willing to do everything possible to provide a top-class international playing track. and that the union will be offered major financial rewards.

There are no quibbles about the superb general facilities and attractions of Mount Juliet, of course, and in addition, cricket has been played there for a very long time. The ICU met yesterday, but the official line is that no decision has been reached about the venue, and Mount Juliet was not even mentioned.

The union's cricket and finance sub-comittees will consider the matter of contracting players, and will report to the executive in the near future." And a meeting will be held with Mike Hendrick, to consider his position as national coach; hopefully, sanity will prevail, and his contract will be renewed.

Venues for next year's international matches are to be examined by another subcommittee, whose proposals will be given to the executive at its meeting on September 21st. And three players - Neil Doak (Lisburn). Andrew Patter-son (Cliftonville) and Mark Patterson (Surrey) - have been invited to take part in overseas cricket academies in the coming off-season.

Meanwhile, Merrion's good run - the only real hiccup so far was that Lewis Traub League semi-final defeat by Pembroke - continued apace at Anglesea Road yesterday, where the men of North County were hopelessly outclassed in this disappointingly one-sided Senior League encounter.

Mis-match is rather more like it, not that Merrion will mind, with their prospects in the Royal Liver All-Ireland and the Conqueror Cups still very much alive. And the game gave Damien Poder yet another platform on which to display his considerable bowling skills, resulting in a fine haul of six wickets for a mere 13 runs.

Mike Hendrick could do worse than take a look at Poder who was 23 last January 28th. Though born in Sydney, Poder is qualified courtesy of his mother, the former Dervla Brennan from Ballina Co Mayo, who emigrated to Australia in 1970.

Batting first, Merrion lost a few early wickets before Gus Joyce and Stephen King set about the North County attack. Joyce's fine 52 came off 88 balls; King's innings was a bit more dramatic, as he scored his 56 from just 46 balls, with three massive sixes thrown in for good measure.

Joey Mooney, with three for 47, was North County's most successful bowler, though Pat Martin also performed steadily and well and perhaps deserved more than a brace of wickets.

A total of 200 was always going to be a tough target for North County, given the frailty of their batting, but that challenge was made even more difficult when George McNally was needlessly run out early on. Joe Murphy and Richard Beukes offered some resistance, but when Poder was brought on, he immediately dislodged Murphy; the only question was why he was not introduced into the attack earlier?

The resilient Beukes was the sixth batsman to fall, but really the result was never in the slightest doubt. The name of the adjacent Dodder was a fair description of the state of North County's batting - doddering.

Richard Dowse, with 3 for 23, ably supported the splendid Poder.