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Hi Clarence

The criteria was just the top 20 cricketers from Northern Ireland, and we were advised to concentrate on post war players.

The North West have already named 10 post war players for consideration:

O.D. (Ossie) Colhoun, Sion Mills & Ireland
J.D. (Desmond) Curry, Donemana, Limavady & Ireland
A.B. (Brendan) Donaghey, Sion Mills, Strabane & Ireland
P.G. (Peter) Gillespie, Strabane & Ireland
S.S.J. (Scott) Huey, City of Derry,Eglinton & Ireland
Alexander (Junior) McBrine, Donemana & Ireland
W.T.S. (William) Porterfield, Donemana, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire & Ireland
W. B. (Boyd) Rankin, Bready, Middlesex, Derbyshire, Warwickshire & Ireland
S.G. (Stephen) Smyth, Brigade, Eglinton, Limavady & Ireland
R.G. (Roy) Torrens, Brigade, Coleraine & Ireland

6 current players included and again not much representation from the 50's (maybe not such a golden era?)
They also mentioned EDR Shearer and Andy McFarlane if pre war players were included but didn't say who from the above they would leave out to include them.

That leaves the NCU with 10 to nominate. The final selection when it is made will be very interesting!

Hi Roger,
That's what selectors do week in week out, but I agree it is an impossible task. However, if you go by statistics then you don't need to select-you just need a calculator! From all accounts, Donald Shearer was a class act, Jack Bowden's performances speak for themselves as do those of Sonny Hool, Raymond Hunter, Stuart Pollock and Frank Fee. These were outstanding players and played the game of their day, the beautiful game, not the smash, wallop and bang of the modern era. And therein lies the challenge of marrying different eras. Perhaps representation from 1946-60, from 1961-1979, from 1980 to 1999 and from 2000-2012 would provide a better appreciation of the period? I ask again is the criteria Ireland or NCU?
I suspect the North-West Top Ten will not be as difficult.

gonna thrown Walter Fawcett's name into the mix

RE: Clarence/ J Irvine

If we're only allowed to nominate 10 players, then who to leave out is the difficult bit. My selection was based on the Ireland stats, otherwise it's all about different peoples' opinions on plyers. I do appreciate there's nobody from the 50's era in my selection, but I found it difficult to find any one outstanding player to represent that era based on figures, and I never saw any of them play. Fee is probably the only one you could perhaps justify selecting based on his Ireland stats. The final place in the 10 I selected was down to either Reith, Rea, or P McCrum, and the stats said Rea, although I rated Reith as a better batsman, certainly a more stylish one. The other 9 for me pick themselves and I think it would be difficult to leave any of them out.

What do you think?

Top Ten-
And what about Stuart Pollock, Sonny Hool, Larry Warke, Raymond Hunter, Noel Ferguson, Jack Bowden, Archie McQuilkin, Tom McCloy, Donald Shearer, Herbie Martin, Lloyd Armstrong, Billy McCleery, Frank Fee and et al? Post-war means after 1946 so we shouldn't forget a generation because we weren't around then. Also, are the selections for top players in the NCU or players who have starred for Ireland as we all know the modern environment is chalk and cheese to the old days? It's almost impossible comparing different eras in cricket but of course we all love doing it.

Roger Bell and top 20 - Rea - surely not Michael? Nowhere near my top 20 - what about P & C McCrum, D Heasley, J Patterson, P Jackson, A Johnson, R Hunter, A Nelson, R Eagleson & M Reith - much stronger & dominant players for Club, Province & Country. Appreciate it's personal choice tho!

I fear the painkillers Big Raymond Moreland is on for the knee replacement operation are effecting the memory.
I spoke to him in the Square two days ago. He agreed to act as my agent and said he was going straight to Peter Shields. Next thing I read N.Down are to sign Anwer Ali. RAMMIE How could you mix up Bumperdale And Anwer Ali!!!lol

The new Ulster Sports Museum has requested from the NCU and NWCU the top 20 post war international players who will be featured in the cricket section of their museum.

