A successful entrepreneur and regular Internet correspondent, Ivan has been playing cricket for forty years and is not short of an opinion on most topics. Ulster Cricketer editor Clarence Hiles put Ivan in the Hot-Seat and as expected, he got some refreshing responses!
1 You have had a long and colourful career in local cricket. What continues to fire your enthusiasm?
I just love being around cricket and cricket people. I consider myself lucky that I enjoy watching the game at any level and that I also meet many ex players who don't or can’t watch. I stopped playing three years ago but then decided to come back to help the youngsters down the club as I saw this as a duty that we all should do. I am now captaining our 3rds in 2008, and still get a big buzz from seeing these young players move up the teams.
2 You are a regular contributor to our local cricket websites. Do you think they make a big contribution to cricket development?
Yes, because I think it's important that issues can be aired in a wider forum. Like any free speech medium we get good and bad postings but at least people get it off their chest. The idea of live updates on all the Ireland games is excellent and I think the unions need to embrace these sites more. For example, they should make it compulsory to file scorecards online, and that way, even at junior level, we could have league tables updated weekly.
3 You have strong views on the payment of players, both local and overseas. What would you like to see happening in the future?
I am in the "if you can't beat them join them” school and that’s because I don't think we can stop local players being paid. I never had an issue playing with someone who was getting paid and just regret not being good enough to get paid myself! As for overseas professionals, I really think the local Development Officers in the union should monitor their coachingprogrammes. In most areas schools are queuing up for cricket coaches so why not make better use of them in schools, summer camps, and club academies. Fortunately this is starting to happen at some clubs.
4 Your passion for North-West cricket has been well documented. What's so special up the M2 that's not so special down it?
It's hard to put your finger on this as there are obviously top players in both unions, but I think that cricket is more of a community thing in the North-West than in the NCU. Everything revolves around the local cricket club in the North-West and when you stand on the boundary all the talk is about what games are on this week and what games they attended last week while at the same time listening for updates on the local radio. Maybe being born there and going to games from when I could barely walk has helped me understand it better.
5 Is an Ulster League the way forward for the best teams or does that remove both union's proud history and traditions?
I am a big fan of the Ulster League idea. History and tradition should be treasured and then left there. Is Northern Ireland really big enough to support two cricket unions? Today the roads are better and communication is better so let’s move forward .How can top clubs like North Down, Waringstown, and Donemana move cricket to the "next level” within their own union? An Ulster League has to happen for everyone to progress.
