... and their generous sponsor are determined to have the first all professional team in the NCU and in so doing will surely put themselves beyond the reach of all rival teams. It is one thing to compete against teams with an overseas professional and perhaps a few hired guns, but quite another to face 11 professionals all handpicked for their outstanding ability. We may have reached the stage where a paid player ends up in the 2nd XI. In these circumstances CIYMS might be better placed playing in the Interprovincial Tournament given that the strength of their team is more on par with the top representative teams in Ireland.
Cricket competitions are won on the pitch and to date the Belmont club has had sparse return for their massive outlay. That’s because rival teams have been invigorated by the challenge and risen to the occasion by making virtually every CIYMS match a cup final in its own right. For their part CIYMS has flattered to deceive and when the hired guns failed to deliver the under-utilized local players in their ranks struggled to deliver. This has obviously been discussed in some detail at Belmont and a new strategy to fill every position with a handpicked recruit seems the preferred solution to eliminate any perceived weaknesses. It is difficult to see any other reason for their aggressive and expensive spurge into the ‘transfer’ market.
Let’s state from the outset that CIYMS and their sponsors have every right to do what they like as long as they stay within the rules of the NCU. Whether the members of the club and especially their best players, feel happy to be relegated down the teams and whether any success brings a sense of achievement is something only the members can answer. It is their club. However, other clubs will have opinions and a right to voice them in what is sure to be a contentious debate. And for their part the Northern Cricket Union might be forced to apply some controls in an area where they have felt powerless to police in the past. This won’t be easy as an increasing number of cricketers around the clubs are actually employed by patrons and supporters rather than directly by the clubs. How can the union apply any controls in these circumstances even if they wanted to?
The union is the voice of the clubs and if most clubs feel local professionalism has got out of hand and could cause serious damage to the overall health of local cricket then the issue must be given the highest priority. CIYMS might feel aggrieved at the criticism citing their only crime is having the biggest sponsor in NCU club cricket, but many people will feel the welfare of the game is under threat and to have one club buying all the best available talent is hardly taking the game forward. It may also antagonize our North-West neighbours and one of their leading stalwarts Lawrence Moore has already highlighted the resentment felt in his area at the recent signing of Johnny Thompson. In his Cricket Europe column Lawrence implies the NCU accommodates North-West recruitment because the union area embraces the entire Province, but in reality it always did. However, let’s put that theory to bed immediately as the NCU has no interest in chasing North-West club players or providing a platform to do it. To imply it inadvertently strengthens the Northern Knights interprovincial team is also a moot point given that the inclusion of any former North-West player will deprive a young NCU-produced player of a place in the team. That’s not in the NCU’s best interests.
The recruitment of the best North-West players is as open to all NCU clubs as the recruitment of the best NCU players is to all North-West clubs. Players like Charlie McCrum, Marty Dalzell and Neill Russell enjoyed sojourns in the opposite direction in recent years so it’s hardly a new initiative and at the end of the day there aren’t many players worth shedding out thousands of pounds for. Johnny Thompson might an exception.
CIYMS is the only NCU club that that has significantly targeted North-West cricket and when all is said and done it is the players who make the decisions to move not the unions. Player movement has some union control, but policing local professionalism is virtually impossible.
The big question remains-how will rivals react to CIYMS? There are a number of options, some controversial and some game changers.
They could steel themselves and rise to the challenge, perhaps increase their hired guns, or they could attack them off the field through the union if enough clubs feel an all-professional team is a step too far. Or they could opt out of the professional rat race and revert back to amateur cricket, perhaps even decline to play an all-professional team and concede the points? They could also consider pooling resources with other clubs to employ several quality coaches and put the funds they currently have towards developing and bringing through more young players. A number of clubs could also put their funds to good use by improving their shabby facilities rather than putting them into the pockets of hired guns.
Perhaps I’m a dinosaur, but I can’t help thinking the game we played a few years ago had a lot more fun than the club game these days. Obviously times have changed, but it seems to me a win at all costs is the only goal of many teams and loyalty is measured in cash by some of the elite players. I’m not against players making the most of their talent, but not at the cost of the spirit of the game.
Sadly, I feel CIYMS has lost its way with their all-professional strategy and somewhere down the line the club will regret it. But that’s only a personal opinion, and it remains to be seen how their rivals react to their recent acquisitions.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
