Any lingering doubts which sceptics may have harboured about the strength and value of under-age cricket at national level in Ireland were certainly dispelled in the Interprovincial Championships last weekend.
Last month, let's not forget, Ireland won the European Cricket Council tournament at under-15 and under-19 levels, and only a narrow victory by Scotland in the under-17 contest stymied what would have been a unique treble.
North County's John Mooney, the captain of the successful Ireland under-19 team, was the star of the show at Castle Avenue on Sunday, when his unbeaten 57 and 101-run sixth-wicket partnership with his elder brother Paul steered Leinster to a five-wicket win over North West. The pair had come together when Leinster were teetering on the brink of defeat at 82 for 5.
But John Mooney showed that he has no respect for reputations. He had to take on an attack which included the international seamers Gary Neely and Rickie McDaid, the about-to-be-capped Mark Gillespie and the evergreen and vastly experienced Junior McBrine, a former Ireland player.
Mooney's resolve and general aplomb was all the more remarkable given that he was playing in just his second match for the Leinster senior side. His debut the previous day - against the Northern team - had been less auspicious; the fact that he was able to put that well and truly behind him on Sunday was an indication of his mental strength and future potential.
And he wasn't the only under-19 player to excel over the weekend. Railway Union's Niall O'Brien, the Ireland under-19 wicketkeeper, took five catches on Saturday and held two more on Sunday; meanwhile, two other under-19 players, Richard Kee and Jordan McGonigle, both from Donemana, were in the North West line-up.
The message from Dr Jim McDaid, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, in the World Cup brochure prepared by the Irish Women's Cricket Union (IWCU) is laughable. "As an organisation they (the IWCU) are growing from strength to strength and I'm glad to say my Department supports them through funding by the Irish Sports Council."
The IWCU was given a miserly £1,500, which means that each member of the national squad will have to stump up considerable personal sums for the World Cup in New Zealand at the end of the year.
"Well, cricket is viewed as a minority sport and left on the back-burner, especially at under-age level," says Donal O'Sullivan, chairman of the Irish Cricket Union's (ICU) Youth Committee. "But a lot of people - like Brian O'Rourke, Ian Johnston, Matt Dwyer, Alan Neill and Brendan O'Brien - are putting a great deal of hard work into it and obviously have been getting results."
He says that there is something of a fallout between under-age and senior cricket, just as there is between schools and club rugby. Maybe so, but with players like John Mooney and Niall O'Brien coming through, under-age cricket will continue to play a vital role in the future of the senior national team.
Finally, mea culpa - I was wrong to suggest here last week that Jeremy Bray is qualified for Ireland in next year's ICC World Cup qualifying tournament in Toronto, for under the regulations he would have to be resident here for five years. Thanks to Derek Scott and Louis Hogan for pointing out the error.
