Living is easy as youngsters get their chance against Wales

COMPARED with the frenetic rush of limited overs cricket, Ireland's three day meeting with Wales, which begins tomorrow at Rathmines, should be more of a leisurely stroll, harking back to days of deck chairs and cream teas.

All very pleasant, but the players' attitude to this type of contest can be gauged by the number of cry offs. Alan Lewis, Stephen Warke, Michael Rea, Neil Doak and Uel Graham are all unavailable and while the reasons for their absence are all perfectly valid, one still suspects a certain indifference.

"At least Mike Hendrick gets an opportunity to have a look at a few youngsters in a relatively competitive environment. Rea's replacement, Kyle McCallan, has impressed observers more with his off spinners than with his batting, but he will most probably face the new ball. It's also an ideal time to introduce a young spinner and Greg Molins can look forward to plenty of overs, especially as the pitch wears.

Yesterday, Molins was at Beechgrove, where Carlisle narrowly failed to maintain their interest in the Royal Liver Cup, losing by two wickets to Brigade in a game reduced to 30 overs a side by rain.

As in the previous round at Bangor, Carlisle's main inspiration came from Trent Johnston, who followed up his half century with three wickets, but could not prevent the home side from reaching their target of 110 with two balls to spare.

Railway Union failed to trouble Sion Mills, losing by 111 runs, and so there are just three southern sides through to the final 16.

At Claremont Road, Merrion gave themselves a reasonable chance of qualifying for the 50 Overs League semi finals by defeating YMCA by 58 runs.

Alan Lewis and Angus Dunlop set off after Merrion's 180 in a ferocious hurry and while Dunlop survived one skied hook off Angus Fleming, his second shot into orbit was pouched by Damian Joyce in the gully. Fleming claimed four further wickets as the YM innings slipped away.

By the end of this extended weekend's cricket, we should have a clearer picture of the final standings in either group.