CLONTARF have lost an important cog in their powerful wheel with the emigration of Dom Rigby to Guernsey.

Rigby arrived in Dublin in 2003 as a Scotland international and played a vital role in the resurgence on Castle Avenue. He scored 3,316 senior runs at 33.8 and made three centuries.

'My best memory of Clontarf was all the great friends I made there, and being able to help win a few trophies,' he told Inside Edge this weekend. 'The 2004 cup final, when I put on 200 with Trent Johnston was a great day, and we hadn't won the cup for many years.'

Rigby has had a useful perspective on the game in both Scotland and Ireland over the last glorious period.

'There's not a massive difference between the two at club level – if Ireland had the same club structure as Scotland they'd be even further ahead. Scotland was stronger before Adi Birrell arrived in Ireland and he made a huge difference. He sowed the seeds for where Ireland is now.

'If the Birrell recommendations for restructuring Leinster cricket are adopted then that would be a massive boost. All cricket needs to be geared towards bringing players into the international team.'

Rigby works in the financial services industry and has opted to relocate to the channel islands where he is sure to make just as big impact on local cricket.

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William Porterfield has settled back well into the county scene after his exertions in the World Twenty20. He was promoted to captain Gloucestershire for a couple of games in the English 20/20 cup, and although he failed with the bat twice he led them to a win over high-flying Northants.

"I was only told I would be captain when I arrived at the ground at three o'clock,' he said. "It was a really nice surprise because I enjoy the added responsibility of captaincy and enjoyed leading Ireland in the Twenty20 World Cup."
‘Glorse's interest in the cup is now over but Porterfield has high hopes they can stay at the top of the championship division 2 table and win promotion.

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An important anniversary crops up on Thursday, 40 years to the day since Ireland bowled out the West Indies at Sion Mills, Co Derry. By happy coincidence – and it is definitely a coincidence as the fixture was only awarded at the last minute – Ireland return to the North West the following day with a four-day I-Cup game against Kenya. The last first-class game played in the union was in 1993.

CricketIreland and the Lord's Taverners paid tribute to the 40th anniversary with a sumptuous dinner and presentation to the surviving players in April, but it is to be hoped that the actual day will not be let pass unmarked.

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Congratulations to Ed Joyce, who has had a fine start to his career with Sussex passing the 1,000 runs in all matches mark last week, including four hundreds. Joyce also passed the career mark of 9,000 first-class runs. He is still less than half way to the Irish record held by Frederick Fane of 18,548, while fellow ex-Middlesex man Sir Timothy Carew O'Brien's mark of 11,397 is next in his sights.

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Irish cricket lost one of its unsung greats last week with the premature death of PJ Tynan (64) in Cork. A leading wicketkeeper of the 1960s and 1970s, he was unlucky his career ran in parallel to the great Ossie Colhoun.

Paddy Tynan captained Ireland Schools while at Belvedere and set a Leinster senior record in 1965 by holding catches off six Trinity batsmen in College Park for Old Belvedere. It is still a record for catches in an innings, although he shares it with four others, and for dismissals, of which there were 13 other instances.

Tynan played 12 interprovincial games for North Leinster before moving to Cork in 1971 to work with Guinness. He played 43 times for Munster in the Guinness Cup as a hard-hitting middle order bat and keeper. In later years he was a very welcoming host to visitors to the Mardyke.

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The Ireland wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien has been ruled out for the next few weeks, but the ankle injury won't stop him hosting the first of his Wicketkeeping Masterclass camps for young players next month.

O'Brien – named on the team of the tournament at the recent World Twenty20 by several commentators – returns to his home club to pass on some of his skills and techniques to young cricketers. Niall O'Brien's Wicketkeeping Masterclass will be held in Railway Union, Sandymount on Monday and Tuesday 13 and 14 July, from 10am to 3pm each day, details from RUCCwicketkeeping@gmail.com

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Tuesday: Alan Murray 4FM 2020: Clontarf v Malahide

Friday: Intercontinental Cup (day 1 of 4) Ireland v Kenya (Eglinton)

Saturday: Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup 4th round: Donemana v CIYMS, Limavady v Merrion, Lisburn v Leinster. North County v Pembroke; LSL Section B: CYM v Old Belvedere, Phoenix v Rush

gsiggins@tribune.ie