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In regards the debate of the decline of participation in NCU cricket I think we all know apart from a handful of clubs which are thriving and having growing numbers, generally the sport is on the decline in the area. I agree with Michael in that i dont believe the younger guys are drinking more than players did in the past but they are more keen to go out in belfast to clubs etc rather than drinking in the cricket club after a game. This influences their decision to play cricket or not for sure as it might infringe on their night out.
When we were young we had after school practise on a monday, junior practise at the club that night, senior practise tuesday and thursday , cricket at school on a wednesday. A club under 15 game on a friday night, school game on a saturday morning and possibly a club game saturday and sunday. We absolutely loved it at the time and lived for cricket. Times have massively changed and its hard to kids even to play one game a week now. In fairness though it is not just a decline in younger players participating, more and more older guys are giving up earlier than before because of family commitments etc.

Its hard to know what can be done to improve this but one thing is for sure it will take a lot of time and effort from probably a small band of volunteers at each club unless the clubs are willing to pay a development officer/coach. In my day schools cricket was where it all started, i was coached by roy briggs and kamal merchant and there was a direct link from the school to the club, therefore feeding the club with a constant stream of players. Although that stream still exists it is more like a trickle. I believe the focus has to go back on the schools from as young an age as possible, with club proffesionals or senior players involved so the young kids get to learn about the club and want to come and play cricket there. More exposure to the game is needed too. Taking primary school kids to ireland or inter pro games on a regular basis may help with this also.
Something needs to change or the gap between the have and the have nots is going to grow even wider and Michael might be quoting an even more drastic decline in numbers in ten years time.

re the strange death of local cricketi have to strongly object to many points in your article cricket in ireland is seen by the masses as an elite sport played by private education /public school /university types and when you say the summer camps are nothing more than creches you are wrong completely it is basically a numbers game and inviting youngsters to play cricket at summer camps is great initiative and not a thing to belittle we dont all go to ballymena academy which is the only recruiting tool for your club seeing as they have 6 schools teams alone cricket is for everyone that catches the bug bringing the wider public into the domain is key and muckamore cc are doing a splendid job of doing that i am not having a personal dig at michael taylor as we have our own opinions and it will stay that way but there is only a certain amount of players to go round and i think schools cricket is a waste of time the problem lies with pupils being asked to play 2 matches on a saturday so it turns out it is club versus school that is why youngsters lose interest school cricket should be played weekdays secondly all ncu cricket is amateur and social so what does drink have to do do with it being an alternative to the beautiful game i for one dont mind admitting i am a recovering alcoholic and havent had a drink for 5 years i chose playing sport over the demon drink and thirdly sunday cricket is a must in the northern irish climate ps your column is a must read

Clarence,

I still think the point about drinking - or at least about the attendant socializing - is valid. Remember, I was not writing simply about absolute playing numbers but also about the length of cricket being played. Almost every club that I've spoken to this year has bemoaned the fact many players simply will not commit to 50-over cricket because their priorities lie with the evening.

I would also imagine that players now drink much less 'within' clubs than in previous years, thereby diminishing the social aspect of the sport.

Ally,

Suggesting solutions will be the subject of a future column.

The main point, underscoring everything that I wrote, is this: cricket now has ever increasing competition for people's attention and for their time and - generally speaking - there is not a sufficiently strong 'cricketing culture' to allow the sport to win that battle.

Superb article by Michael Taylor, he really hit the nail in the head.

I started playing cricket as 12/13 year old playing 3XI 45 overs and the odd 50 over 2XI game. Looking back I am not quite sure how but in space of 13 years the landscape of junior cricket has dramatically changed.

Anybody who thinks any team in Junior 3 (the league I play in) or below collectively want to play 40 overs is kidding themselves and has their heads in the sand. I work away every week and to be quite honest I want my cricket done by 6pm on a Saturday to see family and friends as do the majority of my team.

Michael's article may be tough reading for many but it is 100% spot on. Younger guys tend to enjoy playing shorter games - why not play to the strengths and encourage 30 / 35 over games. No teas, turnaround in 10 mins. Game starts at 12 July onwards and over by 5 at latest?

#positiveideasonly
Why was the Parks League discontinued? I hear about Park running being popular. Maybe the councils could install temporary roll-out cricket pitches in parks at weekends or summer evenings or in 5 a side football arena. Let anybody play. No fuss about whites. Use plastic balls so no pads or gear needed? I've not been in a park recently mind you.

