A quiet week in the non-first-class scene for the county players, with the wipe-out of a Second Eleven Trophy game between Somerset and Middlesex robbing at least three young Irish players of a chance to claim bragging rights.

Ironically, it was in the far north of England that saw most action, with Stuart Poynter turning out for Durham 2nds against Scotland A. The county won the three-match 50-over series 2-0, but Poynter didn’t play a huge role, making 11, 1 and 2.

Shane Getkate continued to impress for MCC Young Cricketers, taking 2-46 off 21 overs against a strong Notts 2nd XI, who included several internationals including Alex Hales, Paul Franks, Andre Adams and Ajmal Shahzad.
He took 0-45 in the second innings and scored 4 in his only time at bat.

Ben Wylie was the only one of Cambridge University’s three Irishmen to be selected against Oxford in the British University Premier League tie. Wylie opened the bowling and his figures of 10-1-33-1 kept Oxford to 199-9, which the light blues overtook in 39 overs.

Finally, not content with scoring 482 first-class runs in April (three short of the previous record, although Gary Balance and Alastair Cook both scored more this year) Ed Joyce whupped a rapid 41 off 27 balls in a T20 friendly against Oxfordshire last week. Ed retired on that score, setting up a huge total of 245-6.