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Ref Ivan - got a club or two like you thank you - your passion is to be admired tho not unique as replicated/shared by many throughout the cricketing fraternity in Ireland. NB - in reality there haven't been many jaffas bowled at Moylena last decade or so..........

Davy VCC. Media coverage.

Alister Bushe now gives cricket 4 pages in the News Letter on a Monday , at least two on a Saturday and runs a very up to date Twitter service along with others.Hopefully next season we can have a twitter report every 5 overs from every game. This website and the " other channel " as it's referred to must get a lot of views every week. The NCU website has a twitter feed and a fairly up to date results service. Cricket Ireland maybe do need to get Tweeting a bit more and should consult with Twitter's recognized leading cricket authority Philip Wilson of CSNI and get a Fan page on Facebook. TV and radio aren't just as important in today's online age.
I agree the under age cricketers should be encouraged to the ODI's.
Maybe the starting time debate needs to be changed to a finishing time debate and then work backwords. Do we want to finish at 6pm , 6.30pm or 7pm ? I attended a Lancashire Central League game last year and they must bowl 50 overs in 2 hours 45 mins.Can we save half an hour "within" the game time ?.
The pa system at The Lawn is an excellent example of what is needed.
Did the Irish management get it wrong allowing so many players to play the day prior to an ODI ? We can't afford to take anyone too lightly.

Just home from a superb days cricket at Stormont after having had the pleasure of watching a day and a halfs superb cricket at the Lawn on Saturday afternoon and sunday (not going to say too much about our trip to Dungannon lol).
The question about here for "Non cricketing reasons" can be used and abused by clubs that feel that it is in there best interests, however, our club captain was born in Australia, not is married to a local girl, lives in Waringstown and works full time in Belfast.
Should he be deprived the enjoyment of playing the sport he loves because he is now living elsewhere? Not sure how the Race relations board would view that.
With regards to the earlier start times, last saturday our skipper was promoted to the firsts, the Vice was unavailable through work so I volunteered to step in, after the rain through the week, i got up at 8.30 to inspect the pitch at 9.30 to enable the opposition to be informed before they had travelled and our side before the had made sandwhiches etc. that was for a 1pm start.
This saturday I left the house at 10am to go and pick up two young lads who have moved to Dromore and cant drive, one was playing for our firsts, the other for our seconds, this was for a noon start at an easy ground for us to get to. If these are 11am starts next season, I will not be playing so someone else will have to do the early starts, or people will travel to find pitches waterlogged, a day wasted and nothing will stop people playing quicker.
About 4 or 5 of our players work on a saturday morning but can usually manage to get away to be at the ground for 12 - 12:30, another works nights on a friday but is willing to get up about noon to play home games, another 5 potential players lost to the game in just one club.
Schoolboys that play on a saturday morning for their school will have no chance to play for their clubs in the afternoon with 11am starts, so more players potentially being lost to the game if this gets the go ahead.

Ivan has said that the game is getting more and more press coverage, I would like to know where, where was the advertising and press coverage in the run up to todays game at Stormont? where was the marketing to let people know about todays game? BBCNI had no mention of it this morning when I left home, the early morning local news had no mention of it, and with it being the first monday of the school holidays, IMHO, Cricket ireland should have been speaking to the clubs to arrange the ground to have been full of kids watching the game.
More needs to be done to market the game in the wider media, I know Alli B and others do what they can in the written word, but surely one page on BBCNI ceefax for an international is not too much to ask (then we could have easily at least doubled the attendance).
Back to these 11am proposed start times, the season before last, I was in Lurgan park at 11am, by 11:30 we had two umpires, 22 players, the sun was shining, but we couldnt start for an hour, reason why? Dew on the ground.
If need be, stat 50 over games at 11:30, 40 over games at noon, 35 overs at 12:30 and 30 over games at 1pm or 1:30. No earlier please.

interesting debate between Ivan & Simon - I too recall the late nights after games, long Firday nights at the Ballymena "6s" and the East Antrim League with Boyce, Kane & co (now its called T/20 and they think hey have invented something new!). But as I said on a"feature" elsewhere on this site, we play a game not too far removed from village cricket and yet millions have leaked from our game over the past 30-odd years to pay carpet-baggers who went under the "noms-de-plume" of "coaches" - money that left this country and yet fewer people are playing than ever. Been at a few cricket dinners last year and it was interesting to compare the atmospheres between clubs who had played "passport holders" and what I regard as "real" clubs.

