A weekend to remember for the Munster Reds



By Gerard Mulreaney (@gerardmulreaney

The Munster Reds headed to Pembroke Cricket Club at the weekend, to the inaugural Haley Energy T20 Festival of Cricket, as the only team not to win a game in the competition. 

Having lost heavily to the Leinster Lightning in their opening game of the season, the Reds lost a close game to the North West Warriors, before losing to the Northern Knights by 39 runs. 

On Friday the Reds faced the Warriors and after they set them a target of 162, 19 year-old Stephen Doheny steeped up with a career best effort of 64 off 43 balls. He was ably assisted by Robert Forrest who scored 36, as Munster ran out winners by 6 wickets. It was the teams first ever victory at the highest level in Ireland, with the Reds having only been formed in 2017.

Unsurprisingly, after the euphoria of the win the day previously, they followed that up with a defeat to the Knights on Saturday. However, with the Lightning having been crowned champions after their win over the Warriors, Munster took advantage on the Sunday by beating them by just 2 runs to make it a weekend to remember for the men from the South. 

I caught up with their captain for the weekend, New Zealander Jeremy Benton, after what was a momentous occasion for his side and first asked him how it felt to get the two big wins. He said, “The two wins were massive for cricket in Munster. Although we hadn’t won any games, the feeling in the team was still positive. We had been getting closer and closer, so coming into the weekend we had full belief that we could beat all the teams we would come up against.”

“It was one of the more rewarding feelings, winning that first game and all the boys were pretty ecstatic about it. It was a full team performance, and everyone played their part. Following the win, I think it helped the players confidence as it showed that we actually could do it, rather than just be optimistic. So it was cool to go out and play against Leinster with nothing to lose in what turned out to be a great game of cricket,” added Benton. 

He was named Reds captain for the weekend’s festival of cricket but he said that his team-mates made it quite easy for him, “Yes, it was awesome getting the chance to captain the team over the IP20 weekend. The normal captain, Jack Tector, does an awesome job, so I looked to carry on from his leadership. All the boys know their roles really well so it makes the captaincy a lot easier.”

The Hanley Energy T20 Festival over the weekend was such a massive success, with all six games live-streamed around the world to over 70,000 people, that surely it will become a regular feature in the years to come. Benton was equally impressed, “It was great to see all the support for people watching on the live stream or following it online. I’m sure it will add to the IP20 competition as well, with 4 competitive teams playing throughout the year.”

The Munster Reds, only formed in 2017, have made massive strides in such a short space of time. Following their success, not just over the weekend, they will surely be putting pressure on the powers that be to be included in the IP50 competition next year. It’s something Benton would like to see happen, “I hope the wins can encourage more people to strive to play for the Munster Reds in years to come. It would be great to play more games as a team next year, whether it is in the 50 over competition, or even warm-up games. I believe we can be a great asset to the competition.” 

“I think this year showed what the team is capable of, which is exciting not just for the team, but cricket in Ireland in general. We look to play a positive brand of cricket and enjoy ourselves. If we can continue to do that, I believe we can push for more wins in the IPT20 and be genuine title contenders in the coming years. I also think it is important for the team to play in the IP50 next year as it will help grow the game in Munster as well as building our team.”



Benton (pictured above with Lightening captain George Dockrell) continued, “I think there would be a lot of positives for Munster if we could play in the IP50 next year. As we have shown this weekend, we are able to compete and beat the best teams. So it would be great to carry that on into the 50 over competition. I believe with the players that we have in our squad, it would suit them and they would thrive in the longer format too. Then from this we can hopefully play in the interpros in years to come.”

When asked how he ended up playing for the Reds the 23 year-old, who had played in the McDonalds Super Smash T20 competition for his hometown club Canterbury, said it was an interesting story. “I was actually all lined up to go and play cricket at Hampshire in England, on an exchange with Canterbury Cricket. However, when I was applying for a visa I became aware that the ECB had tightened their laws so I was unable to go and play. So I then contacted some clubs in Ireland to see if there was any opportunity to play there. I was very fortunate to get the awesome opportunity to play for Cork County Cricket Club for the summer. I then played a few games for them and was selected for the first game for the Munster Reds against the Leinster Lightning.”

With the Reds a fairly new team, did he like being part of a team starting more or less from the ground up. He said, “To be honest, it’s a new experience for me. I think most of the teams I have played in have all been well established. So it’s an exciting thing to be a part of. I’m sure we can build from this year and play our own brand of cricket that will be successful in competitions to come.”

On his own performances for the Reds, where he took 6 wickets including 3/18 against the Knights (including the wicket of Ireland’s T20 captain Gary Wilson), Benton said, “I was reasonably satisfied with my own game throughout the 6 matches. It was nice to get a couple of wickets and a bit of a bat at the end of the innings. It was a good challenge bowling in the power play too.”

The Reds are working hard on their underage structure, which is vital to the growth of the game in the region, and Benton can see signs of progress already in his short time there, “It looks like they are moving in the right direction. There seems to be very good opportunities for up and coming cricketers. It’s great to see young players such as Diarmuid Carey and Seanan Jones getting higher honours and performing at the next level.”

Benton was part of the New Zealand U19 squad for the 2014 Cricket World Cup in the UAE. He played in all three of his countries matches against Sri Lanka, the UAE and England. He took 3 wickets and scored 3 runs in the tournament, which ended disappointingly, as New Zealand finished in 10th place. However, he does Still harbour International ambitions, “Yes 100%, that’s my main sporting goal, to play international cricket. It has always been my dream to play for the blackcaps. If opportunities for other nations (like Ireland in the future) do pop up, then I will definitely push my case for them too.”

With the Reds season coming to a close following the weekend’s T20 action Benton and his team-mates return to their clubs for the remainder of the summer. Benton has a lot to look forward to, “Yes, pretty much. I’m looking forward to finishing off the season with Cork County, and hopefully I’ll be able to contribute in the games we have. I am also playing for the Munster Heat in the Allan Murray Cup (Leinster T20), where we have a quarter-final coming up against Clontarf in a couple of weeks. Following my Ireland season I am going to Jamaica for 3 weeks, to play and train, then back to New Zealand just in time for the start of the season there.”

Pictures by Cricket Leinster 



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