It’s quite a challenge to make a business out of publishing so cricket enthusiasts should ensure they support this relatively new publication and certainly the current edition. There’s quite clearly an international perspective throughout and particularly regarding the core content namely the Associate Cricket Countries. Traditionally cricketers in Ireland have been very parochial and rarely looked too far outside the box, but the exploits of the Ireland senior team and our success at youth level in Europe has considerably widened that perspective.
What I like about Cover Point is that it has identified the niche of Associate Cricket and not been tempted to rub in articles about test cricket or the world’s big names as they are already well covered in other cricket magazines. Editor Liam Rooney has also plenty of expertise within his ranks with Mike Stanger the Scottish editor and Tim Brooks the International editor. There’s even a special mention for Northern Ireland correspondent Davy Holmes, and amongst the contributors is that highly-respected historian Edward Liddle.
Over a quarter of the publication is devoted to Irish cricket and overall there’s a nice balance of features, profiles, interviews and information. Superbly finished and well designed, the colour glossy is available in both hard copy and electronic version. At £2.80 quid it’s worth every penny these days.
This April/May 2008 edition has an interesting interview with Warren Deutrom the Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland and he gives frank and candid answers to some probing questions on the current position of Irish cricket and where we are going down the line. I particularly liked his final admission that he does read the Irish cricket websites as too often in the past, Irish cricket administrators tended to ignore grass-roots opinion and then wondered why grass-roots failed to follow their lead. Warren has certainly got his eyes on the ball and has a clear focus on where cricket in Ireland needs to be and that includes the important support at club level.
Mike Stanger’s passion is Scottish cricket and his article on Colum MacLeod will enlighten readers on the growing potential of this talented young player. I personally enjoy celebrity interviews and the feature on RTE radio presenter John Kenny didn’t disappoint. John was thrown in at the deep end at Cricket World Cup 2007 and did a good job despite some awful gaffs. His admission that he asked Trent Johnston if he bowled tells us as much about John’s sense of humour and admission of faut-pas as it does about his cricket knowledge and he’ll certainly rouse the northerners with his comment that Ireland needs a permanent cricket ground and it has to be in Dublin as “they won’t get the crowds at Stormont.” Now that’s a big broad statement.
That’s probably the extent of NCU coverage although the article on Coleraine Cricket Club gives an interesting insight to a club that has flattered to deceive in North-West cricket, but has all the attributes to be a sustained force. Major improvements at their grounds and rays of hope at youth level hold promise of a brighter future so watch out for the exploits of club captain Vishal Chopra and his team this season.
The main content of Cover Point is devoted to informative articles on players. countries and tournaments outside the test nations and they give a deeper insight into the game and its personalities at this level. With Irish cricket moving into a more global environment this will be of considerable interest to readers and help them familiarize themselves with what’s happening at this level all over the Associate world. Eoin Morgan’s cricket career to date, Niall O’Brien top ten wicket-keepers and some coaching tips from Adi Birrell add an Irish flavour, but overall Cover Point offers much more for readers than just Irish cricket articles and is well worth the modest outlay.
For more information contact the editor at; editor@cover-point.com or visit the website at www.cover-point.com
