Sir, - I was rather bewildered and disappointed to read the unfortunate and ill-judged article by your cricket correspondent, Mr Karl Johnston (Sport, July 27th), in which he attempts to infer the decline of Old Belvedere Cricket Club.
Among the essential and endearing aspects of all sport are the fluctuating fortunes which flow through all extended endeavours in whatever game. One need only think, for example, of the All Blacks' annus horribilis in 1998, the frustrations experienced by Liverpool Football Club, and, in cricket itself, the recent fall from invincibility of the West Indies. In this light, the undisputed fact that Old Belvedere is not completely dominating Leinster cricket at present need not give rise to the apocalyptic fears which Mr Johnston voices. For the record, Old Belvedere fields four adult teams and three schoolboy sides in competitive cricket each week. Most clubs would be rightly proud to produce seven such teams.
Cricket in Ireland, as Mr Johnston knows, is a minority sport, and those who give their time to its playing, administration and furtherance do so voluntarily and generally without any reward other than a fulfilment of their love of the game. It is, in such circumstances, quite unhelpful for the many people currently working hard in preparing our club to host the Leinster Senior Cup Final this weekend to read an ill-informed article of this nature.
We will, of course, be delighted to welcome Mr Johnston to Old Belvedere this weekend for the Cup Final, and we hope that his visit will elevate him to a more authoritative position from which he can comment on the true, healthy state of our club in his article next week. - Yours, etc.,
Conor Verdon, Hillcrest Park, Dublin 11.