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Is Johnny Thompson leaving ncu to head back to the north west?? Can anyone from ciyms know if this is true big lose to ci and ncu cricket

Wud lik to wish my old team waringstown cc good luck for the season ahead especially to my wee buddy gaz after he luked after me so well last year. such a great club is wcc

Dundrum Cricket Club start a very ambitious coaching in schools programme next week with six primary schools involved - All Children's Integrated, Newcastle Primary, Carnacaville Primary, Castlewellan Primary, Annsborough Primary and Sacred Heart Dundrum. The eight week programme will culminate with a with finals day in June. Three secondary schools are also involved - Kilkeel High,St Malachys Castlewellan and Shimna Integrated College. There is a specific focus on getting girls involved in the coaching with the ambition of Dundrum forming a girls team. The fact that the club is not charging anything and providing a free cricket set for each school to keep is testament to the small village club and shows that they are trying to push the great game of cricket to everyone in the community and they have now three level 2 coaches and seven level 1 coaches fully trained.
Dundrum have bounced back from two arson attacks in the nineties, built a new pavilion and have been rebuilding ever since with this year more drainage,boundary extension and broadband now into the club, scorebox and carpark and at last electricity down to the scorebox which will help get more use of the bowling machine. The senior practice starts next Tuesday and Thursday at 6:15 (weather permitting ) and the juniors U-11/13 and minis starting the following week Monday 25th April with U-15 on Wednesday 27th. All new members no matter what age are welcome and its hoped to run a ladies and girls nights very soon and Prem Ahire our Indian overseas coach with be working with every team and school .
The club committee have been working non stop over the winter and after having no Junior section seven years ago they signed their first overseas coach Sri Lankan Manoj Fernando and they now have a very successful set up with 11/13/15/17 teams and with tours planned to Dublin and England this year which is on the back of two trips to Scotland over the last two years. The club has had a number of members attend cricket coaching and first aid courses and there are plans for the club to obtain Clubmark NI accreditation this year. In addition the club will be rolling out CPR training to all members which will support the use of the new Defibrillator AED which the club recently acquired.
The Club's first fund raiser is a quiz in the Anchor Bar in Newcastle this coming Thursday 21st April from 9:30pm. The Golf Classic at St Patrick's Golf Club is on Friday 27th May and then there is a Summer draw.
The Meadow at Dundrum Cricket Club is great place come watch your kids enjoy fun games and exercise and either enjoy tea and coffee or go for walk at Murlough nature reserve. Anyone interested in supporting or sponsoring the club in any way can contact Jeff Maguire 028 4375 1442 or through the club facebook page or the website www.dundrumcc.btck.co.uk/

Very sad to hear about Drumaness and sincerely hope that they will come back. Always a pleasure to go to the club and we should rally around and do whatever we can to assist them.

Question to Cricket Ireland is the famous boast about fastest growing sport and so many wishing to play the game.

Cricket like any other sport will rely on the wishes of the new generation and we have to recognise that we must be flexible and go along with what people are doing and thinking. Our younger generation wants more than chasing a red ball around a field in summer. True lovers of the game will keep it alive but we must work all the harder to secure the game we all enjoy.

Ards CC is having a Table Quiz night on Friday 22nd April at Ards Rangers Clubhouse on the Portaferry Road.

Anyone is welcome to put forward a team of 5/6 players (entry £5) for a great night of 'craic'. Anyone wanting to enter a team contact Rab Dunn on 07724 117026 or rabdunn@yahoo.co.uk

Also at the Table Quiz, the club will be drawing its grand raffle ballot - for a list of prizes see our website www.ards.hitscricket.com

There is upwards of £1000 of prizes available from Martin Philips' carpets to dinners out, karting passes for Eddie Irvine's to crazy golf at Pirates in Dundonald, free passes for ice skating in Dundonald to a gallon of ice cream! Anyone wanting to purchase ballot tickets (£1 each) please contact Rab Dunn on 07724 117026 or Ian Farley 07752 386484

All funds raised are going to our youth coaching programme.

