The Irish interest in the 2nd XI county season petered out when it emerged that neither Paul Stirling not Andy Balbirnie would be in action for Middlesex in the championship final at Radlett.

Two uncapped Irishmen, Barry McCarthy and Mark Adair, were fished out of the final Hanley Energy Interprovincial at Rathmines by their counties. But as the 2nd XI season is over and both Durham and Warwickshire are safe in Division 1 of the championship, perhaps the pair are in line for a first-class debut in the closing games of the season.

McCarthy was also in action for his English club, Gateshead Fell last weekend, and bowled 6-1-16-0 as Blaydon were bowled out for 156. The Pembroke man then made 8, bowled by Durham off-spinner Ryan Buckley.

Bobby Gamble is also still going, making 27 not out, the second highest score as Plumtree totalled 168 against Farnsfield. That was far too much for the oppo, who were all out for 48.

Gamble wasn't needed to bowl on Saturday, but as he has already bowled 755 overs already this summer that's probably excusable.

Altogether, 16 Irishmen have played for the second XIs of English counties, while we have also covered a half-dozen others who played top level club cricket in the UK, and five more who played for universities sides.

Below are tables for the Irish players in the three county competitions (which includes Irishmen who are no longer available to Ireland, such as Morgan, Moor and Rankin).

Stirling was top of the averages in the 2nd XI championship for batters that had played four or more innings.

Second XI Championship batting averages
M I NO R HS Avge 100 50
PR Stirling Mx 4 6 2 640 254 160.00 2 3
PJ Moor Sy 2 4 1 148 62 49.33 - 1
WTS Porterfield Wa 2 4 0 180 81 45.00 - 2
G H Dockrell Sm 5 5 1 169 95 42.25 - 2
A Balbirnie Mx 4 6 0 242 205 40.33 1 -
W J Gorvin Ha 1 1 0 36 36 36.00 - -
S W Poynter Du 7 12 1 333 119 30.27 1 2
S R Thompson Sy 2 3 0 81 61 27.00 - 1
R N Gamble Sm 6 5 1 84 22 21.00 - -
J B Tector Gm 1 2 0 37 35 18.50 - -
B J McCarthy Du 8 9 3 99 25* 16.50 - -
T J Murtagh Mx 2 3 1 33 16 16.50 - -
M R Adair Wa 8 7 2 68 24* 13.60 - -
A W Gorvin Ha 4 5 0 54 22 10.80 - -
Second XI Championship bowling averages
O M R W Avge Best 5wi
T J Murtagh Mx 55 18 159 12 13.25 5-23 1
R N Gamble Sm 170.1 54 486 28 17.35 5-54 1
G H Dockrell Sm 120.1 32 329 11 29.90 3-24 -
B J McCarthy Du 167.4 31 660 20 33.00 5-34 1
M R Adair Wa 166 28 624 16 39.00 4-63 -
W J Gorvin Ha 1 0 4 0 -
PR Stirling Mx 4 0 25 0 -
A Balbirnie Mx 10 2 33 0 -
S R Thompson Sy 25 6 101 0 -
Second XI Trophy batting averages
M I NO R HS Avge 100 50
EJG Morgan Mx 1 1 0 116 116 116.00 1 -
SW Poynter Du 6 5 2 152 67 50.66 - 1
A W Gorvin Ha 3 3 1 99 40 49.50 - -
J B Tector Gm 2 2 0 91 91 45.50 - 1
R N Gamble Sm 4 3 2 43 25 43.00 - -
B J McCarthy Du 8 3 1 57 33* 28.50 - -
G H Dockrell Sm 3 2 0 34 29 17.00 - -
S R Thompson Sy 1 1 0 16 16 16.00 - -
M R Adair Wa 6 6 0 70 27 11.66 - -
P J Moor Sy 1 1 1 1* 1 - - -
Second XI Trophy bowling averages
O M R W Avge Best Ec/rate
B J McCarthy Du 52 3 292 12 24.33 4-50 5.61
M R Adair Wa 47 5 277 9 30.77 4-19 5.89
R N Gamble Sm 22 1 110 3 36.66 2-37 5.00
G H Dockrell Sm 24 1 127 3 42.33 1-33 5.29
S R Thompson Sy 4 0 25 0 - - 6.25
A W Gorvin Ha 3 0 29 0 - - 9.66
Second XI Twenty20 batting strike rates
M I NO R HS Avge S/R 100 50
P R Stirling Mx 2 2 0 156 116 78.00 152.94 1 -
B J McCarthy Du 11 7 3 67 16* 16.75 142.55 - -
WTS Porterfield Wa 3 3 0 73 53 24.33 140.38 - 1
K J O'Brien Le 2 2 0 38 30 19.00 131.03 - -
A Balbirnie Mx 3 3 2 95 51* 95.00 126.66 - 1
S W Poynter Du 8 5 0 106 44 21.20 117.77 - -
P J Moor Sy 6 5 0 47 22 9.40 106.81 - -
G H Dockrell Sm 4 4 1 43 32 14.33 104.87 - -
M R Adair Wa 11 3 2 9 6* 9.00 100.00 - -
R N Gamble Sm 5 1 1 1 1* - 100.00 - -
W B Rankin Wa 1 0
Second XI Twenty20 bowling economy rates
O M R W Avge Ec/R Best
W B Rankin Wa 4 1 9 3 3.00 2.25 3-9
G H Dockrell Sm 13 0 67 7 9.57 5.15 4-22
P R Stirling Mx 7 0 38 2 19.00 5.42 1-15
B J McCarthy Du 37 0 271 16 16.93 7.32 3-20
K J O'Brien Le 8 0 60 3 20.00 7.50 2-28
A Balbirnie Mx 6.1 0 52 2 26.00 8.43 2-25
M R Adair Wa 31.2 0 273 10 27.30 8.71 3-15
R N Gamble Sm 13 0 118 3 39.33 9.07 1-11