...Andy Kennedy has given a lifetime of service to local cricket and remains one of the game’s most engaging personalities…
1 You seem to have developed into a website pundit in the last few years. What attracts you to the exchanges on the Forum?
The beauty of the Forum is that it’s a bit like the Stephen Nolan radio show - views can be expressed without the responsibilities of having to do anything. As you will appreciate I am now a grumpy old man so the Forum allows me to create some "mischief" by "casting a line" to see who bites!
2 I know you distance yourself from speaking as a representative of particular clubs or associations, but your inside knowledge adds colour to your postings. Do you think the ‘institutions’ and clubs should be more transparent and embrace cricket websites as useful tools of communication?
I congratulate those clubs who have created websites - and update them! It certainly is an opportunity to publicise their clubs but I'm not sure that ALL clubs would want to be totally transparent!
3 Your cricket CV goes back a long time. Do you still get as much enjoyment from the game in your various roles?
The short answer is a definite "yes". I started playing at school in 1959 and I recall being collected from games and being taken all round the place to play for Ballymena 2nds - there were only two teams in those days - right up to umpiring nowadays. I suppose that I'm the longest serving "active" umpire with 35 years including a 33-year break in between! I stopped playing in 2006 when my eyesight started writing cheques that my body couldn't cash - the bending, running, and all that stretching were becoming problems!
To be serious for a moment, I was involved in an accident in 1974 that realistically could have cost me my life, so since then I have tried to enjoy everything in which I get involved. I suppose I derived the most pleasure from playing with my two boys Michael and Jonny and I still look forward to seeing them on the days that I don't have a game. And grandson Jack aged 4 can really whack a great cover drive - but I confess he didn't learn that from me!
4 You have plenty of experience ‘down the club’ so is the game today losing its appeal to the players in the lower teams?
I have serious worries for the future of club cricket in the NCU. A similar situation exists in club rugby and the powers that be do not appear to be addressing the issues. I have posted many times on the Forum about this subject as there are fewer teams and fewer people playing. It is a symptom of the times we live in.
5 Why do you think we have an umpire crisis these days? After all, umpiring can be very rewarding for current and former players, and it has never been better administered.
I mentioned earlier about 1974 and as I couldn't play I contacted the late Dai Jones offering my services, if required, as a umpire. He phoned back within the hour asking me to "do a match" with the late Gordon Neill at Mallusk - and isn't it funny what goes round comes around? It was Cliftonville -v- Donaghadee! I then went back to playing and returned to the white coat brigade in 2007 to find a completely different organisation. Better training, better administration, and a much more professional attitude on and off the field and superb opportunities to progress.
Why don’t more guys take it up? I suppose it’s the same reasons why they don't "drop down the club". They don't want to put anything back or perhaps it could be a knock to the ego. That's why I have so much time for solid club men like Harry McFadden, John McCormick, Ivan McCombe, Philip Dewes and the like who didn't forsake Muckamore for the golf course.
6 Do you feel the unions and their administrators get unfair bashing on the Forums?
Absolutely not! How else would they know what is happening at grass roots level!
I believe that there is a certain "dislike" of the web forums among the hierarchy so perhaps contributors will remember that when posting comments!
7 Is there an administrative role for Andy Kennedy in bigger picture?
Again, absolutely not. I served on the Divisional Committee in the late 1970s - when there were four Divisions and a lot more cricket to administer so I have no ambitions to re-enter the fray - better to be standing on the sidelines chucking comments! Roger Bell, who has been involved since those days, recently posted a comment that included a list of names of men who were serving and had served around that time. Men who were highly regarded and respected. One in particular I recall, Jim Barry, who always appeared to have great difficulty getting out of Ballymena! But that was in the days when there was a bit of craic after games, not to mention the 6-a-side nights.
8 You have spent most of your cricket life with ‘country clubs.’ Is it harder for them to prosper or does it all come down to money these days?
Not quite sure what you mean by "country clubs". After all, Comber and Waringstown aren't exactly cities and Ballymena won the senior league title a few years ago without a pro! The continuing decline of clubs in Belfast shows that they are finding it more difficult to prosper. I know there are those who will point to CSNI and CI as being successes, but I think of the likes of YMCA, who have long gone, and the merger of Collegians and Cooke, which is following the pattern of decline that existed in the former entities. Civil Service was in meltdown until North joined them, and I know there are those who will correct me by referring to Belfast Harlequins, but that wasn't exactly a great "career" move either!
9 Should there be rules to limit payments to players or overseas professionals to keep the playing field as level as possible, or do you feel everyone is entitled to do what they feel is best for them?
Despite the views that I have expressed on the Forum I am in favour of the "pros" in our local game. I was involved when Ballymena brought Sunny Singh, Abby Satham and Kiran More to Eaton Park. I recall with some amusement that while More went on to play forIndia and indeed to become a leading administrator in Indian cricket - he could only get a game on Ballymena 1sts when JRW Boyce wasn't available! Boyce must have been some player! My main complaint is the way that it has been handled right from the start. I attended many NCU AGMs and watched the amount of hand-wringing that went on about the need for coaching skills, development skills, etc, when the main impetus was the employment of a player to either maintain a league position or to buy success. I feel that any wage "cap" would be difficult to administer - there is enough difficulty in determining what exactly is 3 hours 15 minutes!
10 With the exception of the 1981 NCU senior cup final result, if you could change anything in local cricket at the flick of a switch, what would it be?
Thought you might refer to this - it seems incredible that 28 years have passed - when Ballymena snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. I'm disappointed that you didn't say who the other finalists were! I have to admit that I have little recall of the events of the late Friday afternoon and the Saturday, but I clearly remember a conversation with the late Jack Newell on the Monday when he was remarking on a potential historic win for Ballymena and then the wheels came off!
But to answer your question honestly, and it goes back to my earlier comments about the Divisional Committee and indeed a role for Andy Kennedy. I would love to see a return to the days when decisions that were made honestly and fairly are accepted by all, the days before the paralegals became involved. I would hate to sit through hours of argument over such important issues as I mentioned earlier about the "time” taken to bowl 50 overs. We play an amateur game, not too many steps removed, if at all, from village green cricket, so why do we have to take it so seriously? We should be as competitive on the field as the Laws permit, but also to remember that it’s still a team game played by individuals of varying abilities. I always say to my boys that if they get half the amount of fun out of the game as I have, then they will be lucky people.
Ed’s note:
Thanks Andy. Only 28 years ago? I remember it like yesterday.
For the record North Down beat Ballymena in the 1981 NCU Senior Challenge Cup final by 38 runs in a very sporting encounter between two clubs that enjoyed many great days at cricket and some even greater nights that followed.
