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Im a keen follower of Victoria Cricket Club in Lurgan so the question of pro's will never really be an issue for us. I know many on here seem to be fed up with the debate but i would be very much for them. Surely in general they are of a better standard than what generally plays in the leagues. Do players not learn from these guys with different styles of play, attitudes etc. Surely also they are involved in the coaching side of things and are improving the youth sections anyway. In my opinion to succeed kids need the attitude to do well and not necessarily a fancy set up to do it in so if a pro is the way a team decides to go then good for them i say. I only wish Victoria could afford one!
Re: Junior Cup Final
Firstly let me say well done to Cooke Collegians on their win. On the day a much better team than Lisburn.
I would like to echo the comments on CIYMS and their hosting of the cup final - the grounds looked beautiful especially considering the rain, and surely their aren't any better facilities in the country. This was my first time at Belmont and was very impressed by the facilities, car parking,, bar area and the very clean toilet facilities.
Surely Belmont would be a worthy host of the Senior Cup or Irish Cup Final?
The pro debate strikes again...This is the first season for yrs that HCC havnt had a paid overseas player simply because we cant afford one.
Obviously we are struggling near the bottom of div 1, and have been on the receiving end of pro-sided defeats.If we are safe for next season, i dont see us spending money on a pro just to keep us up..instesd were are looking at spending our funds on our youth section.
My question is why other clubs spend on pros ?? Is it to stay in div 1 or is it to gain promotion into the premier lge ?? If its the case of staying in div 1, then maybe all clubs should agree to go without pros and spend their funds elsewhere
Would like to thank Lisburn 2's for the sporting manner and professional attitude on Saturday at Junior Cup Final. Also congratulations to CIYMS for being excellent hosts. May just need to lower windows in scorebox. Finally well done to Louis Arneill and Kevin McConville. As usual the umpires and scorers are the unsung people at a match but both umpires did a fine job and ensured an excellent game of cricket for the large crowd.
Overseas Pro, Local Pro, No Pro? - what about we just leave this one up to each individual Club to decide and get on with club cricket in the NCU....weather permitting
Davy McD - "quite a few girls in my younger days"!! Tell us more you old dog!!! To be serious - what a great day today for sunshine and cricket played with the sun on one's back. Cracking game at Holywood with almost 450 runs scored. All credit to Messrs. McCormick for their work.
Can a club just not decide not to get a pro?
Personally i think pros are good for clubs and cricket. You should learn from them, learn about other cricket and utilise them to enhance the skill sets in the game. The right pro can be the nucleus of a good team/club development. Taimar Khan, Ewen Thompson, Kamal Merchant etc etc over the years have been great ambassadors.
Whilst I dont know the background Bangor do not seem to have had a pro/coach for a few years and a great club with a proud tradition is losing players to other clubs and its status in Div 1 is under threat. It is not fair to use an example but why is this happening? Could a pro/coach have helped provide the nucleus of a club while an era retires and kids come through and develop?
There are pros and cons but fundamentally each club has an income stream and it is accountable to its members as to how it spends it. If a club wants to spend money on machinery etc as part of a medium term strategy then surely that is up to the club. Whether pros are banned or not by the union will not matter.
If that means missing a pro for a year then that is a clubs choice.
You would find if pros are banned that there is always a back door and those clubs worried will find local players to pay via non club funds etc so it wont matter that much in many ways if pros are banned. money would still be spent
re Michael Kennedy
Best post ever on this site. Let the clubs find their level and get folk enjoying the game again instead of relying on 1,2 or however many overseas players. Plenty of quality local coaches out their.
Hope the end of the summer is better for all of you Groundsmen.
I have no intention to re-open previous debates re the pros & cons of professionals but the outworking of the reduction of the Premier League to 8 teams means a reality check for one of those sides that have in previous seasons been "cushioned" by the usual suspects for relegation. One of the big spenders is for the drop!
Re Matthew
Noon starts are one of the reasons why I am intending to say this season will be my last as a player (or at least regular player).
To have to leave the house at 9am or 9.30 to go to a game in august that is over by 4.30 after the full allotment of overs is in my opinion ludicrous.
For 30 - 35 over games a 2pm start at any time of the year is plenty early enough, and it means that players can often take their children to the pool or park or whatever before going to the game, or can get the grass cut or flowerbeds weeded thus earning brownie points from the Boss.
One of the reason why i feel so many people are turning away from playing the game is early starts and too much Sunday cricket, meaning that those that are available to play both days often work all week, then have to leave the house at 9am or shortly after for an away game on both saturdays and sundays, not good for a Work life - Cricket life balance, quite a few girls in my younger day were willing to let me go play cricket on a saturday as they knew we would be doing something on a sunday, now it is both days.
glad to see Michael Kennedy speaks more sense than his da!!
Re Ken Simms
I have to say I like Holywoods thinking on the overseas players issue. I honestly think the money could be better spent elsewhere. Having taken over doing the ground at Muckamore at the start of this season i've had my eye opened to the need for ongoing investment in machinery, training etc. If you ask any player in the country what their wishes would be i'd bet in the top one or two answers would be to play on better pitches, yet thousands of pounds gets spent every year getting pro's to keep teams in whatever league they find themselves in, and for what reason??
Surely we need to think more long term, invest in facilities, get the kids playing on better surfaces and we'll see better home grown talent coming through. Having seen first hand the coaching the likes of Hinky can provide, the hiring overseas coaches arguement doesn't hold water to me either.
Say the average section one club is paying a pro between 8 and 10 grand a season, i'd be pleased if I had half of that as a budget for even one season to get some new machinery.
What are the priorities here folks? Do clubs get pro's because all the other clubs in the league do? Surely if we banned pro's from section one down, it's a level playing field? How many times do we hear that once the pro is out the game is effectivley over? Premier league is a different kettle of fish to me, but below it we need to take a step back, stop thinking of the short term gains of our individual clubs, and think of what sort of structure we are leaving for the next generation of players.
editor my posts were ideas looking for DEBATE on overs/pros /dl/ power plays as to see if it worth proposing at AGM ,so think its good chance for anyone on this forum to voice there views .
No issue with debate Jeff, just emphasising that a lot of these issues have been talked to death for a couple of years!
IPS
ref ken what about no pros at all senior cricket kept at 50 overs junior 40/35/35 people will play no team will struggle to get 11 players 12 start from the first game of the season need to be changes believe me if not cricket will be the big loser
Guys, it is broken record time - get the clubs to propose rule changes and then the clubs can make changes!
Jeff and Ivan
Myself and my clubmates at Holywood would tend to agree with the suggestion about no overseas players below the Premier League.
In general more money should be directed towards grounds, facilities, and home-based youth coaching.
My own personal view regarding 40 over games is that they are favourable to 50 overs, but that's mainly due to my advancing years!!!
I would maintain 50 over games for Premier League, Senior League 1 (and possibly Junior League 1). A maximum of 40 overs (or less) for everyone else.
