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Great win by Ireland.
Well done everyone involved
On behalf of the wider cricket community, please allow me to express deep condolences to Patricia, Richard, Zoe, Edith and the entire McCrum family circle on the sad passing of Sydney. A special message of sympathy to his brothers Paul and Charles, two of our most illustrious international players.
Joe Doherty
Chair of Cricket
Cricket Ireland
Great to see such a large turnout for the funeral of Syd McCrum today, testament to what a popular man he was One of the nicest guys you could ever wish to meet while still maintaining a keen competitive edge when on the pitch.
Ref Richard
In that case Richard when I look through the stats for last season for some of the players selected for the emerging squad it doesnt make for pretty reading so on your basis for selection you would wonder how they got picked !!!
Ref Andrew H
Pretty sure nobody gets too many games for Waringstown after a run of poor form, what young players are you talking about?
Ref Andrew K
I would suggest the stats for the two guys you mentioned when they have been playing in the PL highlight the reason why they haven't been picked...
On the eve of the funeral of the Late,Great Syd McCrum,I look back with fondness on the times we spent together,both in the RUC and on the cricket field. I can't be there tomorrow,but I'll be watching from mid off.
Fun and laughter was always had,even in the toughest of times.
Rest well Syd,
Deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Sid McCrum. A great cricketer, a real gentleman and a good friend. Will be greatly missed. My thoughts are with his family.
Good to see a couple of players that were playing section 1 cricket last selected for the NK emerging squad but how JaJa Mcgowan and Craig Lewis are not being given a chance to train with this squads is beyond me as they are the two best payers playing in section 1 and have been for years now.
So CI spending again but this time on a coach - surely they must be favourites now for the Premier League?
I commend all clubs having the foresight to bring in paid coaches to bring on their clubs, but really is there any need for a paid full time coach?
Must echo the comments of Davy McDowell on Sid McCrum. Couldnt believe it when I heard on Thursday night. A real loss for Victoria Cricket Club. He was a real decent bloke and always good for a chat down at the cricket. I still laugh at the time he came out to join me in the middle one day at Dungannon. I am not geard for running between wickets and Sid decided to take me for 13 runs in an over. We met in the middle at the end of over and he said same again big man. I told him if he did that agin I would run him out to which we both fell about laughing. Good times, great bloke and deepest sympathy to Richard and the wider family circle
Shocked to hear about the passing of Sydney (Sid) McCrum on Thursday evening, and thoughts go out to Davy, Paul Charles and his son Richard at this tough time.
I have had the pleasure of playing with him at Victoria Cricket club on many occassions and against him while he was at Donacloney and PSNI and on and off the field he was a true gentleman and always good to have a chat with.
I would just like to echo some of the thoughts here on the Development Squads...I do agree that there may be one or two kids that might have been overlooked, however you will find that it is more the fact that either their club didnt nominate them (beggers belief), or that the kids didnt bother to turn up to squad sessions which is equally poor!
Warringstown currently have the best group of young players around, without a shadow of a doubt. They have got to this stage through very conscious yet important decisions made over the past 10 years - such as decisions made to play young players on 1sts even when they are getting smacked round the park most weeks, or when they get 4 or 5 low scores in a row! They are now seeing their genuine efforts bearing fruit over the last 5 years. They should be applauded for their long term approach - they deserve their plaudits!
To have people come on here and try and cheapen that hard work is insulting to say the least. You will find that these kids have probably attended all the squad sessions, whilst others who may have been nominated didn't bother showing up!
Currently most of the players spoken off have been playing regular 2nd XI cricket for the last year or 2, with players being carried at clubs to enhance their development....remember batting 10 on my 2nd XI team at 15 and 16 at times....some of these kids are opening the batting and doing very well too!!!
Individual clubs must take responsibility..........
Please watch BBC Newsline tomorrow night as Muckamore demonstrate the enthusiasm and hard work that has now caught the attention of the local media regarding youth Developement.This has been a partnership of Club Schools Council Cricket Ireland and the NCU working in tandem to develope are own players who will hopefully stay loyal to our beloved Club.. Invest in youth or you fall behind you heard it here first!!!
Ok, I see my use of the word 'fashionable' wasn't particularly appropriate. As I said, I am full of admiration for Waringstown and given their record I can understand why they have lots of representatives. Nevertheless, having 8 players in the U17s implies that, say, their 5th or 6th best batsman or 3rd or 4th best bowler are better than the best players in several other clubs who have no reps at all. If that really is so, it seems a bit worrying for NCU cricket?
As one of the clubs mentioned below (Cregagh) we have now been running our youth academy for over 8 years now and certainly we appreciate the value of having a youth section, in fact last season we started for the first time ever an under 8 cricket section for the first time in our history.
The three lads named in the NCU squads have been a product of our youth cricket and have been with us since under 11 age and we are extremely proud of them at our club.
I have total respect for any club putting time into youth cricket, its not easy and the man hours devoted to it by some of our coaches is quite simply staggering. Without these coaches it simply wouldn't exist.
As you stated Clarence it doesn't matter about what or who deems what is a fashionable club, put the effort in, have a strong committee and great coaches in place with the right support and who knows where it could lead.