At this week's NCU Board Meeting we were asked to start the ball rolling by selecting the top 10 NCU players.

To start the debate, this is my selection: Monteith, Anderson, Corlett, Jackson, S Warke, G Harrison, Rea, McCallan, White, and Stirling

We would be interested in hearing opinions from NCU cricket supporters on their top 10's.

Yes I am lead to believe this is true and that CI have signed his mate, another leading Pakistani cricketer!!!

As we are currently enjoying an unseasonly mild winter....this morning being exceptionly pleasent, I decided to treat Oscar our 1yr old Shi-tzu dog to an extra walk and headed out over the park for another 'good dander'.

With signs of spring already in clear abundance, birds singing, despite as yet the lack of leaves appearing on the deciduous trees, the wild onion garlic is strongly peaking through, snow-drops well established, even the daffodils beginning to show signs of making 'a spurt'.
In this bright sunshine, my thoughts began lingering to the possibilities of commencing some very early out-door bowling practise.

The problem being ofcourse, it's not much fun on your own unless you own a 'good cricket dog' !
Now wee Oscar is many things.. the heart of a lion, will do any trick for a bit of sausage or chicken, but he just ain't into his cricket ! Don't get me wrong, he'll chase the ball ok, but trying to coax him into bring the dam thing back is nye on impossible!

Now as I have seen while out & about around various cricket grounds over the years, the larger cricketing fraternity, players, officials and supporters alike are broadly-speaking like myself, a family of dog lovers and I enjoy observing the many varying shapes and sizes that turn up at cricket matches throughout the season, even if an odd one breaks loose and joins a game as a 12th fielder!

Before Oscar I owned a half alsation/labrador cross Dougle, an excellent cricketer always returned the ball, although he tended to slobber a bit as he warmed up and chewed the ball, but he was still very sharp.
Before Dougle, as a boy and into my 20's I had Patch, a heinz 57 mongrel with a bit of terrier definitly in him and he loved cricket, faultless to a T. Stood at silly mid-on waiting for a catch, always retreived the ball, never chewed or dampened it, never tired and 'my best friend' !

The point of my story is....sad to hear at this time of year so many beautiful dogs abandoned, ending up in pounds and shelters or worse throughout the country, all because their owners can't be bothered anymore!!

A dogs for life ! Part of the family, will reward you with love & affection no matter what their breed and nearly all make super 'cricket dogs' but maybe not Oscar the Shi-tzu, though we wouldn't change him for the world !!!

Any truth that North Down have signed Anwar Ali?

The 2012 IACUS Annual Conference will be hosted by NIACUS on Saturday 18th February 2012 at Stormont. A warm invitation is open to all cricketers and supporters to attend this day which promises to be of interest to many. Guest speakers include Dr Mark Elliott, a sports psychologist who has provided advice and guidance to Belfast Giants and several major sports stars from the province. We also have Paddy O'Hara giving a talk on boundary assessments and two workshops that will feature preparation and routines. In between the AGM of IACUS will take place. So if you fancy a chance to broaden your insight into the game why not come along? If interested please contact me at jonathan.lyttle@nihe.gov.uk

The annual NIACUS Umpire Training Course is due to take place on the weekend of 3rd to 5th February 2012. This course will provide potential umpires or interested parties with the first step towards becoming a Cricket Umpire and is facilitated by Keith Smith and Alan Neill. We would appeal to all clubs to consider providing at least one person to attend as our pool of umpires requires new members each year. Clubs need to consider that if they wish to have umpires at their fixtures each week that we require people to complete courses. The added advantage of qualifying is the opportunities for umpires with several members of NIACUS alread on the ICC Europe list and Mark Hawthorne becoming a member of the Elite list in 2011. There are many doors open for those who wish to progress. So if you interested please forward your name to Keith Smith or Jonathan Lyttle as soon as possible.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Ivan Reid. A great groundsman and a great character. Condolences to all the Reid family circle at this sad time.

Rest in Peace Ivan Reid - a real character, gentleman & quality Umpire - gone too soon.