Subterranean Homesick Blues
Written by: Bob Dylan
Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinking about the government

Come late March/early April there’s a hive of activity around the city as roadwork projects suddenly appear and disappear just as quickly – Councils and other bodies trying to frantically spend any money remaining in their budget before the next cycle begins with the new financial year on April 6th.

The Emerald Challenge – part of me died when I wrote that - featuring the ‘Raiders’ and the ‘Strikers’ – there goes another bit off my life expectancy started yesterday. I suppose I should be grateful they didn’t label the teams the Leprechauns and the Shamrocks.

There’s low-key and then there’s this. A 50-overs three-match series to help the players prepare for…A T20I series against England. Go figure. I couldn’t be bothered to watch it, which is just as well as it wasn’t broadcast aside from a few clips.

I’m not quite sure what the rationale behind the matches are, but one thing is for sure. Nobody cares. The fixture void left by the Euroslam – I promise I won’t write that word again until the first ball is bowled – I’m hope I’m still around when it is, means there hasn’t been much meaningful cricket for the contracted players. So, this it. Still not really meaningful, but cricket of a sort. Money has been found in the budget so must be spent.

I wasn’t planning on writing anything about the game, but John Boomer went to the trouble of producing a scorecard so a few words were needed to accompany it. 

I’d been thinking of a word to describe something even lower than low-key. Subterranean came to mind, hence the title of the article and the Bob Dylan song. I’ve never really warmed to Bob’s music, in fact I’m still haunted by a car journey from Dublin with Joe Doherty and David Townsend where his greatest hits cd was played on a loop by Joe. 

You’ve got to admire anyone though who is one of only two people to have won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. George Bernard Shaw is the other.

GBS wrote of cricket that “it is a game played by 11 fools watched by 11,000 fools”. If he had ventured into the Stormont grounds yesterday he may have revised his observation to 11 v 11.

To the game itself, and there was more concussion drama it seems. Less than 24 hours after Instonians captain Cade Carmichael had banged his head taking a catch in the All-Ireland T20 final necessitating a trip to hospital that ruled him out of this game, Andrew Balbirnie was concussed by a blow on the helmet from Liam McCarthy and retired.

The Raiders would go on to score 292 for 8 with Chris De Freitas top-scoring with 75 and Gareth Delany hitting a better than even time 71. It’s great to see the Leinster man back in the action after his horror injury earlier this year that required surgery. Matthew Hollard took five wickets but at a cost of 73.

The Strikers had made 38 for 2 when the game was called off after yet another heavy shower on a day that had a distinctly autumnal feel.

The changing of the seasons on a day when a new era of Irish cricket began. The first day without CEO Warren Deutrom. No news yet on a potential successor.

This series could mean something. Make it a North v South or Probables v Possibles and played at a more appropriate time. Not when the squad has already been picked and in preparation for a different format.