Cricketer Alessandro Morris has just completed his first season playing in Ireland whilst working for Walkers Law Firm – and his fast bowling improved so much that he was the league’s second-highest wicket taker.
Morris finished with 30 wickets, which helped Malahide have an exceptional season and get promoted to the top tier. They were in the finals of the Senior Cup, losing to the All-Ireland champions, Clontarf.
Malahide is about 10 miles north of Dublin. It has the biggest cricket venue in Ireland, with a capacity of 11,000. Malahide won the Leinster Senior League Division 2 title this year.
Morris said that Malahide has some exciting young talent, great people at the club and a world-class cricket field.
He added, “With the likes of Peter Chase – who has made the Durham first team this year and started with five wickets in his first game – to the upcoming Cameron Shoebridge, Ian Guerin, James Garrigan and Allan Reynolds, the future looks bright at the club.
“It was a really good experience for me and should help when I play for Cayman in the International Cricket Council Americas T20 tournament in November and next year in the World Cricket League.”
Morris, 32, plays for Greenies here. He is a lead systems administrator and is on a two-year secondment, ending October 2015.
He is grateful to Walkers for supporting cricket in Cayman and giving him the chance to play in Ireland, as well as working for them.
Throughout his time away, Morris has been in touch with the Cayman Cricket Association, which closely monitors his progress.
Morris felt fortunate to work with Reinhardt Strydom, the Malahide player-coach.
“Reinhardt has extensive knowledge of the game and works well with the team getting us ready every week,” he said. “Personally, he worked on my bowling right through the season, which allowed me to end up with 30 wickets.”
Morris was happy to be a part of this exciting time in Malahide and is looking forward to next year in Irish cricket’s top flight.
“My hope is to see our talented young cricketers in Cayman getting this kind of exposure to improve their game and I am hoping that the strategy going forward back home will facilitate this,” he said.
“The only way we will be able to compete effectively on the international scene is if we can get our youngsters playing at a much higher level.”
Morris believes corporate Cayman needs to step up and copy Walkers and support local youngsters. He thinks it will improve overall standards in Cayman, not just in cricket.
His ultimate ambition is to help Cayman reach the finals of the World Cup.
His season’s highlights were the two wickets he took that Malahide needed in the last game to secure the title “and celebrating after the game the Irish way at the Cricket club was epic.”
Playing Clontarf in the Senior Cup final against some of Ireland’s best was great as well, he said.
Adapting to the chilly Irish weather took a while. “The cold in Ireland takes some getting used to but I soaked up the experience and loved every minute.
“The summer was great, Ireland is a very green, beautiful country which compensates for the cold,” he said.
His advice for any Cayman cricketers wanting to go to Ireland and the U.K. for experience is to reach out to clubs, as many of them offer programs where youngsters can go over for the summer to play for the season.
“Companies can help our cricket develop as lots of them do business here in Dublin and can do the same as Walkers and allow Caymanians a chance to be employed and get this kind of experience.”
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