Paul McCrum

Paul McCrum (born 1962) is an Irish former cricketer.[1][2] A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler,[3] he played 74 times for the Ireland cricket team between 1989 and 1998[4] including four first-class matches against Scotland[5] and 16 List A matches.[6] He also played for the Northern Ireland national cricket team in the cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.[7]

Paul McCrum

Personal information
Full name	Paul McCrum
Born	11 August 1962 Waringstown, County Down, Northern Ireland
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	Bowler
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998	Northern Ireland
1990–1998	Ireland
First-class debut	11 August 1990 Ireland v Scotland
Last First-class	9 August 1997 Ireland v Scotland
List A debut	27 June 1990 Ireland v Sussex
Last List A	10 September 1998 Northern Ireland v South Africa
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A ICC Trophy Matches 4 17 11 Runs scored 49 44 14 Batting average 16.33 5.50 7.00 100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 Top score 44* 16 7* Balls bowled 588 852 450 Wickets 5 21 15 Bowling average 68.60 31.85 18.26 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a Best bowling 3/56 3/26 4/51 Catches/stumpings 0/0 5/0 4/0
Source: CricketArchive, 24 November 2007

Career

Born 11 August 1962 in Waringstown, County Down, Northern Ireland, McCrum made his debut for Ireland in May 1989 when he played two matches against Northamptonshire. He next played the following year in two matches against New Zealand and two against Worcestershire. After a match against the MCC in Coleraine[4] he made his List A debut against Sussex in a NatWest Trophy match in June 1990.[6] This was followed by a match against Wales in July[4] and his first-class debut against Scotland in August.[5]

He went on an Irish tour to Zimbabwe in March 1991, averaging 29.91 with the ball on the tour, returning home to play against Middlesex, Free Foresters, the Duchess of Norfolk's XI, the MCC at Lord's and Wales. The following year, he played against Middlesex, Scotland, Durham, the MCC and twice against an England amateur XI.[4]

In 1993 Ireland gained associate membership of the International Cricket Council[8] and McCrum was a regular member of the side at the time, playing nine times that year, including internationals against Scotland, Australia, Wales and the Netherlands. He only appeared three times the following year however,[4] playing against Papua New Guinea, Gibraltar and the UAE in the 1994 ICC Trophy,[9] and he did not play at all in 1995.[4]

He returned to a regular place in the team in 1996, starting that year with four matches in the Benson & Hedges Cup.[6] This was followed by matches against Wales and the MCC[4] before a NatWest Trophy match against Sussex in Belfast. He then played for Ireland in the Triple Crown Tournament in Wales[10] and European Championship.[11]

In 1997, he represented Ireland at the 1997 ICC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur,[9] before matches in the summer against Middlesex, Somerset and Glamorgan in the Benson & Hedges Cup and against Yorkshire in the NatWest Trophy.[6] He then played again in the Triple Crown Tournament[12] before finishing the year with his final first-class match against Scotland[5] and a match against the MCC at Lord's. The following year would be the end of his international career. Following three matches in the Benson & Hedges Cup,[6] he played a match against Wales before finishing his Ireland career against South Africa. Though he never played again for the full Ireland team, he did play for Northern Ireland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia, playing once against South Africa.[6]

Statistics

In all matches for Ireland, Paul McCrum scored 355 runs at an average of 15.43, with a top score of 63 against Wales in July 1991, his only half-century. He took 106 wickets at an average of 32.32, with a best bowling performance of 5/52 against the MCC in June 1996, the only time he took five wickets in an innings.[4] He is one of only 15 players to take 100 wickets for Ireland.[13]

References

1. Cricinfo profile
2. "Paul McCrum: The cricketer who broke the mould". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
3. CricketArchive profile
4. CricketEurope Stats Zone profile
5. First-class matches played by Paul McCrum at CricketArchive
6. List A matches played by Paul McCrum at CricketArchive – 17 total, one of which was for Northern Ireland
7. Teams played for by Paul McCrum at CricketArchive
8. Ireland at CricketArchive
9. ICC Trophy matches played by Paul McCrum at CricketArchive
10. Ireland squad for the 1996 Triple Crown Tournament at CricketEurope
11. Ireland squad for the 1996 European Championship at CricketEurope
12. Ireland squad for the 1997 Triple Crown Tournament at CricketEurope
13. Top Wicket Takers for Ireland at CricketEurope Stats Zone