March-21 2007 

Howzat – film-maker bowled over by cricket sensation

By Maria Tracey

It has all the makings of an epic movie. Last Saturday when the nation held its breath as Ireland narrowly missed out being crowned the Six Nation’s champions, another Irish sporting team was making its mark at the Cricket World Cup in Jamaica.

And as Ireland basked in the glory of a shock three wicket victory over the once world champions, Pakistan, Sligo man, Paul Davey was there recording it all. Just over a year ago, Paul met Ireland’s wicket-keeper, Niall O’Brien in Australia and decided, with the Irish team going in as underdogs to the World Cup, to follow the 15 cricketers to document their stories and the event itself. For him, the attraction of such a profile was the fact that these were just ordinary men.

Andre Botha, who left South Africa as he thought he wasn’t good enough to play international cricket, came up with dream figures of 8-4-5-2 while wicketkeeper-batsman Niall O’Brien was the hero with a gutsy 72. And captain Trent Johnston, despite damaging shoulder ligaments while taking a breathtaking catch, came up with a six to score the winning runs. It is stories like these that inspired Davey to pick up his camera and follow the Irish cricketers. “It’s something I can relate to, since I have an ordinary job in Sydney. I am an IT guy, but during the World Cup here I have turned into a filmmaker.

The key thing is the fact that these players will go back to their normal lives after all this,” he said. “I had gone to meet Mooney (Irish pace bowler) during Christmas and he got off from his tractor to come and meet me. And I tell you, he was quite nervous since this was during the lunch break.” He added that Mooney catch at the end of the Pakistan innings, was in true GAA style. “He soloed the ball after catching it and it was a tribute to the Irish fans. They loved it. These guys don’t just limit themselves to cricket, they are multi-talented,” said Paul.

Now Paul plans to edit his 10 hours of extensive footage to a condensed 50 minutes for the festival circuit and eventual television release in cricket-playing countries. He explained that such a story transcends all boundaries and prejudges, and shows a united Ireland to the world.

“It is cricket-centric but it is also about the political situation in Ireland and the religious divide,” said Paul. “At the ground, one saw the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland supporters mixing with each other. This has broken some borders and barriers.” As Ireland now go on to play the West Indies this Friday, you can forget last year’s Ryder Cup, as this is one sporting occasion that will truly be epic.