Lewis Patrick “Podge” Hughes joined Malahide CC in 1963 for the second half of the season having played the first half with Dublin University CC (Trinity).  He was 20 at the time.  He had strong Malahide connections where his father Cyril and uncles Lewis and Ivan all previously captained teams.  He spent five and a half years at the Village until the end of 1968 when he returned to Clontarf CC where he began his cricket and where his family lived.

Podge won the O’Grady Cup (Best Bowler in Leinster) in 1963 with 49 wickets at a very miserly average of 7.61 (30 wickets for Trinity and 19 for Malahide).   He was a fast bowler with a classical side-on action.

In 1964 he played a key role in bringing the Leinster Senior League title to Malahide for the first time in its history.  Podge formed a formidable opening bowling partnership with Dougie Goodwin which was pivotal in the League success.  He was also a very capable hard hitting batsman.  His best innings for the Village was in 1964 when scoring 86* in a title winning undefeated partnership of 152 with Paddy Neville against Pembroke in Sydney Parade.  Pa Neville finished off the match in great style with three sixes in three balls.

In total, Podge turned out 88 times for Malahide and took 244 wickets averaging 44 wickets per season.  He scored 1008 runs with the bat.  He was also a brilliant outfielder with a trademark flat throw from the deep into the keeper’s hands.

In 1965 he took 62 wickets which was his best ever season with the ball in Leinster cricket in terms of wickets taken.

He opened the bowling for Malahide in all three successive Senior Cup Finals versus Old Belvedere in 1964, 65 and 66.  Belvo won all three!

Often he produced his best against a former club and so his top performance for the Village was 7/23 against Tarf in 1965.  In 1980 he blew Malahide away with 7/21.

The precursor to the T20 competition was the Alan Murray Midweek 20 Over Cup.  Podge’s all round ability contributed greatly to Malahide’s dominance when they won the Cup in 1964, 66 and 67.

He gained his first Irish cap in September 1965 versus Hampshire CC in Castle Avenue.  He went on to win 13 caps.

“Podge was very challenging to face.  He was a fast, aggressive bowler.  Always at you.  No width.  No sighters.  He was very accurate with little or no time to get on the back foot.  The Dougie Podge combination was the best around at the time.  Dougie (Goodwin) accurately nagging away and Podge at the other end, attacking.  And of course, all on uncovered and often tricky wickets” comments former international Ray Daly who should know!  Ray opened the batting for Old Belvedere in all three cup finals versus Malahide and played against and with Podge on many occasions.  “Excluding Rodney Bernstein, Podge was the quickest around.”  Ray himself went on to captain Malahide to win the League and Cup double in 1971.

“You always got 100% from Podge.  He was a great all round player.  As a bowler he was quick and could bowl a short ball!” said former international Gerry O’Brien who was a teammate and captain of Podge during his Malahide days.  “You would have to include him” replies Gerry in answer to the question ‘Would he feature in an all time Malahide team?’

One other notable if not incredible statistic.  Podge played in nine Leinster Senior Cup Finals in 12 years between 1960 and 1971 for three clubs, Clontarf, Malahide and Trinity.  He won three, two for Trinity and one for Tarf.

Podge’s brother William also played senior cricket for Malahide CC from 1960-1964.  His cousin Alan played for Malahide and also opened the bowling for Ireland.  In fact Podge and Alan opened the bowling on occasion for North Leinster.

Podge was a fantastic cricketer and his time at Malahide coincided with a very successful period in its history.

May he Rest in Peace.

Statistics – (compiled by Derek Scott)

Malahide CC 1963-68
Matches          Wickets           Average
88                    244                  11.61

Best bowling:  7/23 v Clontarf, 1965
5 wkts in innings: 15

Runs scored:   1008
50’s: 3
HS: 86*

Led Malahide Bowling Averages: 1965-1966
Led Malahide Batting Averages: 1967
50 wkts in a season: 1964-65
Played 56 matches in a row from 1964-1967

Career stats 1959-1987: Clontarf CC, Dublin University CC, Malahide CC
Matches          Wickets           Average
476                  886                  14.46

Runs                Average           Catches
4984                15.87               100

LP Hughes Leinster Senior Cup Finals 1960-1972

Brian Gilmore 2022