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whilst the subject of decisions has been raised I'm surprised that the "starring" system hasn't come in for comment

William and Matthew-this is a difficult problem and not easy to solve. It challenges every tissue of sportsmanship and integrity and sails in the face of the spirit of the game. And it is widespread.
What can you do? You can ask for neutral umpires. You can urge people within your club to become umpires. You can report the issues to the section secretary. You can shame the other side by naming them. You can formally write to the other club and ask them to reflect on how they are destroying the game. Of course they'll counter claim against you.
What you should not do is to walk away from it and you should not call the NCU 'spineless' as the NCU are the people you elect every year at the AGM and they do a thankless job. Every decent cricketer shares your frustration but as footballer Billy Sinclair wrote in his autobiography-"Don't let the b******* get you down!"

Re: “Spineless” NCU
Once again another anonymous poster this time accusing the NCU of being “spineless” in not taking action over perceived cheating by players umpiring junior matches. Maybe “matthew” and “William” are not aware that in most cases there are two sides to every story.
Over the last few years a few clubs have written in to complain about umpiring (and other things) in matches. When the opposing clubs views are sought they in turn accuse the accusers of not being entirely whiter than white themselves when it came to giving honest decisions. Who then do we believe?
In my time playing in matches with no “official” umpires I found that most teams were as bad as each other. If a player umpiring gave a team mate out LBW he was quickly replaced by someone else who was not as generous with his decisions. Few and far are the captains who tell their team before going out to bat to be fair and honest with decision making while umpiring. A second XI captain at my club tried that a few years ago and gave up after 5-6 games as his players were not happy that the opposition were not giving any one out even though we were.
Surely it is up to the clubs to sort out the dishonesty of their players when they are umpiring not the NCU.

Matthew - as William says this has been going on for years - and I go back more than 25 years! The only thing is that William doesn't offer any solution and I can't see how this can be resolved as long as wee lads are sent out to umpire their own innings. I posted earlier about a captain, who shall remain nameless but I do meet on occasions, berating one of his younger players for giving a 2nd LBW with the words "you've already given one"! It is interesting to see the reacion of batsmen when "official" umpires stand in the latter stages of the more "junior" Cup competitions.

Re- Matthew

The only thing I can suggest is that the respective league secretary records "complaints" and then perhaps gets involved if a trend developes with a club in particular - however the NCU are that spineless that I doubt anything like that would happen.

When I was a schoolboy 25 years ago it was as bad then - I'm now back down at my club and nothing has changed.
Like you, I am gobsmacked at times

There are some clubs out there, (who shall remain nameless) everyone knows who they are, that are more akin to a football Club than a Cricket Club

Roll on the football season - and maybe they'll disapear for a while

how do we stop the blatant cheating in games with no umpires win the toss umpire second the game i played in on saturday had at least 4 decisions not given people will stop playing there is no enjoyment and some sharp words have been exchanged between players

Jeff, very quiet ahead of the big derby this weekend? Surely you boys must have the favourites tag now after the season you have been having and our recent form... should be a real good game, always a bit of spice as its a derby, plus we owe you one from earlier in the year and we really could do with a win. Whats your thoughts?

I think that we should scrap the 21 day rule, especially when we are having sides play their last game in the middle of August after playing four or more T20 games due to the ridiculous 21 day re-arrangement rule.

Ivan,

RE - Your questions.

My answers are very similar To Neil Cahill's.

1. How many overs do players in each section want to play ? 50
2. Does everyone accept DL should be in all Senior crickets meaning more results are obtained on the day and less rearrangements ? Duckworth Lewis should apply
3. How many matches and therefore teams in leagues do people want to play?
A manageable amount, DL would help so keen to give 18 matches a try.
4. Do people want ANY midweek rearrangements and if so one night or two ? Only as a last resort and preferablly still start as 50 overs a side for 1st XI
5. How many Sunday's per season is acceptable to have to play a game ? As many as is required under the rearrangement rules
6. Should cup games be Sunday only ? Yes
7. What time do people want the game to FINISH at ? start at 12 and apply DL during July & Aug
8. Do players want a T20 competition as well as the League and the recognized cup competitions ? Not at the expense of the league

Of course flexible fixtures would only operate in first half of season !

Various posters have mentioned fixture congestion due to bad weather as a reason for reducing league sizes. I was thinking about when I enjoy my cricket most - for me it is 50 over cricket played on a hot, sunny, dry day on Saturday or Sunday. I believe we could be more flexible with our fixtures given that the weather forecasts are so much more accurate these days. My suggestion therefore is that we designate every weekend from mid June to Mid August as "potential double header weekends" for those clubs who play on Sundays. A normal fixture list for the league would be drawn up but with the option that the two teams playing each other on a fixtured Saturday could agree to bring their second meeting forward to the Sunday after the Saturday match. You end playing home and away over one weekend. This could be decided on Thursday night before the sat after looking at the forecast. If both teams are agreable and the umpires can be appointed this could offer a solution to freeing up Saturday's later in the season. There have been three Sundays this season that I remember when I would have really enjoyed a game on a warm sunny Sunday afternoon. (although my club do not play on Sundays!)

Re: Brendan

If it was up to me I would leave the choice to the school player themselves but they are likley to be pressured by both club and school. Perhaps it would be better for school, clubs and players to come to an agreement about when these player play for club or school. For example I would not expect a school player to put 2nd club cricket before school cricket but where 1st eleven cricket is involved perhaps the player could miss a less important school match for a club match. However if a school has a big match (eg a cup or league semifinal or other "big game" then the perhaps club could give way ?

Great to see Waringstown & Inst getting to the the Irish Cup Final. Much needed shot in the arm for the NCU.

The talk is now that Obus Pienaar is going to arriving back in NI next week and will leave for South Africa again after the Final? Can anyone confirm?

Bruce,
I agree that Neil has set out very good points. I was interested in your comment on schools having to play without their best players. Are the schools players given a choice? Sometimes too much is made of the schoolboys involvement as you rightly say there may not be very many playing 1st XI cricket. But we still need to work around the issue as they are the future of the game.

Promotion and relegation in junior leagues.

As far as I am aware i believe that with JL1 dropping to 8 teams for next season (Is this confirmed) then there is no promotion but only relegation in the junior league. That is certainly the principle i am working on