Pocket Profile - Cormac McLoughlin - The Hills Cricket Club in Skerries, Ireland

The Hills Cricket Club | April 09, 2024

Cormac McLoughlin has been a long serving player for The Hills Cricket Club in Skerries Ireland.

He’s has played first class cricket in Ireland and played in London, New Zealand, and Australia.

The current coach of The Hills Cricket Club is former NSW opening batter Jeremy Bray.

Here’s our quick pocket profile with Cormac McLoughlin

What year were you born?

1994

Tell us about your cricket journey. Where did you start junior cricket and the clubs you’ve played for in senior cricket?

I started out playing junior cricket at North County Cricket Club in Balrothery, County Dublin. When I was 17, I moved to The Hills Cricket Club in Skerries, County Dublin where I’ve played premier men’s cricket for the past 11 years.

Over the years playing junior and senior cricket I was extremely fortunate to get the opportunity to travel the world and play with some seriously talented players and teams. I represented Ireland and Leinster at junior level before later representing Leinster and Munster at senior level within Ireland’s newly reformed List A/First Class Structure.

In terms of clubs, I had the privilege of playing with outside of Ireland, first I joined Richmond Cricket Club in South West London while I was studying my masters. During that time, I was part of a premier side that featured Ben Compton who I’m privileged to call a friend. We managed to win the Middlesex League and Cup Double that year which was the first time the club had done it in 20 years. I then went from London to Sydney’s Central Coast where I represented Lisarow Ourimbah Cricket Club in Central Coast Country Cricket Competition.

The overseas bug caught me again last year when I travelled to Rotorua in New Zealand to play for Central Indians Cricket Club who play in the Bay of Plenty Premier Cricket Competition within Northern Districts. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with weather that time round but was still a great experience.

Getting the opportunity to be an overseas player is something I’ll always cherish, and I was so lucky to be looked after so well everywhere I’ve gone. The thing that’s probably kept bringing me back every summer is the people and the craic!

If you can share with our readers how you would describe yourself as a cricketer?

Batsman who’ll bowl a few straight breaks when required

What do you enjoy most about playing cricket?

Sharing a beer after a hard-fought win with teammates or naturally as a batter scoring a 100 is a really satisfying thing to do.

What’s been your most memorable moment in cricket so far?

Hard to pick one but I imagine winning the All-Ireland cup with The Hills in 2014 and getting man of the match.

Who’s your favourite all-time cricketer?

Brett Lee

Who is the fastest bowler you’ve played against?

David Delany

Who is the best spinner you’ve played against?

Yaqoob Ali Shah

Who played the best innings you’ve seen firsthand playing with or against? 

I saw Max Sorenson play some ridiculous innings’ – best I’ve seen was probably a hundred he scored in Rush CC off about 22 or 23 balls.

Who is the best wicket keeper you’ve had the good fortune to play with?

Mark Donegan

Who are the two players you’ve come to admire most in your club in terms of skills and competitive spirit?

The two guys I’d admire would be Luke Clinton & Tomás Rooney Murphy. Both have ran in hard for years with the ball for our 1^st XI.

What are the two attributes you like to see in a captain and leader?

I tend to admire when captains/leaders are good at reading the room. There’s nothing worse than a leader who kicking a group that is already down. I also value when leaders aren’t afraid to be vulnerable themselves or admit fault/embrace feedback from the group.

Which singer/band would you like to see perform live?

Metallica

Who’s the king of selfies at your club?

Sean “Sandy” McNicholl

Favourite location, city or country as a holiday destination?

Rome/Italy in general

Who’s been the biggest influence on your career so far?

John Wills

Where do you find inspiration that gets you through challenging times?

Probably from my mum

Who are the three people in the world you’d love to meet and talk to?

Peyton Manning, Roy Keane, AB De Villiers

Roy Keane

What do you like to do to relax outside cricket?

Concerts, exercise, golf or watch other sport with mates.

What do you do for work?

I’m working as a Psychology Assistant in the Health Service in Ireland. I’m hoping to become a fully qualified Clinical Psychologist/Sport Psychologist with my own private practice. Fingers crossed I could end up working in cricket down the line! If this is something that’d interest anyone looking to connect, I’ll share a link to my LinkedIn and Sport Psychology Instagram page.

Do you have a favourite quote?

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretsky

What are your goals for the 2024 season?

Score as many hundreds as I can for my club and enjoy my cricket.

Can we ask, what would it mean to you to play first class cricket?

I had the good fortune of doing this twice for my province Leinster in 2019. Fingers crossed we get more first class cricket here in Ireland and I could potentially get that opportunity again.