Forum

Excellent piece from Neil Fullerton. Could not agree more. As someone who has scored in the Premier League, Section One and Section Two I must confess that the gulf between leagues is massive. In fact the gap in the Premier League can be huge at times. Where do we go from here? Well we need the clubs to work on a way ahead. The administrators in Dublin have really no idea what goes in the real world and their obsession with Test Cricket illustrates how detached they are. There are of course many within the game who have a positive impact and indeed the recent tour to South Africa by the NCU was an example of this but when one looks at the NCU, there must be many doubts in terms of how many players are ready to play for Ireland? The inter pro series are a waste of money and time. They produce a few players but these players have shown their class to be in the Ireland squad. Money has ruined the game and for what? Media coverage is poor, public interest virutually non existent and yet we pay players to come over here and take the limelight away from our local players. I heard the term hitmen being used many years ago as a means to describe professionals in the game and we have gone beyond that and are simply seeking to buy success but who is interested. Does it command back page headlines in the Newsletter. Belfast Telegraph or other media outlets? Our aim should be to maintain the local game and keep club cricket alive. It should be also to have an Ireland team that can compete in T20 and 50 over cricket as I fear the Test Cricket boat has already sailed many years ago.

Whilst I believe that the interpros are a good idea in theory, there should perhaps have to be a quota of players under the age of say 25? Test status won't be achieved for another 10 years, if ever, so what would be the point in picking 35 and 36 year olds just to win now. Have to think about the future and who could potentially be playing for Ireland if and when test status is achieved .

Good man Phil and while you're at it, throw a few pound to the Sultan of Brunei too, last time I looked the poor man was down to his last £20 billion, sure the rest of us can go without for a while yet....

Ye olde club house

An old club house set deep in the east
required refurbishment,
'Let's make it plush as we are flush'
so said its establishment

We'll import the necessary materials
from far off foreign fields,
'after all,' their ostentatious call
'our sponsors donate surplus yields'

The committee put it to the vote
the outcome overwhelming,
'we all agree on a spending spree'
so said their chairman, one Mr Bleming

So they built a fancy new pavilion
of that there was no doubt,
with bricks of clay, kilned in Bombay,
held together by Queensland grout

The timber corkscrewed and promptly sent
from the land where the coconut grows,
sedimentary slate, glossy and ornate
from a country, where it never snows

Finished in time for the new season
crowds flocked and gazed in awe,
but before the game, heavy rain
isn't that Murphy's law?

Slowly but surely and to utter dismay
the whole building began to crumble,
grout turned to soup, bricks morphed to gloop,
sagging wood, soggy roof, all took a tumble

Now the lesson learned and moral is
should you wish to rebuild or expand,
order Tyrone bricks and cement that sticks
comprised of lough Neagh sand

Purchase from Murdock's, Haldane or Killeen
for homegrown wood that's true,
slate your roof, light and waterproof
with good old Bangor blue

And with a full house at every match
be proud, that you're no lemming,
cause you sourced locally, without frivolity
unlike a certain committee, lead by one Mr Bleming!

Lemming:
noun
a small, short-tailed, thickset rodent related to the voles, found in the Arctic tundra.
a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement, especially a headlong rush to destruction.

Ivan,
Agreed the Interpros provide the stepping stone between club cricket and representative cricket, but there are many facets of it that aren't working. The games are dull, no spectators, limited publicity, the best players are not in the teams, there are different approaches by selectors to the competition, should overseas professionals be included, have we enough teams, does the 'interprovincial' structure meet the objectives of the modern game, is the funding being spent in the right places etc etc. This comes at time when professional people are running the game and players and officials are being paid. This is not an amateur circus any longer so should we not expect a better delivery from the people involved? Also, if as you suggest, the solutions should be fed from 'below' then there is something seriously wrong up the line. The old Guinness Cup Interpros had passion and healthy competition and while the world has moved on this competition hasn't. Back to the drawing board I think.

