County Down club experiences remarkable turnaround in fortune with unique ‘treble’

DOWNPATRICK Cricket Club in County Down is celebrating a unique ’treble’ after a remarkable turnaround that has seen the club rise from the brink of extinction to the top flight of Northern Ireland cricket in just a few years.

Not only did Downpatrick’s first team win promotion to the NCU Senior League Section 1 in August, but its second team finished the season as Junior League Section 7 champions and will play in Section 6 next season.

If that wasn’t enough, Downpatrick completed the ‘treble’ by running away with a £1,000 grant towards much-needed equipment in an exclusive Northern Ireland competition, run by KP Snacks (NI) as part of a campaign to mark its sponsorship of this summer’s blockbuster cricket tournament The Hundred.

Not bad for a club that only three seasons ago didn’t even own a cricket ball, as Downpatrick Cricket Club Chairman Jack McIlheron explains.

“Downpatrick is one of the oldest cricket clubs in Ireland, in fact we’re now in our 175th year,” said Jack, “but following the Covid-19 pandemic, we lost most of our playing staff for various reasons. So much so that when sport resumed, we were unable to field even one team to play regular cricket in the Northern Cricket Union league structure.

“We are delighted to receive this grant of £1,000 from KP Snacks NI, which will certainly be put to good use.  We need new equipment to help us deliver after-school cricket programmes, develop our ladies cricket, and run sessions for the large ethnic communities that have relocated to this area.

“This grant will be used to help fund all of this, helping us to create a proper community spirit and bring all communities and nationalities in the area closer together through the great game of cricket,” continued Norman.  “We have a legacy to share and nourish, and we believe that through the game of cricket we can strengthen relationships which will help us build on that legacy.”

As a club, Downpatrick has developed a coaching program which is delivered at eight schools in the area, some of which have never had cricket on their school sports curriculum.  The club has been able to identify several young players with real talent for the game and is looking forward to helping develop their skills.

Thanks to the tenacity and dedication of the club’s coaching staff, Downpatrick CC regularly welcomes 60 young players from several cultural and ethnic backgrounds at its youth training sessions.

During the summer, the Club held Summer Blitz sessions involving parents and children and organised a multi-cultural day to bring communities together, inviting local ethnic groups to come and try cricket.

Last month, Downpatrick CC also ran five sessions for young people with autism, giving the club an opportunity to share the basics of cricket which it firmly believes will have a positive mental and physical impact on children who might not have been given an opportunity to play the game.  The club worked closely with Autism NI to ensure it delivered a positive experience for those who attend the sessions.

The KP Snacks (NI) award was part of a campaign run by the company to reach out to local communities and encourage more people to get active through cricket this summer.  

To win, clubs across Northern Ireland were invited to submit a 500-word entry explaining why they deserved to win £1,000 and how they would spend the money

The Hundred is an action-packed televised 100-ball cricket tournament featuring world-class players and massive names from around the world, with eight women's and men's teams competing over four weeks.

This year’s competition saw Oval Invincibles successfully defend their men’s title and London Spirit win the ladies tournament for the first time.