‘Mr Muckamore’ John McCormick hoping for Challenge Cup success

As the sun bakes the Moylena outfield, the 76-year-old walks over the turf he has called home since the age of eight when he played in his first cricket match in the Graham Cup, pointing out where the old clubhouse used to be amongst other details.

Dubbed ‘Mr Muckamore’ by many, you can tell how much this Antrim club means to McCormick as we make our way over to the far side of the ground and sit down on the seat that is dedicated to his late father, Paddy, a former player and president of Muckamore.

Muckamore’s most successful period can be tracked back to the decade between 1962 and 1972, where they won one Challenge Cup and made another three finals - all of which involved McCormick who made his firsts’ debut aged just 13.

He was also captain of the 1970 side that shared the Premier League title with Waringstown. Since then major silverware and senior finals have been hard to come by for Muckamore - but they have the chance to change that today against Instonians in the Challenge Cup semi-final at Shaw’s Bridge.

McCormick has played in every decade since the 1950s and recalls his last first-team match against North Down, wicket-keeping at the age of 60.

“They had Taimur Khan, Peter Shields and the Haires, a really good side,” he said. “I kept wicket in that match and Peter Shields often says ‘we were in a huddle and there was this wee grey-haired man standing in the middle shouting at them all’.

“We had a big quick bowler called Gary Hunter and he was as quick as anyone I’ve ever seen, I hadn’t kept wickets for about 10 years but I thought I could still manage it.

“Hunter bowled a couple outside the off stump which were comfortable, but the fourth ball nipped in and sailed past me for four. I heard Gary say quite loudly ‘Where did you pick that old man from? What’s he on the field for?’.

“The next over, someone nicked wide and I managed to get my hand on it and catch it. Of course all was forgiven then. That was the last big match I played in the Premier League.”

Their Challenge Cup triumph came in 1963 with a 119-run victory over Downpatrick at Ormeau, with McCormick scoring 50* in the second innings to secure a historic maiden title.

“I was 19 and got 50,” he recalls. “You played your cricket on the Saturday and when you reached the final we did something different so played two innings.

“A lot of people would argue that the game was over in the first innings, and quite often it was.

“There was about 40 of a difference and then we scored another 170-odd to push it over 200 and we won the game.

“My memory of playing in it was that it was a big occasion and with the whole team made up from the village, our mothers came down to make the tea and coming to the cricket was a day out for them.

“What was different about it was that we had a balanced team, we batted slightly stronger than our bowling, which I think every team should do.

“We were very strong with our spin bowling with Archie McQuilken, his nephew Archie Campbell, who was a lovely bowler who had one hand.

“He was a terrific bowler who was very accurate and I took 30/40 victims behind the stumps with those guys.”

McQuilken was the star of that team and scored 82 and took figures of 5/40 in the 1963 final and also went on to play cricket for Ireland, taking a five-wicket haul on his debut against the Combined Services in Belfast. In total, he scored over 10,000 runs and took over 1,000 wickets in all forms of cricket, and McCormick recalls the impact McQuilken had on that Muckamore side.

“It was just a group of local lads that all stayed together,” he said. “The most consistent of all was Archie, who played for Ireland, football for Glenavon and finished his career with Chimney Corner.

“He was the height of five foot and played cricket day in, day out at the back of his house.

“He was a fabulous cricketer and a winner, he drove us.

“We played every night, competitive cricket, local leagues here where the first team broke up into different sides, that is what makes you better.”

Muckamore fell on tough times after that period of success, with six members of the squad leaving for various reasons and they were relegated from the top division in 1974 - the same year they celebrated their centenary.

Now back in the Premier League and an established club in the top flight, Neil Gill - a Muckamore man through-and-through - will be tasked with leading his men back into a Challenge Cup final for the first time in 47 years.

“I played with him when he was only 11 years old for the fourths,” McCormick recalls of Gill. “I will never forget at the old Lurgan Park he was the height of nothing in the long grass, he was never out of this place when he was a young boy and he loved his cricket.

“If anybody deserves success, it’s Neil.

“Neil could have played in any Premier League team but stayed here with his club, his commitment is unbelievable.

“I have the greatest respect for him, as well as everything else there aren’t many better club cricketers.

“He is a very astute captain, works hard with the team.

“I always say to him that I wish he was playing when I was around because he was exactly what we hadn’t.

“If he had been in the team I was in, we would have been a much better side.”