Ivan...

I accept all that - but the arguement isn't about the quality of the Cricket

Has the NCU ever stopped to ask themselves if all these committee's have made things worse...?

Where have all the players gone...

Young guys had girlfriends waiting 23/30 tears ago as well you know...!

Simon, I'm not aiming to be controversial, just asking people to stop thinking with their "in our day" head on and find how to adapt to the change. Years ago when Dermott Monteith played for Middlesex it was an "event". Now lots of counties have Irish players regularily playing and starring . We have an Irishman making noises about captaining England.
We have a professional Ireland set up on and off the field. We have more kids at practice, we have development officers, we have qualified club coaches. All positive moves.
When I started playing for Muckamore in 70's a good score was 150 plus, now it's 250 and moving towards 300.
Overseas players with Irish passports , a hundred and odd day qualifying period, reasons other than cricket etc is straightforward enough.
I don't think it's the problem it's being made out to be. I think the Waringstown team apart from Pinnear are all from the local area. North Down are the same.
Maybe it's time we encouraged our young players to spend a winter in Australia or S Africa playing club cricket.
Cricket is getting more and more coverage in the media and online and the NCU have hard working committees that INVITE and ENCOURAGE feedback from clubs on how the game should be developed. Let's remain supportive, nobody get's it right all of the time.

8 team leagues
Is there any plans from the NCU to consult on the restructing of 8 team leagues prior to the agm ? I feel that alot of the Junior league restructing plans went through because club reps knew what they were voting for and where able to vote knowing the full facts.

Will the new structure be 8,8,8,8,5 or 8,8,10,11, 8,8,8 13. I just feel that it would be good for teams to know where the need to finish and what the plans are for the AGM as ultimatley teams will not vote to relegate themselves if they can avoid it.

Re Ivan

Yes Ryan is a fine example of true Loyalty - If I remember correctly when Carrick missed out on promotion for a couple of seasons in a row - I'm not sure that fitted in with Hendrick's? plans...but he stayed and fought for the shirt...

Didn't impede his Ireland career to my Knowledge though - and lets face it why should it have...?

As I said Ivan, I do disagree with a lot of your's and the NCU's Diagnosis...

I do however believe that duration - start times etc etc are having a negative impact and I applaud the way that has now been addressed - but I maintain the single most destructive element in the demise of the game is MONEY...

Money is the devicive common denominator - it Pee's off the old guard and frustrates the new...

As a young aspirational cricketer, why would you stay at a club that buys a team year after year...?

Equally, as an older alicadoo - why would you hand over your hard earned cash to facilitate these people...?

The NCU needs to exercise strong leadership and come up with a plan to keep what now seems to be the boundless amounts of cash in the local game, instead of facilitating it's leaking to oversea's mercenaries...

I also disagree with the "instant" society comment - Cricket in Ireland should now introduce it's "Correction" just like in all other walks of life.

Change the rules to either ban all overseas players or at the very least limit it to one - and none at all below the Premier League...
Cut out the British/irish passport crap as well or "Here for non Cricketing Reasons" rubbish

I'll tell you now - if we had eleven local players playing eleven local players the game here would be in better shape...!

Remember we are not the IPL, never where and never will be...!

Don't get carried away with irrational hysteria...

Was down at Waringstown yesterday to watch a superb game of cricket between two excellent sides, 3 centuries, 2 from local players and the other from an excellent young professional who has a bright future back home, and hopefully internationally.

In contrast makes you wonder what the clubs who fill their top order with foreign mercenaries hope to achieve long term doesnt it? Something has to be done to stop this worrying trend.

Read a nice article about Ian Kerr of Cregagh Cricket Club.

Was amazed to read that at only 21 years old he has been playing since the 60's.

Great man & great family.

Well done Ian.

P.S Only one problem he supports the Glens. LOL.

Simon.

I think the years you play are "the best years", should they have been 20,30,40 or 50 years ago. I spend hours in the company of people I have played with and against. I listen to John McCormick and Benny Craig talking about the fun and friends they made going back into the 50's. We as a club have been very lucky that people like these two, Harry McFadden, Geoffery Wallace, Billy Boyd played into their late 50's. I have played this season and if I can get on a serious weight loss plan I would go back to playing again every week. Watching is no substitute for playing and golf can't be a substitute for any team player.
However Simon I think the changes that we need with starting times and finishing times etc aren't about us ( that's you and me ), it's about the players coming into the game or MORE IMPORTANTLY those turning their back on the game.
Would I rather go back to finishing at 8pm, drinking with the opposition for a few hours ,getting back to the club for last orders, talk nonsense and then head into Antrim for a Chinese ,get home at 1am and tell the wife the game went on longer than I thought. YES.

