Forum

Billy, agree with your comments.
Jack, the answer is no.
Clarence, you have some very valid points here.

The question is what really do the youngsters think or want.

Do they look at the fact there is no chance of playing for their firsts or getting a chance to perform because apart from a professional there is a number of blow ins who are brought over to win games?

I think Leinster under 17's played the NCU at CIYMS this year and whilst we had Matchett & Dennison playing for us, I think Leinster had 9 premier league players playing for them.

This is what needs addressed otherwise the NCU clubs will get left behind.

with regards to the comments of young players playing regularly, I started playing about the same time as Neil (though obviously younger lol) and even then, young players were brought through on a gradual basis right the way through a club, you do the business with the under 13 -under 15's you get a game on the saturday, the first couple of games you field third man and MIGHT get a bowl if the game is over, and normaly bat 10 or 11, a couple of weeks might pass before you get a chance, if you take that chance then you get a bigger better chance the next week, do the biz in the thirds, then you move into the seconds to field third man and if lucky get a bowl, get the chance and depends on how you do if you get another chance soon. I have NEVER known people to be told that they are getting 5 or 6 games opening the bowling or batting regardless of how they do.
IF you get the chance, then it is up to you how soon you get a bigger better chance, was the way when I started, and am sure it is still the same way. if they are good enough and learn the art of the game, then they will progress, and better that than throwing a young player in out of his depth and potentially putting them off the game.

I played nearly all my cricket this season in the lower junior leagues and not only was it very encouraging to see so many youngsters in the ranks of our opponents, I was highly impressed how well all the young, ( in some cases very young ) guys acquitted themselves, everyone of them displayed immense skill and determination at every facet and discipline of the game and in each case were superbly marshalled by one or two more senior players on the side to prosperous effect!

But if you're still a 'doubting Thomas', don't take my word for it, have an overall peak at the various NCU senior sides who were victorious in league and cup tournaments this season, then take a look at their respective 2nds, 3rds, 4th eleven sides etc. and you'll note they themselves have equally or even surpassed their senior siblings accolades on the field of play this fine glorious season!

So ask yourself this very pertinent question and then mull over it during the long close season..

'Think not what my cricket club can do for me, but what can I do for my cricket club' !

That's exactly the point Billy- Are they not good enough or not around?
I can't believe this generation of schoolboys is worse than past generations. We have more coaching, better facilities, better equipment and better youth structures than ever. So why are we not producing as many young senior cricketers?

I've seen quite a lot of PL and J1 cricket around the grounds this year and I haven't seen too many, if any, youngsters in 2nds who have the ability or even potential to be PL players.
Throwing kids in just because they are young isn't the answer, producing better youth players is.
If they good enough they'll get a game, a la Dennison, Eakin etc

Interesting debate on kids.

Neil's point about not enough playing regularly is key. Plenty of kids knocking about lower teams but not playing regularly in PL. Even Waringstown who have a youth set up the envy of most clubs, only really had Dennison as a 'regular' although others like Mitchell and Wilson played from time to time.

Same with Inst were Forbes played a handful of games only, and North Down with Eakin the only underage 'regular'

Perhaps CIYMS actually gave their youth the greatest opportunity with Matchett a permanent fixture with Johnston and Mulder and then Beattie and Smith all getting good game time.

Simple fact is cricket and 50 over cricket in particular is a dying sport amongst our Youth.

David, that's great if these young players are playing but I do not think they are all playing regularly.

What I am getting at is that there should be more youngsters playing and contributing in the Premier league on a regular basis but because of clubs bringing in blow ins, these youngsters are not getting the opportunity that youngsters got in years gone past.

Ben smith - 16 years old - opened the bowling for ciyms in premier league this year.

David,
You appear too keen to decry Neil on detail so let's be honest and name the players from your list who regularly open the bowling for their clubs in the Premiership. The three ND players mentioned are not the regular opening bowlers for the 1st XI although Peter Eakin is very capable of doing it. I think Neil is looking at the bigger picture although I'm sure he'll clarify himself. It is worth reflecting that Sobers, Weekes, Walcott, Tendulkar etc etc all played test cricket in their teens and many local players in bygone days entered senior cricket early. At Comber lots of Regent House players played for ND 1st XI in the past. However, most clubs don't seem to promote youngsters in the modern era. Are they not good enough or not around?

Is that the same Sam Gordon who has a few good scores for Muckamore III in Junior League 4?

Re Neil Hunter

Are you talking about Lurgan when you said one section 1 club paying 2-3 players?

“When is the last time you heard of an 18 year old fast bowler opening the bowling in the premier league or a 16 year old opening the batting?” I would like to kick that one off by suggesting the following;

18 year olds opening bowling – Andrew Forbes at Instonians,Peter Eakin & Peter Davison at North Down, James Mitchell & Sam Wilson at Waringstown.

16 year olds opening the batting – John Matchett at CIYMS, Sam Gordon at Muckamore, Craig Irvine at North Down & Adam Dennison at Waringstown.

Any others?

Clarence, your comment "Clubs need to look at their future in this context and although we tend to think grassroots within the NCU, the bigger picture is the future of cricket in Ireland and we need to develop our young players and give them a future."

So, if this is the case, where are the young players coming from? What used to be the norm was that each club had a bunch of youngsters who were given a chance to play senior cricket. This is no longer the norm.

If you look at clubs, whether your own, or other clubs, where are the youngsters? Go back 15- 20 years and I will name Peter Shields, Ryan Haire, Graeme Hunter, Shane Harrison, Neil Anderson, Michael Blair, Kyle McCallan, Adrian McCoubrey, David Kennedy, Andrew White, Mark Patterson, Andrew Patterson, to name but a few. The one thing they all had in common was they made a big contibution to their respective teams, irrespective of their age, and why, because they were given a chance.

The problem we have now is that clubs are either not giving kids a chance in the premier league or the talent is not there. When is the last time you heard of an 18 year old fast bowler opening the bowling in the premier league or a 16 year old opening the batting?

The problem that I see is that most premier clubs (and certainly one Section One club) have now, as the norm, apart from their professional, 2, 3 or in some cases more players, that are in the bracket of Irish overseas passport holders or local blow ins.

These people chase one thing...MONEY. Clubs, and I include my own, should be under no illusion that this is the case and these people are only at their clubs in the short term.

If Ireland manage to get Test Status with using the Irish Passport route, no one should complain. It is just the way of the world and like other sports, cricket is just replicating this option.

The big issue I see, is that kids no longer get a chance in the premier league because of the pressure to stay in the premier league. This in my mind is what needs addressed and if the NCU clubs are to look at the bigger picture to develop cricket in Ireland,then urgent action needs taken.

Don’t forget stumpings roy they don’t exist either!!! Seen it a few times this year myself after moving clubs but the one thing that’s annoyed me most is travelling to play quite a far away mid week 2nd XI game late in the season to arrive to find 4 of the teams main 1st XI players playing now I went to the bother of finding the write up from their local paper the week before and alas the 4 players were all mentioned for scoring runs or taking wickets … and I know of another club who were getting it tight numbers wise their 2nd XI hadn’t won a game all season and a few guys weren’t starred cos their availability was better than other guys and they were told to get the players starred!!!

Sometimes I really think that its better to bend the rules the clubs that do seem to get more out of it

NCU league format.
Premier _ ten clubs
Division 1_ ten clubs.
Division2_ sixteen clubs.
Promotion/relegation_ two clubs.