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didn't have a game on Saturday but was at a cracking match at Stormont on Sunday that had everything - CI 46/5 getting to 149 wuith some fantastic running between the wickets from the brothers Brittain, dropped catches on both sides and then to see young McMorran bat with determination to swing the game from 199/9 to win by 1 wkt. Maybe you should be arranging for extra seating to accomodate the crowds that will be following the visitors on Saturday!

I don't know what match Andy Kennedy was umpiring on Saturday and I'm not great with my North, East, West and South's so I don't know which club he's referring to but the one I was at on Saturday wouldn't be in a position to comment on Muckamore's ability to attract a crowd.
The number at Moylena on Sunday was about 280. Maybe with Father's day and a lot of heavy cloud about at midday we lost a few. However the day was a success off the pitch. Spectators saw some good cricket for about 75% of the game with excellent individual performances from Ober Pinnear and Lee Nelson with the bat for Waringstown and with the ball for Muckamore by Neil Gill, Indrajet Kammtekar and Jason Van de Merwe. Jason followed his 10 overs 1 for 23 with an excellent half century while Josh Hall took 6 wickets for Waringstown ably supported by Simon Harrison and Gary Kidd and Johnny Bushe gave a wicketkeeping masterclass.

Bar sales were well up on a normal fixture , the bbq stand was very busy all day and a lot of local people where there for the first time or hadn't been at a game for years. I really think it will be easier to go from 280 to 500 than it was to go from 60 to 280.

Waringstown bring a large travelling support. This Saturday we play Instonians at Moylena and they are one of the less supported clubs in the League.We again will be promoting the game through social media and by a poster campaign in local shops and would hope to get an above average crowd.

We have learnt many lessons from this past week's efforts and will carry on promoting the club and fixtures. We did get a lot of youngsters and clubs might be advised to promote to a family audience. Maybe the addition of a play area to grounds would help and also 2 musts " I think to encourage people are 1. A permanent PA system and 2. Permanent seating.

I was at Shaws Bridge ( where we played as bad as we have in years ) and not a seat in site and later on at Eaton Park ( great finish ) and again no spectator seats available.

As the Premier League goes to 8 teams and the standards expected to rise I think clubs need to look at spectator facilities. Guess which two clubs have the best seating and best PA.- North Down and Waringstown while Lisburn provide excellent seating.

I encourage all clubs to take responsibily for promoting the game locally. We got more publicity in the past weeks than we have in years, and remember ALL publicity is good publicity. "Dogs don't bark at parked cars ".

well done to all concerned at Muckamoe on the lead-in to Sunday. The number who turned up is certainly much higher than the 40odd that was being rather churlishly being predicted at a certain South Belfast club on Saturady afternoon! But then again I haven't seen that particular club attracted 40 spectators over 2 games!

Great effort by Muckamore to get 300 through the gate. I think this approach has a huge part to play in the future of Irish cricket. Advertising and promotion of cricket will bring people through the gate. A lot of people don't know there are cricket teams in their local area and certainly at Dundrum we have attracted more members through the kids section who thoroughly enjoy watching and didn't know we were there before.

The problem with advertising, promotion etc is that it takes time and money not to mention a committed and hard working committee who arent afraid to get their hands dirty.

I cant talk for committees around the country but from what I've been told Muckamore seem to have a committee that work as one and do not oppose change or the idea of moving forward. Moreover it seems they aren't afraid to put the effort in and look like they understand this is a pre-requesite for the club to achieve its long term vision.

Well done.

Anyone hear how many were at the Muckamore v Waringstown game?

When is the draw made for the Challenge Cup Semis? Should be some quality cricket with the top three teams from the NCU involved - Waringstown, Instonians and North Down.

3 night matches - d/l?
apparently you can only have a max of 50 overs in the last day to make a game. so if only 10 overs have been bowled in nights one and two it becomes a 30 over game in night three. 10 overs already bowled plus 20 of the 50 then 30 overs for team two. that is my interpretation of rule g25 but i am open to correction

does anyone know how duckworth lewis works in a three nighter? so for instance tomorrow night forecast is shocking, so is it the usual after half an hour do we start losing overs? or if it rains tomorrow night can we play full game on weds and thurs?

Couldn't agree more Billy...

No older players want to sign away their summers to that...

Encouragement not discouragement please NCU...!

How many at Moylena Ivan today BTW...?

the sooner we start all mataches at noon the better we got home from laurelvale after our junior cup game at 10pm this needs to be sorted asap this is why some players do not want to play the game

From all of us at Dunmurry CC. It is with great sadness that i type these words about the passing away of Lynn Irwin early this morning. All our thoughts are with Brian, Gavin and Lynsey and the extended family at this time. She was a great lady, friend and supporter of the club and we will all miss her terribly.

well said jim you should not be made to play on a friday its hard to get a team out and you get punished for playing on a sun as it means some team is going to be playing fri sat and sun

On behalf of Dundrum CC, I'd just like to wish Ivan and the boys up at Muckamore all the best for Sundays events. I'm working in Mallusk which isn't too far away and it hasn't stopped raining since I got here at 8 this morning so I hope the weather hasn't ruined all the hard work put in at Moylena. Best wishes.

Ivan,

Low blow there mate!! haha!! I was very complimentary of Moylena the day we were up there a month or so back...the ground looked sublime....but im glad to hear that the new wickets are now being used yes!!

I wish you the best of luck for Sunday...it is through the efforts of yourself and the likes of big Andy Clement that Muckamore are moving in the right direction as a club. Many clubs, both small and the big boys could take note from the drive and tenacity you as a club have shown. I think you said a week or so ago...if this doesnt work then the only thing that will come out of it is lessons learnt for the next time you attempt something as big.

If you got 300 people at the game the ground would be utterly buzzing and would probably be on par with the crowd that watched Ireland vs Pakistan on Bank Hol Monday a few weeks back...though if u were to get upwards of 500-1000 people it would be truly remarkable.

I just hope the weather is fair to you on Sunday.

Best of luck

Russeller

Thanks DK.

This Sunday at Moylena I hope we can show a positive side to Irish cricket. We have promoted the game v Waringstown to a large non cricket audience. We have targetted the people of Antrim and surrounding areas to come and " Enjoy a day at the cricket ".

Our goal is to attract over 1,000 people to the game. I have to thank all the local media and the websites for helping us promote the game. I also want to thank Waringstown for the efforts they have made at their end.That's what makes them such a great club.

We have resisted loading the day with gimmicks. We want the players on both sides to be the centre of attention. This game will be the first played on the newly laid square and it's great to see bounce in a Moylena pitch.( ok Russeller ).

The bar will be open, the bbqs lit, ice cream trikes for the kids ( and adults ) and we will be holding a Golden Wicket draw. Based on the Golden Goal principle the winner will be the person holding the ticket with the score at the fall of the first wicket in the second innings.

Please come along and encourage those that have never been to a game before. Help us by bringing your own seat. Plenty of parking is available in and around the Technology Park.If you have never been to Moylena before you can get directions at www.mcltc.com