By Scott Symington
THE 2024 season has drawn to a close for Dundrum Cricket Club with mixed fortunes for the South Down team.
After persistent rain over the winter, the season had to be delayed by two weeks, but after excellent work by the Dundrum ground staff, no cricket was missed at Dundrum for the remainder of the season.
The men’s first XI had an excellent season, finishing third in NCU Section Two and just missing out on promotion, while they narrowly went out in the T20 Cup and the Junior Cup at the quarter-final stage in both competitions.
Captain Gavin McNerlin did an excellent job with his young side, putting in consistent performances throughout the season.
Stuart Campbell ended the season as the leading run scorer for the team with over 450 runs while Scott Symington finished as leading wicket taker with 30 wickets.
Wicket keeper Phil Jenkins won the Player of the Season award after several key batting performances over the course of the campaign.
Several younger players were handed debuts over the course of the season with Andrew Campbell, James Wright, Matthew Douglas, Noah Stafford and Caleb Armstrong all putting in excellent performances.
The aim for next season is to continue developing the younger players while hopefully pushing towards winning some overdue silverware.
With the experience of McNerlin, Symington, Jenkins and Campbell combined with the youthful flair, there’s no reason they cannot have a successful season in 2025.
Women’s section
With the growing popularity of the club’s women’s section, the club entered a second XI for the first time this season.
The second XI won their first ever game in their opening game at home to Drumaness Superkings with Jayne Herdman leading the team fantastically all year.
Jayne was well supported by Sarah Herron, Emma Lowey, Beth Herron, Holly Herron and Beth McVeigh.
The first XI had a transitional season, with several players unavailable, it gave the team an opportunity to blood several new prospects.
The young team performed admirably, putting in excellent performances against more experienced teams.
Niamh Lowry continued her stellar rise, finishing as the leading run scorer in the league (NCU Women’s Senior Section One) with over 250 runs (averaging 229).
Rachel Hodge finished as the leading wicket taker, capping off an excellent individual season.
The club is planning on starting an U-13 girls team next season to help bring through the next star players.
In the full report read the round up from the seconds and the youth group.