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Ireland suffered their third successive defeat in the Under-19 World Cup when they went down by four wickets to New Zealand in their final Group match. It has been a tough learning curve for the Irish team, but they put up a spirited performance against the Kiwis, and will now compete in the Plate Competition with more confidence.
Summary-
Fatullah, 1 February.
Ireland 212 (47.5 overs, J Tector 56, A Dennison 46, G McClintock 34, J Finnie 3-30, R Ravindra 3-36)
New Zealand 213-6 (40.1 overs, F Allen 97, D Philips 58, G Philips 34, R Anders 4-32, F Tucker 2-26)

Ireland have moved into a strong position after Day 2 of their four day ICC Intercontinental Match with Papua New Guinea. Despite a poor batting performance on the resumption, the bowlers bounced backed to take seven wickets and leave PNG on 166-7. However, their star batsman Asad Varla is still at the crease on 104no, and he has to be removed if 1st innings points are to be gained. Boyd Rankin celebrated his competitive return to the team with two wickets and some tight bowling.
Summary-
IRELAND 289 all out (104.4 overs, N O'Brien 63, G Wilson 48, P Stirling 42, E Joyce 35, G Dockrell 24, A McBrine 23, N Vanua 5-59)
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 166/7 (76 overs, A Vala 104*, J Vare 22, T Murtagh 3-30, B Rankin 2-16, C Young 2-36)

Solid if unspectacular start by Ireland in their ICC InterContinental Cup match at Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville, Day 1 of 4

IRELAND 232/5 (85 overs, N O'Brien 63, G Wilson 48, P Stirling 42, E Joyce 35, K O'Brien 19*, N Vanua 2-47)

Kevin O'Brien and Andy McBrine at the wicket on the re-start. Their partnership could be very important although the return of Boyd Rankin to the attack is eagerly awaited.

Bumper . met James only few times but seen him play lots and is excellent player and totally agree that he is going be very good captain and wish him and team our support from Dundrum cc. The hard working junior committee are sorting out schedule to go into eight primary schools and three secondary to coach cricket for eight weeks with finals day at the meadow in Dundrum in june (no high tides) and that is the main reason we have signed Indian Prem Ahire who was out of contract to help with this ambitious program .Dundrum have now seven coaches all level one passed and three level two coaches as we push on with rebuilding the club from the bottom up .The club wil take junior sides for the third year running going to the UK and under 13 and 11 squads will go to Dublin as its great experiance and shows that even a small junior club can provide great chances for kids to enjoy the great game of cricket. PS SAM if we can get sumone as good and driven as James Shannon Dundrum cc will be well pleased

Not long until the new season so if you require a competent, experienced international scorer please contact me at any time. I bring a wealth of experience and am able to travel to anywhere in NCU area. So if interested do not hesitate to contact me.
I have scored at all levels and enjoyed watching some great matches over the years and I can be relied upon to provide a comprehensive and dedicated service to any club.

Well Sam you got it half right with your Dylan Hartley comment.

James Shannon however is a cricketer of great ability with a real passion for the game of cricket. He has a strong will to win and personally I'd always want him on my team!
I wish him well in his new position as skipper!
Trust me he will do us proud!

Tough start for Ireland at the ICC U19 World Cup

India beat Ireland by 79 runs at Dhaka.

India 268-9 (50 overs; S Khan 74, W Sundar 62, R Bhui 39, Z Ansari 36, R Anders 3-35, J Little 3-52)

Ireland 189 all out (49.1 overs; W McClintock 58, L Tucker 57, A Dennison 20, R Batham 3-15, A Khan 2-24, M Lomror 2-28)

Next up Nepal who have already beaten New Zealand. No easy matches in this group.

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Dylan Hartley to captain England, James Shannon to captain the NCU. Who says nice guys never win?

Very enjoyable game of indoor cricket last night in Lisnaskea against Enniskillen CC.
I think that quite a few clubs could benefit from trying this format of the game during the "close season" even just to lessen the stiffness come April and to keep the banter between members going.
Oh and all the best to Kenny and co in trying to get Enniskillen up and running

An exciting cup final of 50 yrs ago, Downpatrick vs Lisburn, a real El Clásico of the time and a game any local cricket enthusiast would surely love to have been present at to savour and enjoy, though this one was well before my time. No pros or hired guns in this era, me thinks ?

As a footnote, great reading that Harry McCammond was involved, a prodigious cricketer in his day by all accounts.

Much later, Harry was my senior partner in my first ever official capacity as an umpire, Portadown v Armagh, a local derby and potentially a feisty encounter but Harry soon calmed any pre match anxieties through his relaxed manner and professional discourse and the rest as they say, " is history ! "

Down Memory Lane
As things are quiet over the winter months we have a good opportunity to delve into the archives. We are running some articles under this theme, but if you or your club has anything you want to highlight please send it to the website. 100 years ago there was very little cricket due to the Great War, and 75 years ago we were in the middle of the Second World War. 50 years ago in 1966 there was plenty happening in the Swinging Sixties and have we been allowed to forget? England won the football World Cup!

Thanks for the encouragement and trust me I am not going to give up!

In 2014 the we played 12 league games
In 2015 they played 10
In 2016 only 8 were set last night.
Friendlies are all very well but nothing beats competitive league matches.

I understand the problems re selection, availability and grounds issues that others have, but why enter teams if they either cannot or will not play games?
If clubs can't fulfil fixtures then let them lose the points and let those clubs that do wish to play do so! Also, those of us who wish to play more are now punished because of those who don't want to.

Mike
Jacob Mulder is NOT “only coming back as he is getting paid”. Jacob lived with us for the last few weeks of last season and it was an absolute pleasure to get to know him and the family when they came to visit.
On the field he quickly developed into one of the teams main players and thrived on that responsibility becoming one of the league’s top performers. This has put him back on the radar of Knights selectors and he wants to build on this.
Off the field he made many new friendships in Comber with a bunch of guys his own age and they had a laugh. I know they already have a few things planned for when he comes back.
In these days when cheque books are being waved about we are in danger of losing the fun and friendship side of the game. It’s not all about money.

Regretfully, the 9 teams in JL9 this year will only be playing each other once in the league, amounting to a paltry 8 league games in total
Despite a belated appeal on here yesterday, and my best efforts to argue to the contrary, a few clubs reps were more vocal in arguing against playing more games... even against the same structure as last year that would have seen 2 more games added in a grouping system, let alone playing each other home and away. I had actually arranged h+a games with 3 other clubs before it was 'decided' to stick to playing but once. Some others were willing to try but some just point blank said no.
Most disappointing was the dismissive attitude, and the refusal to even discuss or try to arrange more games...Surely the more cricket we play the better?