My comment was nothing to do with the interpros per se.
They are what they are and the better players should, in my mind, always strive to play in them.
I myself had the honour of playing for Ulster Country for many years and it was brilliant to test myself against the cream of Irish cricket.
What I am saying is that Ireland - ability wise - are a million miles from Test cricket standard. And yet some people want us playing at this level now.
It's ridiculous.
We must learn to walk before we can run and at the moment we are barely crawling. Play a Test against the West Indies, Zimbabwe or Bangladesh at this moment in time and we would be hammered.
I agree the best way forward is to play in the County Championship although without the Ireland players who already play for other counties we wouldn't win a match in this sphere either.
As for the money spent on the Interpros.... well! I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.
Unfortunately senior cricket in Ireland is now all about money and absolutely nothing to do with the most important thing of all... the players.

I have to say that the idea we invest more into the premier league sides to make it more professional as this would increase support to have a limited merit, but the added support would I fear be that of people who would otherwise have been playing at a more junior level, and I don't think that is the best way to go.
We should be continuing to grow the game in primary schools with the clubs feeding in to this and getting 8 &9 year olds playing (& watching)
The gap between divisions is getting ever wider and throwing more money at the top division will only make this worse

Interpros

I heard there is 100k if funding for the Knights.

Why not invest more into the club's in the premier league. Also more Incentives to win and obtain promotion.

Make the premier league a more professional competition.

More chance of increasing support at club matches than meaningless mid week interpros.

Neil / John - inter pros.

Guys the inter pros may not be perfect but they are a step up from club cricket and we need something to guage those with Ireland aspirations.
As I see it you have under age inter pro cricket , under age international cricket , club cricket , inter pros and hopefully next season an Irish XI in the county championship as the pathway to the Irish team. That seems ok because every step up a few will drop off and every year or two we may unearth an international cricketer.
And remember less than six months ago we beat three Test nations at the World Cup.
What alternatives do you suggest ?

John.... couldn't agree more.
Yet there are some in this country who believe we should be invited into the Test ranks. Unbelievable!
Ireland are to Test cricket what King Herod was to babysitting...

Have wasted 3 days of my life watching the Northern Knights v Leinster Lightening. What a dreadful advert for Irish cricket. No imagination shown by either captain to win the game and a poor spectacle for fans (all 8 of us). Goodness knows what John Bracewell thinks!!

Have to agree with my mate Burnsy about the excellent teas provided by Hollywood, and would also add Carrick, chicken chips and a side salad. Superb (just a pity we were hammered in both games).

The teas r always the best at Belmont. I think Gordon Ramsey has a consulting gig there lol.

But generally teas are much worse around the NCU than when I 1st started supporting CIYMS.

Ref Tommy/Andy Kennedy

With reference to teas provided by opposition can i just say that our tea on Saturday at Holywood was the best we have had all year - Hot Pizza/Hot Sausage Rolls/Fresh Cream Buns and Swiss Rolls/Apple Tarts/and a superb selection of Sandwiches. Sure you would have enjoyed it Andy !

Glad we weren't fielding second !!

Bit of a storm on Facebook following the cancellation of a game yesterday and some of the comments, if repeated elsewhere, could be decidedly actionable. And coming from some guys for whom I had respect makes it more objectionable. To try to bring a modicum of common-sense I would remind everyone of Law 7:2 -"the umpires shall be the sole judges of the fitness of the pitch.....". See Law 3:8 (a-c) for "Fitness to play". No mention of "having played in worse, etc." Umpires' opinions will vary so to qoute what has happened in the past "butters no parsnips". But there is a point that I feel has been missed in the correspondence. There are clubs (and note I refer to clubs plural) that, for various reasons, have limited drying facilities, especially where grounds are known to be "wet". An example would be Woodvale, that a few years ago suffered from wet conditions. Remedial work has resolved that situation and credit must go to all involved in that process. However if clubs don't have the equipment then they must accept that the weather conditions in which we live in Northern Ireland will create problems - end of story. And a footnote on teas - gammon & egg sarnies at Belmont yesterday as Flossie would say "to die for".

How many wickets does it take for Trevor Brittain to get selected for the Knights? Form bowler...