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Following recent excurison in google I assume no one had a paper copy of Tom Smith? Pl O'Hara keen to flog them at beginning of each season as I can recall.

Great that teams making a great effort to rearrange fixtures and as the humble Secretary of Section 9 I am greatly encouraged see so much effort to get games played especially around the dreaded exam time. Also great to see new teams and that is a progression against the sad demise of Drumaness which was a difficult ground to score at but some great games at it when with Laurelvale and Cooke Collegians and I would hope that one day we could bring the game back to the the boys who really enjoyed their cricket.

Any1 looking tickets for Ireland vs Sri Lanka next week?

I have been reading, with considerable empathy, many of the comments about clubs recently made on this forum, in some of which Ards CC (where I am Coach and Development Officer) has been mentioned. I can only speak to the problems that Ards has had, but perhaps others will find a resonance with their club. Small clubs like Ards have traditionally struggled in the shadow of larger and more established clubs in the past, but noticeably several of these are now struggling to put out teams below the 1st XI, and so we are not alone in our area in facing player problems. It is difficult to generalise about the reasons behind this, because there are several clubs who are ‘bucking the trend’ as one post had it, but I will hazard a few that I know affect us badly.

1. Work patterns - these have changed in the last couple of decades since I last played in the NCU (1977-1989). With the advent of zero hours contracts many of our younger players (later teenagers and students in their 20s) find themselves working shifts in service industries on Saturdays and Sundays and cannot commit themselves to playing a full weekend match, no matter if 40 or 50 overs. If they take time off for matches, or turn down shifts, they often find they don’t get the hours at work in future. The same problem exists for them making club training nights. Many young players, who are the very lifeblood of many clubs, are being squeezed out of the game. Catch 22 for many sides.

2. Demands on young players - I know there have been plenty of comments about school cricket, supportive and otherwise, on this forum so I won’t rehash them again. The pressures of school examinations are well known, and many young players opt for school cricket only instead of club, leaving clubs like ours short until the holiday period, then they go off on holiday, and many only play a month or so of the season for club. We have even found, this season, many U13 and U15 players opting out of training and matches because of parental pressure on performance in internal school exams. Add to this the extension of football, and other ‘winter’ sports seasons, to the end of May, and this is why small clubs like Ards struggle for teams. When I played for Ards in the 1970s and 1980s these pressures did not exist, to the same extent, for younger players; we grew from two senior teams to four on a Saturday, and had a full range of junior teams.

3. Club profile - we are a strange club (I can see the nods from others right now) in that we have a lot of players in their teens and early 20s, late 30s and 40s, but very little in between. The guys in their 20s and 30s, who used to play, have had children or changed work pattern, and are no long playing or contributing through coaching and administrating. Thus Ards’ senior teams are generally very young and having to grow up fast, a situation that has definitely hit our results in the last two years, and our ability to put out decent sides. We are thus over-reliant on teenagers for our sides, and though we have nurtured some talent in recent times, retaining more experienced players is even more vital. We continue to try to recruit, and indeed have attracted several adult players this season, but more are needed.

4. Outside Obstacles – Ards CC is very grateful for the improved facilities at Londonderry Park, not least the vastly improved practice facilities, and the new square which is producing good fast pitches and favourable comments from umpires and opposition players alike. Few other clubs have the opportunities that Ards have been given. But Ards does not own its own ground, unlike many other clubs, and we are at the mercy of the vagaries of council policy. Three examples will suffice: given 6 weeks warning about a public march to commemorate the Somme this coming Saturday, and informed our ground was to be used, we postponed the 2nd XI fixture, only to find out two days ago that the march was re-routed to another part of the park. The opposition do not play on Sundays, it is a difficult distance to travel for a 2 night match, and we have no free Saturdays within the 6 week window. Second, as people may have seen on our twitter feed, the Council dumped tons of sand on the two football pitches either side of our square this week and left ruts running across the outfield. Not only is this unsafe for fielding on, as well as disastrous for the ball and potentially injurious for players, but it has made the ground a dustbowl. I can imagine the outcry if this ‘renovation’ had happened during the football season, and the pitches were unplayable but, Ards being a small club and unlikely to make a huge noise, it has been done half way through the cricket season with no regard to the effect this will have on our ability to fulfil fixtures or the standard of play. We have already had to re-arrange junior fixtures and may have to concede others if the outfield is not sorted out satisfactorily. Finally, despite having a large park at its disposal, the big screen compound for NI’s Euro 2016 match against Ukraine is being erected half way across the outfield, endangering further junior matches on our ground next week. Spending millions on a redevelopment of Londonderry Park and one of the sports which plays there, cannot play on their ground, on account of other activities in quick succession? You couldn’t make it up.

I am sure that many out there will recognise some of the problems in their own clubs, and maybe have others to share but clubs like Ards, who are reliant on a hard core of committed members who do most things, are ultimately essential to the health of the NCU. We have aspirations the same as most clubs, we work hard to develop our own cricketers, and we have problems like everyone else (we also try to find our own solutions). But when there is a lack of understanding of the specific issues each club faces, or little outside help to enable clubs like Ards and others in Sections 2 & 3 to flourish in the face of local authorities who are obsessed with football, then there will be more walkovers, more concessions of fixtures and perhaps more clubs folding in the imminent future. We have not ditched our 2nd XI this season only because we want to give opportunities for school age players to play senior cricket, and to occupy the players we have recruited, but this decision may yet be reversed. We are aware that history shows that if a club goes down to one senior XI then the club may not survive much longer. We are determined to survive but we cannot do it on our own.

