Ballina cricketers play first game at brand new home

A new and significant chapter in the history of Ballina Cricket Club was written on Saturday when they played a first competitive match at their new home ground in Belleek.

While the club was reformed in August 2023, the town’s connection with the game goes back way beyond that, with a cricket club in Ballina more than one hundred years ago. It was a successful club too, winning the Connacht Challenge Cup twice in three years, in 1894 and 1896.

Now, Ballina Cricket Club has, in conjunction and with the support of Mayo County Council and Mayo Sports Partnership, installed an all-weather crease in the infield of the running track in Belleek. Ballina CC is currently playing their second season in Division 1 of the Connacht Cricket League and their opposition for last Saturday’s historic encounter was Galway CC.

Ballina won the toss and elected to bat, reaching a total of 95 on a field that was still quite wet from the previous day’s rain. Run contributions were spread across a number of the team; the stand-out performance was from Damian Schwarz who fell just short of a half-century with a fine total of 44 runs, including a number of boundaries and one maximum return of six.

Galway’s chase of the total had a few early setbacks when their first two batsmen went in quick succession, thanks to some lethal bowling from Marcus Jones and Vinu Philip. However, the middle order dug in and with an impressive 50 from Hassan as the stand-out contribution, the visitors ultimately won the match by six wickets.