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AB has already been mentioned by Nile in his original list, but Wijekoon now makes it 24 by my reckoning.

Has AB De Villiers been mentioned i dont see his name

It is with deep regret that I report the sad passing of Brenda Shields, wife of Ian and mother of Peter. She was a wonderful wife and mother and not only provided sterling support to her cricketing family, but many other North Down members who held her in such high esteem. For many years she was an integral part of the Ladies Tea Committee and a friendly host for visitors to The Green. Above all, she was a lovely person whose life was devoted to others and who bore her illness with great strength and fortitude.
Sincere condolences are extended to the Shields family at this difficult time.
May she Rest in Peace.
JCH

One way to make sure the money paid to players is not money down the drain or is just trophy hunting is to police the amount of coaching they do. If we take £15 an hour as an acceptable rate then if a player is earning £3,000 then let that be in return for 200 hours coaching. Maybe the union could put a levy of 10% of the money paid to players goes to the Union who could then have more Development Officers to monitor and check up in the coaching hours being provided by the paid players.
I think it interesting to see Clarence wanting to encourage debate about the payment of players when he was the driving force behind North Down starting the trend way back in the early 80's when they lured Michael Reith from Waringstown and in the next ten years had as many paid players as any club today. In fact in Clarence's excellent book on the history of Ulster Cricket he makes reference that this decision helped kick start the club's success over the last three decades.
I think these forums are great as they keep cricket alive all year around. It's great to see more clubs entering additional teams in 2014 so crickets decline is greatly exaggerated .

Well rememberd Robin, his name was Gunaratne, just checked him out, he plated 23 ODIs but no Tests.

23 so far Nile!

Robin was he not the downpatrick pro and was the waringstown pro not called gunaratnee excuse my spelling

Robin

I think you are thinking of Pulasthi Gunaratne and he only played ODI's. Your 2012 pro and former Waringstown pro Gayan Wijekoon played 2 tests against the West Indies in 2005.

Guys, not sure waringstown Sri Lankan pro quick bowler played tests or one dayers, but remember only months after he rearranged my stumps at the lawn,Bob Willis on commentary said you can't have this guy opening the bowling with his military medium.Think his surname was Ratanayke and he was Waringstowns pro in the 2000 season.

Another one for the list, I think that Pakistani wicketkeeper Haider got a single test cap against England. He was at north down was he not?

One more NCU - test player - Ijaz Ahmed Jnr
North/Waringstown and Pakistan

Staffy,
Good to see you back on air!
I agree with attempts to control poaching but what is the solution? We know it is impossible to police payments and while Neil Fullerton's suggestion to impose a "third party" education qualification to eliminate foreigners could achieve this objective it has no bearing on hiring local players which is just as big a problem for many people. How many clubs resent it is indeterminable at present but surely there is enough feeling out there to put a proposal to the NCU AGM and test the water. This used to be Waringstown's territory and I suspect they still feel the same and perhaps some other clubs have now changed their stance.
Let's hear some more views on the topic.

Must say I agree totally with some of the points you make Neil, although very hard to put some of these measures in place. We need to have a strong Union that is willing to put strong rules in place which must be met by all clubs to play at all levels of Senior Cricket.

I like the idea of a 3 player under 21 rule for example. Young players and members are the lifeblood and future of all clubs and our game in Ireland. I understand that selection can be hard (younger players are normally the easiest to drop), so I would take the situation out of clubs hands with a 3 player rule. Id hate to be blocking a young players development if they have the necessary skills to play at a higher level.

I would urge clubs to see the bigger picture. If one or two clubs want to pay and offer financial incentives for their whole team then so be it, but surely this 'keeping up with the Jones's' has to stop...we cant all go chasing the dream...it does not work in my experience and i doubt even if the end justify the means???

Well done Nile, you have one that I had forgotten, Matt Horne.

That means there have been at least 21, the 12 you have mentioned plus the following 9:

India
Ashok Malhotra (Armagh)
Ashok Mankad (Bangor)
Partha Sharma (Instonians)

New Zealand
Grant Elliott (Cliftonville)
Bob Blair (Instonians)

West Indies
Herbert Chang (Donaghadee)

Zimbabwe
Gavin Ewing (Carrick)
John Rennie (Bangor)

Pakistan
Rizwan uz Zaman (Woodvale)

Anybody remember any others Nile and I may have missed?

Any more good questions on NCU cricket out there for the festive season?

Re Billy Dobbin,

The answer to your question is 'No'.

Jareth / Roger
I came up with twelve who have played ncu and test cricket.
S Singh (Bmena / india)
K More (Bmena / india)
Y Sharma (Armagh / India)
R Lamba (N Down / India)

M Horne (North / NZ)
C McMillan (CI / NZ)
A Adams (Carrick / NZ)

R Harper (woodvale/ wi)

A Raza (Woodbale / pak)

R Ratnayake (Dpatrick / SL)

A B de Villiers (carrick / SA)

C Ervine (lisburn / Zim)

I'll hand over this one to you Roger to enlighten us in your own good time!

Ps i've not included a couple of others who only played in rudi bryson's benefit match!

Happy xmas all