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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.

Any club worth its salt should be investing in youth cricket not just for its own benefit and future, but to provide opportunities for the talented players to achieve representative recognition. The former is much more important than the latter in the bigger picture and it doesn't matter whether a club is fashionable or not because every club needs young players coming through or they are dead in the water. Waringstown do it better than most clubs and they deserve all the recognition their young players get. And if we are being honest don't they do most things cricket better? The club is not successful by luck or being fashionable but through hard work and a great cricket ethic. Well done.

Seahorse, clubs only nominate up to U15 level. U17 level is picked without the RDS trials, was the case last season as well.

As for the less fashionable clubs having talented players, they're as entitled to nominate as the rest, Holywood have 3, Donaghcloney have 4, Cregagh have 3 and there's a few others dotted around in the squads from other clubs that traditionally wouldn't fit your fashionable clubs label, and I'd imagine there's plenty more in the development squads that didn't make the cut.

Peter, in response to your post, to the best of my knowledge it is the responsibility of the individual clubs to nominate. Well done to Waringstown on great numbers on the representative squads.
If the "less fashionable clubs" as you call them put time and resources into coaches and development, there's no reason why they too can't be successful.
Look at Inst/CI youth set ups and how their clubs have moved on recently. These things don't happen overnight.

ref mr whittens comments

last year waringstown won both the graham cup U15's, and colts cup U17 so there in fact might you find your answer. Plus winning the graham cup the year before last also.

Is it just me or is anyone else wondering how Paddy O'Hara finds time to manage Man. City?

Much as I admire Waringstown’s commitment and success in developing young players, I was a bit surprised to see that they have 17 young players in the NCU squads U11/13/15/17 including a remarkable 8 out of 20 in the U17s squad! Give the club’s record, I’ve no doubt that they are all good young cricketers but I would have thought there may be other equally promising youngsters out there in less fashionable clubs who would benefit from high level coaching? The other thing that strikes me is that it is a bit worrying that we are so reliant on one club for our future talent?

I thought that we were about to witness the green shoots of an England recovery but the wheels came off again. A few guys at Jordanstown last week were commenting that England had managed to beat Australia 2nds but I couldn't possibly agree with this view! Good to see Morgan bolstering the batting but I honestly feel that England cricket has, to a degree, lost its way and I fear that their next move will be to trawl again through the likes of Cricket Ireland with the promise of contracts - and the knock-on effect on our national side. On the subject of Jordanstown - what a terrific tournament with 29 games over 3 days - a tribute to the admin skills of tournament director Murray Power. It was also good, during the breaks, to see the buzz of the various groups ranging from wee lads to the more mature guys attending various sessions and courses that were going on at the same time. Certainly lots happening in cricket in the NCU area. Now we just need a few more guys to volunteer as umpires and everything will be ticketyboo!

Andy,

I thought 95% was being kind!! ;-)

Bottomline it is a step in the right direction, even if some of it is old teams returning. In 2005 CI only had 2 senior teams, and hopefully, if another pitch can be found, we will be launching our first ever 5th XI.

95% Steve? I'm positive that I'm not as negative as that! Of course it's great to see teams coming in but there is a long to go to replicate the days when every senior team fielded at least 3 and in most cases 4 sides. I realise that era has gone - despite the £million odd that was spent on coaching! The Waringstown initiative is a refreshing step in the right direction and I wish Mr. Johnston well.

Andy,

I can read fine!! 95% of your postings are negative, must be old age! :-)

Your like the media, quick to be negative, and say nothing when things are going well!

As for England, much like Man Utd, too many great players are now the wrong side of 30 and past their real best. Stokes & Ballance look decent prospects, but cant understand how Hales & Wright aren't in the ODI side.