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To all my cricket friends xmas challenge name your best 11 in each category .Allowed maximum of two and you must played with or againest

1 Best ground played at = Downpatrick strangford road.Saintfield cc
2 Best player played with Noel Maguire / Henry St Clair
3 Best bowler faced Alan Nelson/Simon Redpath
4 Best batsman bowled at Davy Dennison /Johhny Hewitt underrated
5 Best overseas pro bowled at Indrajet Kamtekar/Micheal Clarke Carrick
6 Best umpires Alan Neill/ Ian Housten
7 Best teas Holywood by mile !
8 Best fielder Craig Irwin covers / Noel Maguire gully
9 Best all rounder Craig Lewis/David Greenlees
10 Best wicket keeper played with and againest Derrick McCann /David Watson
11 Best moment in cricket rebuilding and opening Dundrum cricket pavilion after two arson attacks which we never got £ from Northern Ireland office as it was fantastis effort from the members and great support from lots peope .

Looking at Pete's team and adding in Greg Thompson, Trevor Brittan and Jamie Holmes as all good shouts to be included begs the question who are the "next kids of the block? "

The hypothetical squad Mulder and Holmes being the exception must all be 27 plus. ( not old for a cricketer ).

So the challenge now for younger players must be to put the scores in the book with bat and ball in their club cricket in 2016 to warrant selection in the team on performance as opposed to potential.
Top of the list must be Jamie McCollum and Andrew Dennison at Waringstown followed by Peter Eakin and Ally Shields at North Down. Others in the reckoning would be Jason VdeMerwe at CSNI , John Mattchet at CIYMS and Robert McKinley at Ballymena.

Without any stats to back this up I have a feeling by the time they were these guys age the likes of Garfield Harrison , Neil Doak, Kyle McCallum and Andy White were turning in regular match winning performances in club cricket so that is the challenge for the next group who want to take the step from club to inter pro to the full Ireland side .
With John Mooney gone and Boyd Rankin back and most of the experienced players likely to be fit and good enough for at least another two seasons their aren't many obvious places in the international set up just now and those already in the wings like Chase, Kane and Stuart Poynter are probably earnarked to move up next.
Bearing that in mind the seven young players above have two seasons to show why they should be given a chance. A couple of seasons with maybe 700 runs or 40 wickets would probably be the level they need reach and be automatic picks even in hypothetical teams like Pete's.

Happy xmas and new year to everyone from Dundrum cricket club

Re: Ivan and Jimmy

Agree with you on Trevor (or is it Ted) Britton - he is a very crafty bowler and has the ability to take key wickets for CIYMS. Surprised he hasn't had a call up over the last few years given that he played for Ireland A in the past and is a consistent wicket taker in any league he has played.

We would like to wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful
Christmas.
Clarence Hiles-Editor
Curtis McCaw-Webmaster

Last day of our photo competition so prizes still up for grabs folks! Several very good answers already received but no 100% return as yet.
Let's hear from you.

I agree with Ivan - Trevor Britton is one of the most underrated spinners in not only the NCU but also all of Ulster. Also a very useful late middle order bat

Pete's team using the criteria he outlined doesn't look far off the mark. Greg Thompson would be another name in the mix, Trevor Brittan turns out good figures most weeks and could be preferred to Mulder. Strong pace attack with four internationals.,

Re: Pete's team

A good side, but Jamie Holmes should surely be in there to strengthen the batting order, as of the Irish qualified batsmen, only James Hall and James Shannon finished ahead of him in the 2015 NCU Premier League averages. He is also one of the best fielders in the league, and a handy leg-spinner.

It must now be time for the Knights to give him another go, as they have not selected him since the T20 Inter pros in 2013 when he gave a reasonable account of himself. He is now based in the Province and has been steadily improving as a player since then.

Hopefully he will finally be given a chance to prove himself in 2016. Jamie is only 23 and still has ambitions to play for Ireland, and he has shown a genuine committment to NCU and Irish cricket by playing here since 2011.

Very good side Pete. Might be a useful exercise if we could troll readers to find out if this would be the team of their choice.

Re:Wylie
Is it not a case that Johnny Thompson has never been considered for selection for Knights and therefore never asked

With all this talk about interpros would this be the strongest team in all forms (excluding pros, retired internationals and assuming everyone would make themselves available)

1. James Hall
2. Chris Dougherty (WK)
3. Ryan Haire
4. James Shannon
5. Lee Nelson
6. Max Sorensen
7. Jonny Thompson
8. Graeme McCarter
9. Gary Kidd
10. Jacob Mulder
11. Phil Eaglestone

Cheers Clarence. Always great to debate cricket with you. Nowadays it takes a lot less pints to make me loud and irrational . Lol

Ivan,
Agreed on NCU geographical boundaries. In practical terms anything 'artificial' could neither be defended in law or policed in practice. (Although they said that about the border when it was established in 1921). LOL. You have identified one method, namely where the player plays, and that's the current ruling. This is an interprovincial and not an international, so it works in practical terms, but not to the satisfaction of everyone. The North-West are unhappy because their best players are being pillaged by a rival, some of these players are unhappy because they can't play for their province and many NCU clubs are unhappy because their emerging young players won't get opportunities at the higher level. I can't speak for hard-working NCU youth coaches but I would guess they share this view. Some of the best NCU players are not enthused by the Interpros. If so many people are unhappy with the current set-up how can it be right?
We need to get back to managing and promoting cricket from the bottom up and not from the top down. At club level we need to develop a stronger base to secure a better future and there are signs within the NCU that union and visionary clubs have embraced this philosophy. However, I'm not sure CI has bought into it. The current Interpro tournament doesn't work other than providing a showpiece requirement for attaining test status. It has to be there, but currently it has too many flaws and in my opinion, doesn't serve club or interprovincial interests. This is a big topic, but compare Leinster to NCU and North-West and ask yourself is it a level playing field?
PS
My pint these days is water so the debate won't deteriorate the way it did in the old days! LOL

Clarence
Probably be more fun discussing this over a pint but surely the ultimate objective of the interpros is to identify players who are potential internationals regardless of age.
Will we only find out how good the likes of Gary McClintock is by having him face Max Sorenson and Graeme McCarter rather than lesser bowlers .
I don't accept that if they are good enough they will get selected is a throwaway line. As you move up the standards very few teams want to "carry a player " just because he's young .
Talk about picking players from other unions . Surely a player is only registered with one Union as a player and while he's with a club in that union then - that's his union. To penalise player movement by not selecting them for the inter pro's could surely be construed as an obstacle preventing a player from earning a living. I'm sure that's why the NCU have what seems a strange rule where a NW player is considered " in the NCU area ". I'm sure that's to stop any restraint of trade challenges under N I law.