Ireland v Australia Cricket

 

The covers coming off! Early on Saturday at Stormont Cricket Ground, the ground staff have performed miracles and the pitch is playable. The match between Ireland and Australia started at 11.30 but we only got 10 overs before the rain came and play was stopped. After a number of pitch inspections the match was finally abandoned at 4pm.

Well the forecast was bad and I wasn't surprised. Not a totally lost day. I saw Brett Lee bowl and bowl well - he took wickets with the first and third ball. And a great catch by Australian captain, Michael Clarke.

And I met New Zealand-born Irish poet and amateur cricket player, Ross Hathaway. He recently launched a new poetry collection with Seven Towers, Pretending to be Dead. We apologised for missing each other's launches. He plays wicket-keeper on the Evening Herald Taverners team.

The two Australian players in the picture above are veteran Brett Lee on the right and new fast bowler, Patrick Cummins. Irish coach Phil Simmons is in the centre.

The winning poem, Tilford by Marilyn Francis, in the recent Prole Poetry competition, in which I finished third, had cricket as a theme.