The latest loss in young talent from our club is an inevitable consequence of the current policy the committee are pursuing. It was only a matter of time before the younger guys got feed up with being bit part players and only being used to make up the numbers in support of the paid players. Last season it was common knowledge that they were getting fed up with their role in the team. Last year we lost 4 very good young players from the club and now with AJ, Adam and Nathan leaving this year the future is not looking bright. Few clubs in the NCU could afford to loose this many cricketers. People want to play cricket with their friends and feel they have a role in the club and team. There is no pleasure when every year the team changes and you are made to feel like some alikado. I feel we are reaching a crossroads and although the sponsors support can never be criticised we need to revaluate our direction of travel and rediscover the format that originally got us into the premiere league .

very sad indeed particularly a club that epitomises the spirit of local club cricket.
I enjoyed many a Queens v Drumaness match down the year and they were always a great bunch of guys.

Hopefully in the long term interests of the local game clubs like Drumaness can get back on their feet and into league cricket again as when clubs fold and the interest in our game diminishes in communities we are all losers.

Hopefully local clubs can assist with a programme of matches that perhaps provides some cricket to allow the club to get back again.

Good luck lads.

sad news coming out of Drumaness. Smaller clubs need as much support as possible. Also, just learned that Larne are holding a quiz on Friday 22nd April. Was going to suggest that some of the 'bigger' clubs could send a team or two but then I realised that half of their players aren't in Northern Ireland yet!

Having read Alastair Bushe's report far be it from me to comment but isn't interesting that despite postings in the past about CIYMS youth development 2 young players have jumped ship?

Disappointed to hear two young 'Galacticos' leaving CI this year. Having played in the T20 and Challenge Cup winning teams, something must be seriously wrong at the club for these players to be leaving. Maybe one paid player too many? Thoughts? Surely it's not long till matchett follows suit?

THINK its time we moved with times coloured clothing seniors and juniors asap as its way forward to improve our game and no better way advertise your clubs members supporters wearing coloured club kit as whites are outdated.I would back the NCU to give clubs one year to sort out as lets be honest the new forward thinking NCU chairman and committees get 98% improvement in our game correct and i think the AGM needs restructured as its stupid that section 3 vote on what premier section needs and vice versa.Any club looking junior friendlies 11/13/15/17 contact myself asap home or away.Dundrum starting major drive in schools 7 primary and three secondary with 8 week FREE cricket program with finals day for both .PS any club in section two who fancies stop over in Dundrum or Newcastle i can arrange for them as not near enough craic after games? I can rememeber when CIYMS were in old section three stayed down loads all hawaiian shirts GREAT TIMES Academy (was harder get micropone of Davy Greenlees than get him out ) Cooke as well.

Peter, I think they mean two non Irish qualified players, and presumably they have yet to be named

Hi Ivan,
No doubt Clarence was enthralled by the final as the womens final was just as exciting and it had such a great outcome for the Caribbean teams. It was a fantastic day of cricket !

I like the look of the Knights squad that was announced yesterday, it's a good balance of youth and experience and I wish Eugene, Gavin and James all the best for the season, we look forward to welcoming you to The Green for T20 and 3-day games this year! No doubt the batters in the squad will be looking forward to those games too...
Couple of queries: Firstly, I assume that 'for 2016' doesn't mean that the door is shut on others to force their way into the squad by virtue of excellent performances and secondly, 'two overseas players' I presume should read 'two non-resident players' and out of interest which ones are they?

After a very exciting T20 World Cup which seemed to attract interest from a lot of people not regular cricket fans is it time to reach out to the wider sporting public at local level ?
Should we think now about getting out of the whites that those people associate with this boring game played in grammar schools and get into club colours. Get the sport an identity locally, get people wearing the coloured clothing everywhere . I'm not just talking about 1sts cricket I mean all cricket from boys to Premier League and everyone in between.
Coloured pads , helmets , caps etc with white or orange or pink cricket balls against black sight screens .
Sponsors would get more involved , kids would identify with the kit ( they aren't going to run about the estates in their whites ).
I think it's always better to embrace change and be actively behind it as opposed to wait until it eventually happens and then be dragged kicking and screaming.