Cannistown pupils bowled over by cricket World Cup

Kells man Mervyn Whaley was one of those glued to the TV screen as Ireland sensationally lowered the colours of mighty England in the cricket World Cup before a disbelieving global audience a few weeks ago. The three-wicket victory over the Auld Enemy in Banglagore was a major uspet, although Whaley wasn't all that surprised by the win. He knows some of the players and appreciates better than most the effort they put into their preparations. For some years now Whaley has been playing his part to spread the cricket gospel in the Royal County. Most Mondays he goes to Cannistown National School outside Navan where he coaches youngsters in the subtleties of a sport that includes such terms as square leg, silly mid-off, yorker, leg-by, bodyline and silly mid-on. When they leave Cannistown some of the players go on to play for Knockharley near Kentstown (founded in 1982), currently the only cricket outfit in Meath, although there are moves to set up a new club in Clonee. On a less regular basis Whaley can be found coaching in Robinstown primary school and each year there is a match between themselves and Cannistown that bears all the hallmarks of a keen local derby. Whaley has coached cricket both in Ireland and Australia. He lived Down Under for 25 years working at a number of enterprises including his own jewellery business. He grew up on his family's farm in Bloomsbury just off the Kells, Navan road before the lack of opportunities in recession-hit Ireland of the late 1960s and early '70s prompted him to emigrate. "It (the recession) back then was even worse than now," he recalled when he spoke to the Meath Chronicle. Before leaving the Emerald Isle Whaley had attended the private primary school at Headfort and played for the now defunct Meath County Cricket Club. The team was largely made up of players who also attended Headfort and the club's home pitch was located on the school grounds. He describes himself as a "bit of an all-rounder" on the cricket pitch, he did his bit on the batting and bowling fronts. He continued to play the game in Australia and also became involved in coaching. He was instrumental in setting up a Twilight League for under-age players in Tasmania that has proved to be very successful and is still going strong. "I enjoyed my cricket in Australia, I took it a bit more seriously. There was a very social side, shall we say, to playing for Meath County although we had a very competitive team and there were a couple of internationals involved, We had people such as Ray Daly who I think has one Irish cap to his name. He lives in Dublin, there were a lot of Dublin players who played with Meath County at the time. We played in Dublin and Cork and other places around the country." Whaley came back to Ireland in 1994 to run a farm that was owned by his father and he continued to stay involved in cricket. He turned out for Knockharley and again took up the coaching. "Leinster Cricket Union had an arrangement with the schools and I got into coaching that way. I would go around to a few schools around Navan and coach in a few private schools in Dublin as well. I was a busy guy for a few years," he added. "I coached in St Pat's, Navan for a year as well as Scoil Mhuire and St Paul's. The Leinster scheme only lasted for a couple of years and after that I cut down the number of schools I coached in." Whaley says it is very difficult to gain a foothold for cricket in a county where GAA is so strong although the youngsters appear to greatly enjoy their time with bat and ball. "The problem is the time involved for cricket, it's a full day. It's a very difficult sport to get kids to change over into," he adds, "Cricket used to be the biggest game until the GAA took over. All the hurlers used to play cricket." Over the years he has seen a lot of talented cricketers leave the sport behind once they left school. He wonders what they would have achieved in the game if they had stayed involved. He thinks that maybe their parents simply just couldn't give the commitment and time required to keep their youngsters involved in the game. "We had some very talented cricketers. There were particularly some very good girl cricketers. If they had kept it up they would definitely have made the Irish team which is a pity," he added. "Kids have to be very patient to learn cricket and that can be a problem. Kids want to get in and play straightaway. It's a difficult game to coach in that respect." According to Cannistown school principal Colman Nee, cricket offers another dimension to youngsters. "It's a brilliant game and the youngsters can play it on the tarmac in the winter. It's great for kids who don't like contact sport," he said. Whaley laughs heartily at the suggestions that he is something of a pioneer trying to promote the game in a GAA stronghold. He's just trying to get youngsters to play the game, hoping, at the same time, there will be a few more days like that when the Ireland conquered mighty England.