SHORTLY before striding out to bat against Leinster in the Sportsgear Cup Final at Clontarf, YMCA's former international all-rounder and interprovincial rugby player Jonathan Garth confided that this was to be his last game of cricket. Having recently procured a new set of clubs, future summers will be spent on the fairways rather than at the wicket. Some of the other YMCA players were sure that this sudden decision was due to the fact that Mars, Jupiter and Venus were recently in conjunction. In any case, when skipper Dave Starkey was eventually out shortly after lunch, Garth set out with the look of someone intending to finish with a blast. Ignoring the conventional guard-taking he soon began to flail with no little degree of abandon. One sweetly struck six into the pavilion was shortly followed by a gladly accepted chip to long-off. Perhaps a poor choice of club. One consolation is that Garth's valedictory game marked YMCA's fifth cup win in eight years.

It was little surprise that one of their other internationals, Alan Lewis, produced yet another final winning performance with both bat and ball. Leinster's most crucial missed opportunity was when Lewis survived a relatively comfortable chance to first slip before he had opened his account. The score then stood at seven for two, Ian Burns having played a loose shot off the bowling of Patrick O'Herlihy and Angus Dunlop being adjudged lbw to the same bowler. Starkey and Lewis set about the work of restoration, the Australian adopting a rather painstaking approach, while Lewis displayed a wide range of strokes, scoring at three times the rate of his partner. That Leinster restricted them to 110 for two from 39 overs by lunch was mainly due to Greg Sceney's fine control and some good support in the field.

Immediately after the break Starkey gave a return catch to Delany. After Garth's all too brief visit Mark Nulty provided valuable support for Lewis at a time when the innings could have faltered, ensuring a score in excess of 200. Lewis gave difficult chances on 6O and 107 and while he reached three figures with a snick to third man, these facts are fairly irrelevant as this was a fine knock, a reminder not only of what a good player he is, but also of his ability to excel on the big occasion. His 124, including 17 boundaries, was his third cup final century.

Despite the quick outfield, YMCA's final of 236 for 6 was always going to be a tall order for Leinster and the disastrous start to their innings was reminiscent of their last final, against Merrion in 1985, when they lost both their openers without scoring. On this occasion five batsmen had departed with the score on 17 and the contest was over. Such is YMCA's strength in depth that it was Neil Bailey, rather than one of their four international bowlers, who proved to be the main destroyer with an opening spell of four for 19. YMCA's professional approach, which takes in all aspects of the game. was very much in evidence as smart catches were taken by Garth, Starkey and Dunlop. Excessive displays of celebration were kept to a relative minimum. After tea, Leinster's remaining batsmen faced the task of 180 runs in 30 overs with only three wickets remaining. A few lusty blows and some good running between the wickets from Tom McDonnell and Sceney provided some temporary entertainment but a fine diving catch down the leg-side by Keith Bailey ended Sceney's innings and the final two wickets fell cheaply. Leinster will feel that they could have performed better and the supporters may have wished for a closer contest but the final deficit of 151 runs was a fair indication of YMCA's overall ability. Teatime rumours that Jonathan Garth had changed his mind were quickly dispelled as he was seen practicing his swing at mid-on.

By Ger Siggins