In a series of articles to mark our 175th anniversary, we talk to James McCollum, the prolific batsman who has enjoyed one of his best seasons yet in Waringstown colours in 2026.
He talks through his move from Lurgan 11 years ago, his Ireland career and improving in his thirties.
It’s been more than 10 years since you switched from Lurgan to Waringstown. Are there any particular matches/trophy wins that stand out during your time at The Lawn so far?
I’d say the 2015 Irish Senior Cup final at The Lawn against Merrion is up there. I was just 20 at the time and remember thinking it was the highest standard of club cricket I’d played. It doesn’t get much better than winning an Irish Cup at your home ground with a packed crowd and the sun out. That was a special year, we obviously won the league as well but our team was so well rounded. We batted deep, with two of the best spinners in the country at the time and seamers who could swing it at pace. I moved from Lurgan to win trophies in the top competitions and luckily that first year was almost as good as it gets.
Obviously your dad is a legend at Lurgan and a great cricketer in his own right. He’s become a very popular figure at The Lawn too. It was significant for someone so steeped in Lurgan tradition to move to Waringstown at that time. Did you feel any pressure about the move at the time?
I remember having a chat with dad about it at the time, thinking he may have some reservations but he very much let me make my own decision without pushing his own sentiment. Obviously he’s a Lurgan man through and through but I’d say deep down he’s grown to love Waringstown Cricket Club and the people there, although he’d never tell you that.. maybe through gritted teeth. I remember the only pressure coming from the fact our team was so good and I had to find a way to break into the top four.
It’s been three years now since your last Irish appearance. There is a lot to look back on and remember fondly, playing in Lord’s Test matches for instance. What are your highlights?
That first Lord’s Test is probably my favourite day on a cricket pitch. I was still quite fresh to international cricket so I didn’t really know what to expect. Sitting overnight with a lead of 40 odd, two down having taken 10 wickets before lunch in front of a packed-out Lord’s with so many travelling Irish fans. One of the great days in Irish cricket.
You batted quite a bit with Steve Stolk this summer. How would you compare him to some of the other professionals you’ve played with at Waringstown?
I remember the first time I batted with Steve this season and thinking this is the most inferior I’ve felt with a cricket bat in my hand in a LONG time. I’ve played quite a lot of cricket all over the world and I’ve never seen ball striking like that. He’s got power and finesse. I’d be surprised if we see him back on our shores next year, he’s too good not to be playing up a level. I fully expect to see him in South African colours on the TV in the next two years. Great guy as well, the full package.
You seem to have batted almost better than ever this summer. What do you think that is down to?I definitely feel like I’ve found some really good consistency over the past few seasons which has given me a good foundation. I think when it stops becoming your job, you obsess over it a bit less – less training which helps to make it more specific and less tinkering. I’ve moved the time spent on training technicals to mental work, game plan formulation and how I’m actually going to score runs on different surfaces against different types of bowling. That’s really helped me. I don’t think I’m necessarily that much better from a skill perspective, I’m probably just a bit smarter in understanding what I’m good at and what my limitations are, then building multiple game plans around that. Sometimes the less you try, the easier the game gets. Definitely from a psychological perspective. This feels like the case over the past couple of seasons.
You’re only 31, and people say that batsmen can peak around 32 to 35. Do you see it that way, and do you still have the desire to keep going on and scoring more runs?To be honest in 2023/24 I fell out of love with the game a bit. I think when you put in so much time and effort into something and don’t necessarily see the results you want or think you deserve, it can be deflating. Then my last year with Cricket Ireland my focus really shifted from being results oriented to just enjoying the game and the people I’m playing it with. This is as much as I’ve enjoyed it since I was a kid. Ironically with that came some of the best seasons I’ve had. As long as I wake up on a match day excited to go play with my mates, be that Waringstown or the Knights – I’ll keep lacing the spikes up.
It’s Waringstown’s 175th anniversary year. How important was it to get a trophy this summer to mark that?We all knew how big a year it was for the club coming into this season. To be brutally honest, there’s probably a little bit of regret not winning more trophies, as it felt like we have a good enough team to clean up. That said, we lost to one of the great club sides in Pembroke in the Irish Senior Cup in which there’s no shame. Then we had injury setbacks. It’s just that CSNI game in the Senior Cup that leaves an un-scratchable itch. This season for me though is about recognising all the work done by our current and past members and volunteers to make this club what it is. There’s a reason we win trophies every year, attract good talent and have such good player retention in a league that’s got a lot of money floating around in it – that starts with the people setting the values and standards within the club, off the pitch. It’s the best run club I’ve been a part of with some of the best people in it.