To celebrate the Gathering, Pembroke Cricket Club held a reunion for its past members in May. The event included a gala dinner and a memorabilia exhibition in the club’s grounds. The organisers requested that members bring old photographs or other items from the club’s history in a bid to celebrate its past.
At the event that day was Brian Brady, a man now in his 70s, who has been a member of the club since 1948. He gave the club old photographs to display at their event and used the time to reminisce about why he loved cricket so much.
“I have a long-standing attachment to cricket,” said Brian. “I lived near three cricket clubs; YMCA, Merrion and Pembroke and I remember a cup match between Merrion and Pembroke at Anglesea Road when Pembroke scored 330, with young Stan Bergin and Ciaran O’Maille batting down the order and bowler ‘Spud’ Murphy scoring 87.”
Brian’s history with Cricket began when he was a student at both Willow Park School and Blackrock College where he captained the U14s. During the summer of 1948, he mentioned to a friend, Paddy Dempsey, how much he was going to miss school cricket now that the term was over. Paddy remarked how he knew friends in Pembroke Cricket Club and this opened the door for him to join.
“I was hooked. I also made several new friends and it was the start of a love of the game. India with Vinoo Mankad and Australia’s Bradman were the initial heroes and highlights,” said Brian.
Pembroke Cricket Club was founded in 1868, located at Sydney Parade on Park Avenue near Sandymount. The club has six men’s teams and three ladies’ teams, all with equal amounts of success including wins at the Leinster Senior Cup in 1935 and on twelve occasions since. In 1948, and with the London Olympics kicking off, the buzz of the event was starting to have an effect on Brian’s squad members.
“We invented our own Olympics with a burning bean tin stuffed with oily rags. We hung them on the rugby posts at the Wilfield Road end and the marathon was to run all around Sandymount,” said Brian.
The gathering event offered Brian a chance to shed a new light on what the game was like in days gone by.
By Liam Cahill
