...because three Instonians players are on representative duty. Some of the comments have been speculative, some emotive, some personal, and unfortunately, some inaccurate. Perhaps it is understandable to have speculative and emotive comments given the status of the match, and perhaps it is understandable that some of the comments were inaccurate, but there is no excuse for personal comments and questions of integrity levelled at the members of the Emergency Committee, some with over 30 years experience and service to the union. Apologizes have not been requested, but they would not be out of place. After all, let’s be honest-who would expect officials with a club interest to deliberate on such a sensitive issue? Understandably the people involved immediately stood down when the issue became an “issue”.
Perhaps it would be best to start from the beginning and confirm that no rule was broken. Yes, the AGM determined no league games could be postponed when players were unavailable due to representative calls, but the Senior Cup was not included, and Wylie McKinty has already listed some of the concessions made in recent years, all of which have to be recognized as setting a precedent. We should therefore accept the Emergency Committee’s decision as routine and in line with previous policy.
Then there is the cricket argument-
1 Would our premier cup competition be undermined if one team received an unfair advantage, especially at the semi-final stage?
2 Would players want to play in representative matches when their club is involved in such a major cup match?
3 Why would a club want to take advantage of another club in these circumstances? After all, any win would be tainted by the unavailability of key players in the opposition.
In fairness to both clubs neither has made a public statement so spokespeople on the Forum have been speaking in a personal capacity and quite often that tends to be more emotive and can get personal. Unfortunately we live in a dog eat dog era and we need lots of rules to protect clubs from each other. It would be nice if it was otherwise, but the reality of modern sport is that we need a comprehensive rulebook to govern virtually every aspect of the game, and in the absence of an appropriate rule our elected officers have to make decisions. And therein lies the potential for controversy as the clubs involved usually take a parochial stance and the need for a bigger rulebook becomes paramount. In its absence, we have situations like this.
Muckamore is a fine club with a proud tradition and genuine officials who will see the bigger picture. Instonians did nothing wrong and the much maligned NCU did everything by the “book”. If there was any criticism then it can only be the lack of transparency at the outset when the issue became controversial. The Emergency Committee should not have been blamed for breaking a rule that never was. However, if this is the worst action or lack of action during a season then we will all be very grateful.
Now that the issue is over maybe some correspondents will be big enough to say they got it wrong. There’s nothing wrong in admitting a mistake as it enhances, not detracts, from a person’s integrity.
Thank goodness we have good administrators in the NCU and on the Emergency Committee irrespective of whether they are branded “Master Race”, “Blazers” or “Dinosaurs” as they have integrity and can rise above the barbs.
Now, let’s move on and have a great game of cricket to decide the semi-final.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