However those days aren't going to happen anymore. We have to make decisions based on the society we live in now.
And today's society doesn't have that loyalty. We live in an "instant" world and that includes "instant" success.
We got beat today by a Carrick team where two New Zealand born Irish passport holders both scored 100's against us. No complaints at all and well done to Roger Bell for unearthing two such talented cricketers. That's the way that cricket in the Premier League is going. I heard that Lisburn included county player Sean Irvine today.Again no complaints.
If you want to be in that league then it's a semi pro league and that's the way it is.
But cricket is a sport that can be played at many levels. At Muckamore we have two guys Dominic Rowan and Tom Kennedy who have given over 25 years each service to our 3rds and I know they have loved the competition, the banter during and after the games as much as anyone who has played Senior cricket.
Cricket has to change with the world we live in. I don't think we will have many volunteer administrators in ten years time. We will have paid secretary's , paid groundsmen and members will "rock up" to practice and play.
Let's just get more people involved. In Northern Ireland we have less than 2,500 playing every Saturday. We probably have less than that watching a game of cricket every Saturday.

And on the subject of playing on can I just say to Ryan Eagleson. Keep taking the painkillers, the hot baths or whatever for another 10 years. Nothing beats playing and when you can't bowl of that run up , bowl of a few paces and keep on batting. Eagy was truly brilliant today with an excellent 5 for , a catch and diving stops in the field. And most of that effort today came because HIS club needed it, so at times loyalty gets it's rewards.

RE - Ivan - Fair point...

There seems to be no loyalty these days and to be honest the blame should be placed squarely on the NCU's shoulders...

There are too many examples of mediorce Numpty's with smoke blown up they're rear ends who find themselves languishing on lower teams than promised - usually with a bunch of strangers they have no affinity with...
or never will have for that matter...!
Not to mention the severed links and the bitter taste they leave behind...

What happens next...?
They try somewhere else next season and the next and so on and so forth

I'm sure everyone reading this can think of numerous such numpty's...?

In all but a few cases, it always ends in tears...

Simon Corlett made good point a while back when he said, that the friends he's made and still has are far more important than long forgotten achievements on a cricket pitch...

The whole scenario of very mediocre players "flitting" from club to club is destroying the game...

I totally respect what you and others are trying to do - and I know someone has to do something - my problem is I completely disagree with a lot of it...

Please forgive me for throwing buns from the cheap seats, but I deal in facts and the fact are as clear today as they were 20 years ago...

We need to accept who and what we are, before we can get back to "the good old days"

Ivan - please forgive my anonymity, I've played against you many times - Can you honestly tell me it is better now than it was 20-30 years ago...?

Cricket in this "Wee" country is small potatoes - it always has been and always will be and for that reason, those of us who love it and play it need to protect it and that means the "grass roots"

I've played this game for 30 years now... Yesterday I sat in a changing room and to my left was my mate who's been there for the last 30 years as well. To my right was another guy who's been there longer than that...opposite was the same etc etc...
I'd break my back for those guys and they for me...you can't or never will "Buy" that...!

All you greedy or stupid "Numpty's" out there...

Ask yourself "Who'd break their back for you"...?

STICK TO YOUR CLUB PLAY HARD FOR THE SHIRT - RESPECT YOUR TEAM MATES AND OPPOSITION....SIMPLE...!

Ref dk

You can have all the big picture thinking you want and I think a lot of us have but without passion for the shirt and your own club as well why bother.
It's nice to sit and watch a good game of cricket between two teams you have no allegiance with but when you watch your own club you will every ball to the boundary, you hope that the next ball your team bowl is going to be a jaffa.
Get yourself a club first. Then start looking at the bigger picture.

I see parochialism is still alive and well in Ulster cricket! - and there was me thinking the big picture & moving the game forward was key - not the inward prehistoric thinking of the past..............

R.E "Best pro"

Huge shout has to go to Yashpal Sharma who played for Armagh in the 1980s, not too many local pros have ever been top scorer in a world cup semi-final!