THE Ireland winter squads are taking shape this weekend, but one name not on Phil Simmons list is that of the only man to score a century in the World Cup less than 18 months ago. Jeremy Bray's Irish days are probably behind him, a victim of the increased commitment required as the fixture list exploded. 'I've no regrets,' he told Inside Edge this weekend, 'I told Phil that I can't fully commit and I know where he stands on that. They're going well enough without me anyway!'
Bray bowed out last summer with a big hundred in the Intercontinental Cup final, but there have been several false alarms of his imminent return. 'I'd like to play some more, but I have family commitments and it's not easy.'
Bray is off to Melbourne shortly, where he plans to get take steps for his his post-cricket career – as a policeman. 'It's always been an ambition of mine. I've got to try and get in, do some exams.' The career moves will sit alongside another winter playing for Camberwell Magpies, with a return to Castlecomer planned for Christmas.
He has enjoyed his time playing for the Hills, for whom he scored two centuries in this year's Irish Senior Cup and had a solid if unspectacular season in Leinster competitions.
What a shame his brilliant batting won't be seen in the crucial World Cup qualifiers in March and Twenty20 World Cup in June.
The first Irish cricketers to compete at a World Cup were not those raiders of the Caribbean. Nineteen years earlier 14 women flew to Australia for the Bicentennial World Cup in Perth. Coached by the late Noel Mahony and managed by Hillary O'Reilly and assistant Mary Craddock, Ireland won two of their nine games, both against Holland, and finished fourth of the five competing nations.
Twenty years later, wicketkeeper Janice Walsh has decided to organise a reunion of those who played and travelled, which will be held in Castle Avenue in mid November. 'It was a fantastic experience', Walsh said this weekend, 'and it would be wonderful for us all to get togther again.' She has had replies from most of the squad, with Sonia Reamsbottom getting in touch from Australia where she now lives.
'We were really out of our depth, but we all brought that experience back to our clubs and provinces,' said Walsh. Ireland qualified for four subsequent World Cups.
All those who travelled to support are asked to contact janicewalsh99 @hotmail.com.
The squad was: Donna Armstrong, Susan Bray, Grainne Clancy, Helen Hearnden, Julie Logue, Anne Marie McDonald, Colette McGuinness, Mary Pat Moore, Ann Murray, Lily Owens, Stella Owens, Sonia Reamsbottom, Gwynneth Smith and Janice Walsh.
Don Bradman would have been 100 last month, had he lived, but that was one of the few centuries he failed to complete. Another notable gap in his cricketing CV was a visit to Ireland. He was a member of the 1938 touring party but remained in London when the Australians travelled to play at Ormeau and College Park.
There was a fascinating controversy about the second fixture, which was covered extensively in The Irish Times. An article of 9 September 1938 is headlined
'FOREIGN' GAME OF CRICKETMENTAL PATIENTS MUST NOT SEE IT
BUT MAY GO TO BALLINAMUCK
The story explained how ten patients at Mullingar Mental Hospital had been refused permission to see the game by the committee of management. A Dr Higgins had requested that ten patients be allowed visit Dublin for the game, which unleashed a savage response by the hospital authorities.
Thomas Carter, strongly objected to the excursion: 'We are long enough aping the foreigner', he said, 'let us encourage our own native pastimes.' Dr Higgins replied that 'They were hoping to see this match in Dublin. It would be a treat for them.' To which Carter asked 'Are they Englishmen?'
Carter explained his hostility to cricket thus: 'I was looking across a wall at a match one time, and it did not impress me. I would not encourage it.' Carter was elected to the Dáil three times in the early 1920s – for Sinn Féin, Pro-Treaty Sinn Féin and Cumann na nGaedhal – and again three times in the 1940s, this time for Fianna Fáil.
Matthew Brady, also objected and suggested that patients be sent on that day to watch gaelic matches in Longford, or to the 1798 celebration at Ballinamuck. His proposal was passed unanimously.
The Times reporter sought the views of Sir Timothy O'Brien, the Dubliner who captained Ireland and England and then 76 years old. 'I never considered it as a foreign game. I played it and there is no doubt that it is the best game. Of course, I don't mean that cricket they play at The Oval; that is a dreadful game. It just bores you stiff.' O'Brien was presumably referring to the test match a couple of weeks earlier when England racked up 903-7 and beat Australia by an innings and 579 runs.
'As to the game not being encouraged in Ireland – well, the climate is against it. You naturally get wet, sticky wickets. Then, again, cricket grounds are expensive things and they are not too well off in Ireland.
'But not to encourage cricket because it is a foreign game? Ah well, there are a lot of fools going about in Ireland as in England.'
To give your views on this column directly to Ger Siggins at the Sunday Tribune, click here.