PBC turn to bat and ball

PBC, or, more colloquially, Pres - Presentation Brothers College - has long been something of a rugby institution in Cork and produced a succession of international players and administrators at all levels. They have also been a force in Munster school competitions, while their intense local rivalry with CBC (Christian Brothers College) is part of the southern capital's sporting lore.

PBC's cricket accomplishments are rather less widely recognised. But as Dermot Giltinan, who managed the school's recent three-match tour to Hampshire, points out, in the past eight or nine years "Pres" has become the top cricketing-playing school in Munster. In the past five seasons, for example, PBC has been defeated only once at under-19 level, losing by only four runs to Ashton School.

Their record at under-15 level has been almost as impressive. In the past six years three PBC players have been selected for the Ireland Under-15 team - Stephen Hickey in 1993, Niall Tynan in 1997 and this year, Ross Durity.

Giltenan says Hickey went on to captain the Ireland Under-16 side in 1994. "It would be fair to say that "Pres" would provide Munster teams at all levels - under-13, under-15 and, when in operation, under-18 - with at least 50 per cent of their players each season." Other ex-PBC pupils who have gone on to represent Ireland at various levels include Mark Barriscale, Garrett Holland, Jonathan Curtain and Michael John Wycherley. This season, Wycherley was the only Irish Universities batsman to hit a half-century against English Universities.

And many PBC players, past and present, figure in the current Cork County team, among them club captain Shane Connole, Kenneth Sorensen, Stephen Hickey, Jonathan Curtain, Robert Duggan, Niall Tynan and Niall Howell. Recently, "Pres" became the first Munster school to undertake an English tour, making an undefeated three-match visit to Hampshire. This was arranged with the help of Hampshire-based Fr John Buckley, an uncle of Ted Williamson - "the forgotten man of Irish cricket," remarks Giltenan. Williamson, capped for Ireland last year, but didn't figure in the national selectors' scheme of things this time around. Next year, a return visit is planned. Given the remarkable treble achieved by their under-13 team, the prospects look pretty pleasing for Clontarf CC as well. The `Tarf under-13s won the Leinster League, then went on to defeat Donemana in the All-Ireland (the D R Pigot Memorial) Cup, before capturing the Beamers Cup, the trophy played for by the top four sides in the Leinster competition.

Man of the match in the Pigot Memorial Cup was Kevin McDermott, a son of the former Ireland batsman and Irish Cricket Union president, Enda. Jack Whelan was man of the match in the Beamers Cup final.

So much having been said, Saturday will be an anxious day for Johnny Daly, captain of Clontarf's 1st X1, who will want to avoid the clobbering dished out by YMCA last week, as his team faces Leinster at Castle Avenue. Success would seal victory in Section A of the Leinster Senior League. Defeat for Clontarf and a win for Phoenix against Pembroke at Sydney Parade the same day could bring calculations involving bonus points and run rates into account. And in Section B, with Merrion's place at the top of the table assured, the race for the second promotion spot is likely to be between Railway Union, CYM and North County; North County's home match against Railway Union on Sunday could thus be crucial in the final outcome.