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To blame pros on poor league standards is a nonsense. The reality is that in the modern world the desire for youngsters playing cricket beyond the age of 15 and 16 is diminishing. This then leads to a loss of talent and quality reducing. Having played senior cricket for a long time I am in no doubt that playing with top quality pros raises the standard of those aspiring to progress further in the game - there is no better experience than playing with a stand out professional week in week out.

Some great debate on the forum,

I am a Waringstown supporter and as everyone knows we were always anti-professional. Realistically this was probably the case in the 70's, 80's and 90's due to the fact we were in the fortunate position not to need one.

That in truth probably changed when we were relegated with a young team in 1999. Most of our defeats that year came at the hands of opposition professionals & some of the influential younger players vowed 'that if you can't beat them, join them'

We have employed one every year since & like many clubs, despite the best will in the world, have manged to get little or no contribution to coaching. Again, as we are in the fortunate position to have a very active ex-player involvement, its not something we have got all that hung-up on,

What the future holds re: Pro's no-one knows however while our competitor clubs employ them I'm sure so will we. We won't at the expense of our ground/machinery/pavilion/kids coaching though.

As I see it, the biggest danger in the NCU is the Irish-passport holder & also the aggressive recruitment policy some are following. Firstly, no-one can argue with the contribution of the likes of N Jones, R West etc however unfortunately many others are here one year, gone the next....making an ordinary contribution at best. Its fair to say that teams employing them become almost faceless & while 1 or 2 good years can be bought, its usually comes at a severe long-term cost.

Clubs I feel have to try and put as much emphasis into developing their own young players even if that means a couple of barron years. Those brought up through the club will always have more drive & commitment to win & all the successful teams always have a foundation of locally produced players,

You only have to look at our great rivals over the last 10yrs at Comber. Their success has been built on a die-hard core of the likes of Shields, R Haire, Moreland et all. These sorts of players bring the sort of design & will to win that money can't buy.

Like other clubs, we've had battles in the last few years trying to ward off clubs trying to entice our young players. The offers are probably getting more lucrative & aggressive, probably in truth as clubs get thinner & weaker in terms of their own strength & depth. Mathematically, the prize money doesn't warrant the outlay so you must assume that some clubs are getting increasingly worried about their own short-term position that recruit at all cost is their only option. I just hope this doesn't led us down the same path as the NW & what has happened at Limavady in particular.

I really shouldn't bite Phil but I'd say that the likes of my own club, Derriaghy and possibly some others in section one would disagree with your assessment. I unlike others on this forum don't feel the need to blow my own clubs trumpet. I'll let the facts speak for themselves.

The points made by Simon & Neil are absolutely correct. Standards of League cricket are much lower than when pros were introduced and it will be interesting to see if one of the high-spending clubs will be investing in new sightscreens. But then again it depends where priorities lie. Michael Taylor - my recollection is that Kiran played for the full season at Ballymena with a few Sunday appearences for Coleraine and became their pro the following season. And you are correct when you say that he paid his own fare. I recall the letter that Abi sent during the winter saying that there was a young player on his club side who "could benefit from playing in English (sic) conditions and he could become a useful cricketer". What a prediction!

Ok so ballymena don't pay more than one pro. I suppose one team out of eight is fair enough. The reality is that when pro's where first introduced many moons ago, the seed was planted. It has steadily grown and just taken a long time and a Celtic boom to reach full bloom.
I would say that possibly with the exception of downpatrick, the clubs with the best facilities, youth set ups, and most senior teams are currently in the PL.

Fair play Neil, I would agree with your viewpoint. Every club is struggling as far as I can see and then you have the likes of C.I who ruin it for everybody in my humble opinion.

There are some clubs that have realised they can not afford to have pros and develop as a club but it leave a huge void in the coaching role.

Billy, I am not what you refer to in your e-mail. I do not sit on the cricket committee at Lurgan, all I do is look after the grounds. I have no say in relation to the playing side of things and people in Lurgan know my views.

Like Robin, I am speaking personally, as has been pointed out by the Peter, the sub editor.

I look after grounds from an NCU perspective and when I visit grounds and have a look in their machinery store, I find that most of the machinery is very old and needs replaced. Most of it is not fit for purpose and most clubs have little or no machinery.

This is what clubs need to invest in rather than in a bunch of mercenaries who don't know what the word loyalty means

Surley the league structure needs looked at as north down and waringstown thirds are playing against second elevens whose firsts are one league below premier league teams I know that both ndcc and wtown have very young teams and they will gain experience but what happens if they lose their first few games there wil be no enjoyment for them my view is you cant have second and thirds in the same league

Clarence, I seem to remember that the argument FOR pros in the old days was that they would improve the standard of cricket etc etc.
Two things strike me. Firstly, the standard of cricket is nowhere near as high as it was in the days of the white haired gentleman from Waringstown, and secondly we're still debating the paying of players 35 years on. Neil Hunter has hit the nail on the head. We should spend the money on the ground, and that will do more than any pro to improve standards.

Typical Lurgan hypocrites. All their talk of youth development as they fork out big money on hired guns (Crasborne, Holmes) for the first XI then they think it appropriate to advise other clubs how to "develop" their 1st XI!

On a separate note I see C.I have announced today the signing of Waller from Lisburn. They must intend to buy back the league. What is the point of having one C.I home produced player in the team? what does it achieve?

Banning payments at A.G.M is pointless as it will be done under the table or by generous sponsors.

And to the Muckamore players who fought to get them promoted when they find themselves dropped I imagine the message will be tough luck - thats sport!

Thanks, Robin, but I am reliably informed that we did not pay Kiran More; he even paid for his own flights. In any case, he moved to Coleraine within three months of arriving at Ballymena.

Hiler, most groundsmen do not get paid!!..the first thing clubs should do is spend some money on equipment which will allow them to produce better grounds.

Andy,
Burnsy and the Ballymena Sixes go hand-in-hand in the Hiles memoirs! As does the late Jim "Wasim" Barry's threat to shoot us for spending the prize money one year. We told the Chairman we were knocked out in the 1st round but someone published a photo and blew our cover!
Great debate on paid players-time to wheel out Snowy and get him to champion the cause. What a pity you guys didn't come to the AGM. It would have been a joy to hear the cricket argument versus the business argument. I suspect all the Premier League clubs are in debt because of paid players and if not it is because someone outside the club is paying them. That said, there's nothing wrong with paying someone to coach if you can afford it. But shouldn't you pay the groundsman first?

Ben Crangle

Think you meant the Youth Development Officer at North Down and not the sub editor in your posting.

Hope the weather in Brisbane is nice...

I'm sure that "Phil" will join me in congratulating Ivan for his honest posting. Here we have an up-front statement of intent and the reasoning behind it. For so many years we have had the usual platitudes about "coaching", developing young guys, etc. when it was an open secret of what the real reason for hiring pros was all about. As someone who was around Ballymena at the time of Abi Satham and Kiran More the earlier postings bring back a lot of memories. The guy who went on to play for India and indeed become a leading administrator in Indian cricket could only get his place on the 1sts was when JRW took Hazel on holiday. Then again More didn't work for Sun Life - but that opens another whole series of memories of the 6-a-sides and maybe we'll just leave it there. P.S. Clarence - I meet Alan Burns regularly in a Belfast lunch venue and the 6s are never mentioned! He was telling me that the two of you have re-established contact after some years! Happy days alright.