Of the originally selected team CW Billingsley; HR Morgan; E Ingram and R Carson cried off and were replaced by JR Graham; FJ Reddy; TC Williams and CW Mellon. EDR Shearer was unavailable.

The MCC were captained by DF Walker, an old Oxford Blue who played for Gloucestershire and the team included E Cawston and NC Wykes, both of whom had played for Essex. AB Singleton was to captain Worcestershire in 1946 and, as usual, Claude Taylor of Leicestershire was playing.

The game was ruined by rain which on the first day did not permit play until 3:30 p.m. The Irish batting was indifferent and in 190 minutes seven wickets fell for 116 runs. The MCC bowling was steady but the batting lacked enterprise and only Boucher and MB Williams impressed. Only two runs had been scored when Connell was caught by Cawston at short leg off the opening bowler Neve. James Macdonald came in but was never confident and after scoring nine in half an hour was caught in the slips off Cawston. Boucher started well but when the score was 35 he lost Larmour who was caught off a very poor stroke after batting for 70 minutes in scoring 9 runs. McVeagh was leg breaker Singleton's second victim at 45. MB Williams came in and with Boucher looked like making a big stand. Both batted with confidence and appeared to be well set but when he had made 22 Williams was bowled by a sharply turning ball from Singleton. 77-5. Boucher was out at the same total, Singleton making a great catch at fine leg to account for him. Reddy and TC Williams were now together and the score was slowly taken to the 100 mark which was reached in 140 minutes. At 106 Williams, like his brother, was bowled by Singleton, the ball keeping a trifle low. Reddy and Mellon then played out time. Reddy was very subdued but had nevertheless played well. His 14 not out occupied 66 minutes.

A plucky recovery by Ireland, a good start by the MCC, a collapse and then an unexpected stand is the story of the second day's play. 54 were added for the last three Irish wickets. The wicket was rather difficult under the influence of rain and sun and Reddy was fortunate to survive the sharp spin of Singleton. His 37 came mainly from pushes and leg glances and he did not hit a single boundary. Mellon was caught at slip for 14 after the eighth wicket had added 33. Cuffe helped to add 31 for the next wicket and then Reddy was caught at mid-wicket when a ball from Welch popped. Graham was bowled next ball and the innings total was 170. The running between the wickets was lamentable, 15 or 20 runs being lost due to this. Singleton bowled his leg breaks very well and in 31 overs claimed 4-46.

MCC batted for 45 minutes before lunch. When the score was 10 Wykes hit his wicket while playing back to Graham. In the afternoon the sun went in and the wicket became easy and Taylor and Walker played very well. 71 were put on before Taylor was bowled by Macdonald while attempting to chop through the slips. Cawston came in and pleased with his offside strokes. He had scored 23 out of 51 added when he attempted a big hit and was bowled by Boucher. The sun now re-appeared and the wicket became difficult again. Walker suddenly lost confidence and gave chances when he was 76 and 81, TC Williams being the bowler in each case. After tea Walker was again dropped, this time by Graham at mid-off. He was now very unsettled and was taken at slip by Connell off Mellon two balls later. Walker had batted almost 3 hours for his 85 and had hit 11 fours. He was very good up to his first mistake at 76. The score was now 160-4. This soon became 190-9. Boucher bowled Powell at 161 and at 165 Joynson was bowled by Mellon. McConnell and Welch put the visitors in front but Boucher bowled McConnell at 186. Three runs later Macdonald made ground to catch and bowl Singleton for nought. At 190 Neve was lbw to a ball from Boucher which came through low. Brocklebank was at sea to Macdonald when he came in but survived. Welch meanwhile was hitting beautifully, particularly on the offside, while he hooked Boucher and TC Williams for a six apiece. He was 49 when TC Williams yorked Brocklebank with the last ball of an over. 46 had been added for the last wicket. Welch's 49 was scored in 75 minutes. The Irish bowling was steady but it missed Billingsley's pace. McVeagh, as always, and Larmour fielded very well.

Play on the third day could not begin until 3:50 p.m. and even then it was possible to play for only 105 minutes before more rain finally ended the game. Connell again failed, being bowled by the first ball of the innings delivered by Cawston. Larmour and Macdonald made a stand and after the Dublin University man left at 37 for 19 Macdonald continued to play with confidence. He was unbeaten with 52 at the end. This was scored in 100 minutes, including eight fours, and was one of Macdonald's brightest displays.