Good debate guys and many good points including Staffy's email on the other channel. Michael's article is very graphic and confirms a lot of what we have for some suspected for some time. I'm not sure about his conclusions as the modern players don't drink any more than we did and I feel too much is made of the decline in schools cricket although it is a significant factor. Players working on Saturdays and Sundays may be just as significant and too many clubs have been complacent.
It may interest some people to learn that the same decline exists in Barbados, including a drop in the overall standard at every level. That said, you either sink or swim as most clubs have similar challenges and hopefully are trying to do something about it with Muckamore leading the way. Times have changed, even since 1996, and the challenge is adapting to these changes. If it's OK for some people to have 50-overs games but not for others then try and accommodate both. It doesn't have to be one or the other, surely we can compromise? I'd like Michael to address going forward after looking back, because people who live in the past become prisoners of the past. Time to be positive and look forward with more vision and enterprise.

P.S. - Nile Smith - I think that the team to which you refer was "Overton". If you contact Arthur Bowron of Templepatrick he should be able to enlighten you as he has been researching the old Parks League. And best wishes to Arthur and hopes for a fast recovery.

Re Ivan Mccombe - you mentioned the game played on 12th July and what a match it turned out to be - over 390 runs scored and a fair bit of "edge" to keep things serious. They were plaing for the Parkhall trophy and it was a pleasure to see Glen Martin along to present it. And that leads me to my point. I was really fortunate to come under the influence of Tom Greenwood at school and he instilled his love of the game into us. While Tom would not have been described as a great player but he had coaching skills that he "drilled" into us. Are there many "Tom Greenwoods" in schools cricket today?

Michael
That was good timing! I hope your batting is like that!
There doesn't seem to be any relationship with initiatives like coloured clothing, T20 or Premier League. It would also be interesting to list the defunct teams of yesteryear. I vaguely recall an entity called Everton wherever they came from I don't know.
It just goes to show if you don't want the answer don't ask the question.

Just reposting from last week as the weather appears to be okay and the game below may be a runner. Be great to see a bumper crowd....

Like to mention the Lagan Valley T20 final (Fri 24th) at Middle Road Carrick, between Cliftonville and Muckamore.
We are putting in the usual effort to make this a great occasion so if you are free then why not pop down for the 6 o'clock start. Music, BBq, competitions and beer promos all taking place.
Particularly appealing to players/members from other Section one clubs. Would be great to show how important this league is to cricket here with a great turnout.
Hope to see you there.

Was an interesting article Michael
Perhaps though as part of it you might want to offer some opinions on solutions to the problems. They may not suit everyone (nothing ever does) but offering some kind of way out may add a bit to the piece and perhaps stimulate the debate which is seemingly sought.

Nile, Ivan, and Andy,

See my latest column on CricketEurope: it analyzes exactly this subject,

Michael

Could someone - say a retired person or a student (!) - dig out the old NCU books from 1960, 1970, 1980 and 1990 or even every 5 years so that we could really put some proper data on this. And overlay with the timeline of initiatives in NCU such as coloured clothing, T20, and Ireland WC qualifications, etc.

That way we can have an evidence-based discussion without speculation or being vulnerable to criticism of rose-tinted stories.

Wonder how many teams there were in 1970 or 1980?

Andy Kennedy.
We now have 106 teams playing in 13 leagues a drop of 13% since 2000.
We have tinkered with number of overs, 20 over rearrangements , the death of two night matches so that more people would play !!!!!
We have more development officers, more summer camps , more publicity but less cricket being played . The Wesley Ferris cricket has disappeared , the East Antrim Cricket League is long gone.
It can't be down to the number of overs, the starrings etc etc surely otherwise we would have expected numbers to be rising not dropping.
I was involved in the NCU roadshow on league restructuring a few years ago and finishing times kept raising there heads but the stumbling block has always been schools cricket.
I have seen some schools cricket first hand in the last two seasons having been a volunteer umpire on three occasions . I just don't see what it provides what the clubs can't or aren't providing. On 12th July Parkhall College Old Boys played Antrim Grammar Old Boys and of the 22 players 17 of them have played senior cricket , 3 of them have played at under 19 World Cups ( Brian Dunlop, Neil Gill and Jason v de Merwe ) at least one ( Peter Bates) has played for Irish Schools , four of them have been PL league captains ( Dunlop , Gill,Richard Keates and Campbell Weir who skippered the RUC team) and neither school played Saturday cricket during these players development . They played midweek and between the school and the club they got coaching but got playing adult cricket at an early age. ( at least 14 of them got shouted at by me on their way up ( and a few shouted back ) and the other 8 probably got it from Harry McFadden and John McCormick ).
People want finished by 6 o'clock it doesn't mean they want to play a 20 over slog to achieve it.
Clarence's call for flexibility is honourable but for flexibility read " suspicion". " the if you want to start early or reduce overs " translates " must have guys who need to get a way early so NO.
Personally I think the overs per league are about right . I just think a definitive time for the end of play would help players and spectators .

Was helping Flossie to red out cupboards and I found a the Irish Cricket Annual for 2001. In the 2000 season 122 sides played in 13 Sections in the NCU - just sayig like!!