Captains gather for pre-tournament photo shoot
As the ICC U19 Women’s World Cup gets underway in Malaysia, North Down Cricket Club has some interesting connections to the tournament.
Julia Webster, Ireland’s team physiotherapist, is a familiar face at the club. She runs the North Down Physiotherapy Clinic in Holywood, and her kids, Rebecca and Isaac, are both promising youth players. Julia’s husband, Chris, has recently become involved in club administration, further strengthening the family’s growing contribution to North Down.
Former North Down player James Cameron-Dow, a former Ireland international and now Cricket Ireland Women’s spin coach, is serving as Assistant Coach for the U19 squad. JCD was a popular figure at The Green and continues to keep a close eye on the club’s progress. Rumour has it he’ll be running some ‘masterclass’ sessions with our young spinners in the coming weeks—something for our budding talents to look forward to!
One particularly fascinating link to the squad is Merrion’s talented young wicketkeeper/batter, Ally Boucher. Ally’s dad, Kenny Boucher, was a seamer for North Down in the early 80s. While the Boucher family’s ties to the club are more historical than current, it’s fantastic to see another connection to North Down represented on the world stage.
With all the work we’re putting into developing cricket at every level—especially for girls and women—it hopefully won’t be long until North Down is represented on the field at this level too.
Best of luck to the U19 girls, and their backroom staff, as they take on the world!
