Many observers will commend their realism while some sceptics might say if you live by the sword you die by the sword! After all, the Roe Valley club was at the forefront of rampant professionalism when funds were plentiful and they were not behind the door in targeting the best players. And they came no bigger than “Decker” Curry!
Curry and his teammate Roger Kerr were lured from Donemana in a sensational coup that shifted the balance of power to Limavady in the Mid-Nineties. The club was well rewarded for their enterprise as trophies flowed freely to the Roe Valley and the club became All-Ireland Champions. They were not alone in their professional strategy, but they were better at it than most clubs and with Decker in the ranks they had probably the best local player in Irish cricket for over a decade.
But times have changed. Other clubs have followed the Limavady model and while Donemana has remained defiant at the other end of the professional scale, the close season in the North-West has all the hallmarks of a cricket cattle market with any number of players being openly touted by cash-happy clubs with rich patrons. Something had to give and with speculation that several Limavady players were about to join the gravy train the club has decided to get out of the rat race.
Some pundits might feel Limavady should have shown more spunk and let their cricket do the talking even if they faced tough opposition every match. After all, that’s the way lesser lights felt when the star-studded Limavady team in better times faced the minnows. But this is a proud club, and rather than fight for their supper the Roe Valley club will live to fight another day by dropping into the lower division.
Will Limavady’s request to step down a league and the North-West Union’s decision to accommodate them set a precedent? After all, how can the union refuse any club that takes a similar decision and will promoted clubs have the option of deciding whether they want to go up or not? Not every club has the resources to compete with the big money clubs or possess a Cricket Academy of the quality of Donemena. The decision is certain to spark a re-think at several clubs, who may be in a similar position to Limavady. Will the union accommodate them? If so, a split seems inevitable between clubs with professionals and clubs without them. It may not come in 2013, but if enough clubs feel the situation is getting out of hand and band together they will be a strong voice within a small union. Everyone accepts it is impossible to police professionalism unless clubs have the honesty and conviction to do it.
These are challenging times for North-West cricket and we wish them well in trying to sort out the problem. Genuine cricket lovers have lamented the decline in club loyalty and the open poaching of players in Ulster cricket. Maybe times have changed, but is this the way we want our cricket to go?
Limavady has thrown in the towel. Who will be next?
Meanwhile we wait with baited breath to see if any club in the NCU or Leinster takes a similar approach.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
