It's 90 not out for Ham Lambert

Yesterday marked something of a milestone in the history of Irish cricket. For Monday, June 5th was the 90th birthday of Noel Hamilton Lambert, Ireland's oldest known surviving international cricketer, who is also numbered among this country's more mature former international rugby players.

When Ham Lambert was born nine decades ago, he clearly inherited invaluable sporting genes. For his father, Bob Lambert, and his uncle, Sep, both were Ireland cricketers of note, whose twin international careers were still in full flight, as it were, when Ham first saw the light.

Bob Lambert played 52 times for Ireland between 1893 and 1930, scored 1,995 runs (highest 116 not out) for an average of 27.70, and took 179 wickets at an average of 18.35. Sep won 15 caps between 1896 and 1921 and scored 387 runs, highest 60 (again, undefeated, coincidentally) for an average of 20.36, and also held 11 international catches.

Ham's brother Drummond also played for Ireland to complete the family's remarkable sporting attainment. Drummond played only one match, in 1930; incredibly, his father Bob went on to play his own final international game after his son's solitary appearance with the Ireland team.

Ham enjoyed a much longer inter national career than did his brother, making 21 appearances between 1931 and 1947. In 36 innings he scored a total of 577 runs (highest 103), was not out on four occasions and had an average of 18.03.

That innings of 103 marked his only century for Ireland and was scored against Sir Julian Cahn's X1 at Rathmines in 1938, when he batted at number six.

Ham was mostly a middle-order batsman, though the record shows that he came in much lower down the order on a few occasions, very likely as the "nightwatchman."

In his 16 international years, which began when he was 21 and ended when he was aged 37, he played against the MCC, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. Memorably, he made his debut at Lord's, against the MCC, and had a very fine first international match, making 45 in the first innings, when he batted at number eight.

Apart from that century - fittingly scored at his own Leinster CC grounds - Ham achieved several other good scores in his Ireland career.

Among them was an unbeaten 69 against Scotland at Ormeau in 1937, another 45 against the MCC at Lord's the same year (coincidentally, he was out leg before on both occasions), 25 not out against the New Zealanders later that summer, and 32 against the MCC at Strabane in 1934.

Interestingly, in his 36 innings for Ireland, he was caught 16 times, leg before eight times, stumped three times and clean bowled on five occasions. His last match for Ireland was against Derbyshire in 1947.

But any notions that Ham Lambert at 90 is ". . . . old and grey and full of sleep, and nodding by the fire", in the immortal words of Yeats, should be dispelled immediately. It would be difficult indeed to come across a more sprightly nonagenarian; in terms of speed of thought and action, here we have still a run-stealer of admirable energy.

He is still an IRFU senior referee assessor, and throughout the season may be met at All-Ireland League Division One matches, casting that very practised eye over the aspiring men in the middle. And according to Owen Doyle, the union's director of referee development, the lively Mr Lambert recently came third in an annual referee's golf competition: "the point is", says Doyle, "that Ham actually won the trophy in question before - 50 years ago!"

Born in Dublin, he was educated at Sandford Park School, Rossall School and the Royal College Of Veterinary Surgeons. He is one of the few sportsmen to have played for Ireland at both cricket and rugby, and at the latter game was capped out of the Lansdowne club.

His international career was brief, with just two Ireland appearances, both in the centre, and was prematurely ended by a bad knee injury which, it is said, he later cured himself. His first game for Ireland was against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 28th 1934, and his second and last against Wales at St Helen's on March 10th that year.

His rugby playing career over, Ham Lambert took to refereeing, and had charge of 11 international matches between 1947 and 1952. His first was the Scotland-Australia game at Murrayfield on November 22nd 1947, the last England versus Wales at Twickenham on January 19th 1952.

So here's to a varied and distinguished sporting life, one which is far from over yet, at 90 not out. As Shakespeare might have written: "Age cannot wither him, nor custom stale/His infinite variety".