We are indebted to Any Clement the chairman of the NCU Development committee, for providing an overview of the results of the recent questionnaire sent out to clubs. The results were as follows;
- 37 clubs were sent the questionnaire - 26 replied - This is 70% of clubs who gave a response of some kind or other:
- 19 indicated they'd be in favour of 8 team leagues and 7 indicated they were against.
- That means 73% of those who replied were in favour of 8 team leagues & 27% against
- From those who indicated yes to 8 team leagues, 10 were in favour of 1 up & 1 down and 8 would like to see 2 up & 2 down with one undecided - it should be noted that the majority of those who were in favour of 2up 2 down were clubs in the lower leagues
- No team bar 1 was in favour of a no rearrangements policy
- The majority of Premier league & Section 1 respondents felt there was to much cricket whereas section 2 & 3 teams felt it was currently ok
- 20 out of 26 clubs (77%) were keen in setting up ladies cricket albeit only 8 clubs (31%) currently had females participating already
- Only 4 out of 26 clubs currently had no qualified active coaches
- The majority of clubs felt that better remuneration would be the best answer to recruit umpires and that it should be mandatory that each club should provide at least one “active” umpire
- Clubs “wish list” included better standards of wickets, less overs, earlier start times – there were no real themes though throughout all the replies
- 8 teams said yes to being interested in a winter league 31%
- 8 teams said yes to being in an Under 17 league - 31%
Given the timing of the NCU Annual General Meeting these results show how some clubs are likely to vote, although the absence of a response from eleven clubs is a sad reflection on themselves. If 30% of NCU clubs can’t take the bother to respond to a well-meaning and constructive questionnaire, are they really interested in the future of local cricket or indeed their own club?
The most interesting debate is obviously the proposal to reduce leagues to eight teams and while the survey indicated a significant majority, the voting will be close at the AGM given the requirement of a two-thirds majority, and the unknown factor of the eleven missing clubs. Perhaps they won’t be at the AGM either?
Hopefully wise counsel will prevail when delegates vote, as three wet seasons should not be the basis for knee-jerk decisions when the long-term future of the game is much more important. Time will tell!
Finally two of the top men in the NCU bow out after their terms in office as president and chairman respectively. Ian Gourley has been a tremendous servant of NCU cricket and Wylie McKinty has handled the most difficult job in Irish cricket with responsibility and integrity. We owe them both a deep sense of gratitude.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
