Nestled in the shadow of the Mourne mountains and by the Moneycarragh River, the Meadow, home to Dundrum CC, is one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in Ireland.

Despite the damage to the pitch, Dundrum’s chairman of selectors Jeff Maguire is adamant the club will bounce back stronger.

“We’ve had a few setbacks over the years. We had two pavilions burnt down during the Troubles, but that actually rejuvenated us and allowed us to build new facilities,” he said.

“The last time the flooding happened was in 2008 and the water was three feet higher. That’s twice in August it has happened with 12 hours of rain, but in winter there can be three days of rain and it won’t cause any damage.

“My heart goes out to the people of Newcastle, who may not have flood insurance or have lost their homes. That is a bigger tragedy in my eyes than a bit of grass.”

The flash floods have heavily impacted sports grounds across Ireland, such as Limavady rugby and cricket club and Liatroim Fontenoys GAA club in Down, and Maguire says that having a “forward-thinking” committee will help Dundrum move forward.

Maguire adds that up to “£3,000 to £4,000” will be needed to restore the pitch and make improvements to try to stop future flooding at the Meadow.

“The club have already been speaking to a drainage company and will put pipes through the flood banks, so the next time there is heavy rain it will take water off the pitch.

“This could have a bad effect on some clubs, but every time we have had a setback the club takes another step forward.

“I feel sorry for the ground staff. One is 60 years old and the other two are 81 and 82, but all three work unpaid at our ground.

“They work five days a week and they are the real stalwarts of our club. I fully expect by the end of September it will be in perfect condition again.”

‘Covid-19 has strengthened our club’

The immediate response to the flooding has offered Maguire another reason to be positive for the future.

Club captain James Martin and player Conor Moag volunteered to wade into the flooded pitch to stop further damage to the nets and covers.

“They were straight out to help and I’m optimistic for the future when you have people who would do anything to help the club,” added Maguire.

Dundrum regularly take their junior and senior players to England and Scotland for tours, and Maguire says that talk immediately turned to how the club could resume the sport next season.

As coronavirus halted sport across the world, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Covid-19 pandemic had harmed the club but Maguire feels it has had the opposite effect.

“I would say that Covid has strengthened our club. We struggled to get two teams out last year and now we have three teams, so we have to be optimistic.

Despite being a small village, Dundrum has large sporting pedigree with cricket, GAA, football, athletics and rowing clubs all having success in recent years.

Maguire, who plans to have a retirement match next year to raise money for the club after 50 years of service, feels that having a sporting hub in the community helps bring everyone together.

“For such a small village it does punch above its weight. The best thing about the village is that it is cross-community and everyone does support each other,” he added.

“A lot of other clubs are willing to help us and we will have a GoFundMe page to try to help with the new drainage and pipes.

“We get tremendous support and we work with a lot of the local schools. Going forward, we want to get an overseas professional to come and help us coach the kids.

“We live in a strange country at times, but I feel the good outweighs the bad. The club has got stronger with every setback we have faced and I know that will be the case again.”