Cricket Development in Adamstown

The Leinster Cricket Union’s concept of “developing cricket from playground to the international arena” broke new ground recently with the introduction of cricket coaching sessions to the three primary schools in Adamstown, West Dublin.

Adamstown is the latest new town created in Ireland (Shannon was the most recent in 1982) and is located on a 220 hectare site, just west of Lucan and 16 km from Dublin city centre. For this latest venture the Leinster Cricket Union has teamed up with South Dublin County Council who have provided funding towards the project.

Work is already underway for cricket to be established within the new ‘Club Adamstown’, a group that offers a variety of sporting opportunities to youngsters in the area. With a big interest being shown to date it is hoped in the medium term that competitive fixtures can be played at Adamstown, commencing with underage teams.

Etesham Ahmed, a 1st team cricketer with YMCA, is acting as the head coach for the programme and is also busy providing coaching to the boys at Coláiste Phádraig in Lucan, who this year have entered two teams into the Leinster schools competition. This school has already caused a few upsets, gaining notable victories over more traditional cricket-playing schools in the city.

The three schools currently engaged in the coaching programme in Adamstown include:

  • Adamstown Castle Educate Together
  • Esker Educate Together National School
  • St Johns the Evangelist

Alison Casserly, Sports & Recreational Officer with South Dublin County Council is delighted to have the new programme up and running, commenting “Over the past couple of years South Dublin County Council has endeavored to engage in partnerships with National Governing Bodies of sport in an effort to promote active participation in sport."

"The 4th of April saw the commencement of a new partnership with the Leinster Cricket Union. This initiative was developed in response to requests to introduce minority sports to schools within South Dublin County. Currently there are a small number of people participating in cricket within South Dublin and in response to this we hope to develop the sport further, engaging young people from the Adamstown area with a view to developing a club in the future”.

Sports co-ordinator at Adamstown Castle Educate Together, Gráinne Ní Lanagáin, has seen a massive increase in interest since the coaches from the Leinster cricket union arrived. “We have been delighted to be able to introduce cricket into our PE programme. Many of our students can be seen playing cricket on the roads and greens of Adamstown. The students have enjoyed the coaching visits and are really excited about getting coaching from the experts. We hope that next year we will be of the standard to enter a team into the Leprechaun Cup.”

Photo: Etesham Ahmed with students from Adamstown Educate Together school