Yes indeed Taito, though perhaps if Graham's original post had highlighted that particular fact, I would'nt have felt the need to come on and spout rule 34 ?

Umpires don't have the benefit of 'Google' at hand when required to make an instantaneous decision !

And glad to hear the matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned !

interesting to note that the post that attracts the most responses is about an umpiring decision. It's easy to point the finger but perhaps if players acquainted themselves of the Laws and Competition regulations things might be easier. The number of guys who appeared to be unaware of the Power Play regulations - the numbers of fielders to be out, etc. and the 'shoulder height' limit is incredible. And I'm not just talking about players as some captains are not clued in.

midweek match at newforge 2 weeks ago big appeal for lbw whole team goes up the ball shoots off behind keeper on legside umpire says not out ok fair enough maybe it was missing leg stump next thing umpire signals wide ball to the scorers to the total bemusement of the bowler the umpire explained it went wide of the stumps so therefore its a wide case closed lol

Caleb,

Maybe knowing the facts might help before spouting rules, the player was protecting his wicket hence why he wasn't out and should not have been given out. that rule was exactly what our player was showing the umpire. Sense prevailed

Laws

Following posts re poor decisions based on lack of knowledge of the laws, the NCU is currently trying to organise 3 "Welcome to the Laws" evenings aimed at parents/players/coaches/fans etc who might enjoy a better understanding of the game we love.

Waringstown, Saintfield and Carricfergus are likely to host for their respective areas and all 4 umpire tutors have agreed to help out. Callum Atkinson our CDO is organising and I hope we can give firm dates and times soon.

It's a great game - even greater with a better understanding of the laws!

Law 34 (Hit the ball twice)

1. Out Hit the ball twice

(a) The striker is out Hit the ball twice if, while the ball is in play, it strikes any part of his person or is struck by his bat and, before the ball has been touched by a fielder, he wilfully strikes it again with his bat or person, other than a hand not holding the bat, except for the sole purpose of guarding his wicket. See 3 below and Laws 33 (Handled the ball) and 37 (Obstructing the field).
(b) For the purpose of this Law, 'struck' or 'strike' shall include contact with the person of the striker.

Have the rules been amended since last Saturday ?

A light-hearted one to make you chuckle!

Junior 9 match last season.
Batsman clearly snicks one to keeper-Big appeal, bowler doesn't even look around to see whether the finger is raised as bat nowhere near the ground or body.
Umpire raises the finger without hesitation. However the batsman in this case does refuse to leave the pitch!
Umpire crosses his arms on his chest, calling for a "Review". When questioned which video footage he would be referring to, he decides to confer with the facing batsman (who happens to be his captain)
On the Umpire's return to the bowling crease, he signals to reverse his decision.
Not out!
Absolute comedy-clearly all J9 fixtures should have video review facility ;)
Are some cricketers watching too much TV?

Folks, my apologies if my post gave an impression that was not intended.
Concerning my use of 'refused to leave the pitch': When given out the batsman is required to leave the pitch promptly and without comment or gesture of disagreement with the decision given.
No matter what view you take that clearly did not happen!

However, not for one minute am I suggesting or encouraging a charge to be laid against the batsman.

The last line of my post was, I thought, suggesting that perhaps the embarrassment felt by the umpires, if indeed they do feel any, would stop them taking the action they would take any other week and rightly so.

Whether they do or not, they will still collect their fee for a job well done.

In reply to Graham's post about the batsman "refusing to leave the pitch" - my understanding is that he initially argues his case that in fact the umpires had made an error but to say he refused to leave the pitch is untrue. The fact that a teammate was quick enough to produce a factual information to back his claim in credit to both plates of their superior understanding of the rules. I feel the tone of your post is to encourage umpires to take disciplinary action for what was essentially an error on their part.

Graham,

You would think that the worrying thing here is the lack of knowledge of the laws not any potential disciplinary action taken against the player. So if he has been given out incorrectly not due to a perceived poor decision but due to the umpire not knowing the laws then of course he is going to fight his own corner. I think the umpires can decide if any action is required themselves without you trying to suggest they should.

Millpark Cricket Club.
Just completed very enjoyable league game. Cooke. Collegians v Millpark.
Surely the friendliest, most sporting and most hospitable club in the NCU.
My favourite fixture in the season.
Billy Dale.

Is it time to consider the scheduling of the season for the cups, especially in the case of Junior/Intermediate/Minor etc? In the Junior Cup we saw Ards and Dungannon first teams conceded games.

Academy and Ballymena 4s conceded in the 1st round of the Minor Cup, Ards 2s in the second round. There were 3 more walkovers in the opening 2 rounds of the Minor Qualifying Cup. In the Ulster Plate at the weekend 2 of the 8 games were decided by walkover.

While the leagues are the bread and butter the cups are more prestigious. The demands on players are more than ever, especially in May and June and teams, including 1st XIs who rely on our good and improving junior players are suffering due to clashes with exams and/or school cricket. Can we move the opening rounds back by 2 or 3 weeks, for example and have the finals held later in August? Many clubs are coming into June and are already left with only league games to play having had to field weakened sides or concede games.