The competition in Malaga consisted of four group games, finals day, with the goal of Championship Week (Oct 15-19) for those who won the group.

Previous winners include England XI (2021), Netherlands XI (2022), England XI (2023). The ECC T10 is an annual tournament played by European national teams, under the umbrella of the European Cricket Network.

32 teams are competing in this year’s tournament with 20 teams making up the the ECC Premier Division divided in to four groups of five. Ireland Academy were drawn in Group A with France, Portugal, Guernsey and Scotland XI.

This was the third time Ireland Academy had travelled to compete. In the the last two previous editions they had brought the youngest squad of all the competing nations while this year the average age of the squad was only 20, and included five Ireland U-17s players.

DAY ONE

3 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Portugal – Cartama Oval

• Portugal won the toss and elected to put Ireland Academy into bat.
• Jason van der Merwe immediately had the bowlers under pressure with 72 off just 20 deliveries.
• The Portuguese bowlers then came back into the contest with Jeremy Martins (Malahide) the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 9 from his two overs.
• The Ireland Academy bowlers had a dream start in trying to defend 139 having Portugal 0-1, 4-2 and then eventually 15-4.
• The chasing side then got back into the contest largely thanks to Martins who scored 51 from just 13 deliveries.
• It was then all on Matthew Weldon (2-15) to defend 15 in the final over for which he received the Player of the Match award.

Scorecard here.

Ireland Academy beat Portugal by 8 runs

3 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Guernsey – Cartama Oval

• Ireland Academy were put into the bat for the second time on Day One after losing the toss.
• Jason van der Merwe again started strong with the bat but it was Cameron Melly who this time led the way with 69 (31), assisted by skipper Jared Wilson who scored 31 off 12.
• The Guernsey bowlers continued to chip away with wickets, but Ireland Academy still posted a strong 146-5.
• In response, Ireland Academy had Guernsey in trouble at first at 1-1, 4-2 and then 5-3.
• From there the chasing side found it very difficult to stay in the game, eventually reaching 74-5.
• Matthew Weldon was again the pick of the bowlers with 2-14 (2) while spinner Alex Armstrong was also impressive with his control.

Scorecard here.

Ireland Academy beat Guernsey by 72 runs

DAY TWO

4 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Scotland XI – Cartama Oval

• For the first time in the tournament this year, Ireland Academy captain Jared Wilson won the toss but elected to bat first in keeping with previous performances.
• Despite losing Jason van der Merwe and Seamus Lynch early on however there was still enough depth in the batting to put the Scotland XI bowlers under pressure.
• Cameron Melly top scored with 56 from 20, but Wilson was not far behind with 51 also from 20.
• Would 164 for 5 be enough? Well it certainly helped taking early wickets.
• Thomas Ford took the first, but it soon became the Josh Wilson show who went for 4, W, W, W, 0, W in his first over (eventually finishing with 5-24).
• From there the Scotland XI batters never really recovered their chase, and Ireland Academy were able to close out the win.

Scorecard here.

Ireland Academy beat Scotland XI by 19 runs

4 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs France – Cartama Oval

• Another first, Ireland Academy bowled first after France won the toss and decided they would prefer to chase.
• This time around, the Ireland Academy management chose to rest Matthew Weldon, as well as give Jason van der Merwe a chance with the ball for more depth.
• Scott MacBeth was the pick of the bowlers with 3-18, plus two catches and run out to help keep France to 136-7.
• In response, Ireland Academy lost Brian Dunphy early on but Seamus Lynch (79) and Jason van der Merwe (45*) combined yet again to break the back of the chase.
• Lynch was dismissed very late on which brought Cameron Melly to the crease who helped deliver them to the win with two overs remaining.
• Victory meant four wins out of four in Group A for the “Baby Greens” (as they were dubbed by Vinny ‘Mr Maximo’ Sandhu), and that as the first-placed team they would be taking on the second-placed, Scotland XI, in their first match of Finals Day.

Scorecard here.

Ireland Academy beat France by 8 wickets

DAY THREE (Group A Finals Day)

5 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Scotland XI – Cartama Oval

• As the top-placed team in Group A, Ireland Academy were now taking on Scotland XI in a first place vs second place clash at the top of the table for Finals Day.
• Ireland Academy won the toss and elected to bat first – a move which had brought quite a bit of joy so far at the tournament.
• Thanks to 36 off 17 from Scott MacBeth and 29 off 18 from Dan Murray, they posted 126-9 from their 10 overs.
• In reply however, Scotland XI were able to chase down the total for the loss of just two wickets.
• The winner of this fixture moved straight into the Group A final at the end of the day, however the loss now meant the Baby Greens would have to play Portugal who had won their Eliminator game in the first match of the morning. Winner would then earn a spot in the final immediately after.

Scorecard here.

Scotland XI beat Ireland Academy by 8 wickets

5 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Portugal – Cartama Oval

• Ireland Academy needed to bounce back quickly to have a shot at the Group A final.
• Having won the toss again, they opted to bowl first this time around for the best chance of success.
• Portugal posted 147-3 from their 10 overs largely thanks to 72 off 33 balls from Leinster Lightning’s Chris de Freitas.
• In response, the Baby Greens chased down the total for only the loss of two wickets.
• Jason van der Merwe continued his good form with 52 off just 19 to power Ireland Academy in dramatic fashion to the Group A final under lights immediately after.
• Crucially it also showed how the side could bounce back after the earlier loss against Scotland XI having previously won four in four.

Scorecard here.

Ireland Academy beat Portugal by 8 wickets

5 OCTOBER Ireland Academy vs Scotland XI – Cartama Oval (Group A final)

• The Baby Greens having forced their way into the final after their loss earlier in the day opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Could they storm their way to Championship week winning three in a row?
• Scotland XI posted a formidable 142/6 from their 10 overs having been put in to bat.
• Josh Wilson again proved very effective with the ball, taking 3-11 from his two overs to go with his hat-trick just the day before while skipper Jared Wilson also contributed with 2-33.
• In response, Ireland Academy lost Seamus Lynch early on and then Jason van der Merwe.
• Cameron Melly helped to consolidate the chase with an explosive 62 off 32, however another contribution was needed for support as wickets continued to fall.
• The Baby Greens eventually fell short by 22 runs meaning they would not be progressing to Championship week later in the month despite some incredible performances from the playing group during the week.

Scorecard here.

Scotland XI beat Ireland Academy by 22 runs

As a result of the win, Scotland XI would be heading to Championship Week (Oct 15-19). Ireland Academy had progressed the previous year but it wasn’t to be this time around.

Several players had stood out during the week with remarkable performances from Josh Wilson, Seamus Lynch, Scott MacBeth, Cameron Melly among several others. The overall strength of Group A was notable too.

Both Matthew Humphreys and Gavin Hoey impressed recently during stints with the senior Men’s side against South Africa. Having both also played at previous editions of the ECC T10 it’s well worth keeping an eye on this current group.