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Re Niall
A player turned up late. About 5 minutes before the match was due to start. He said 'sorry I am late but if I play today the wife has threatened to divorce me.' Contra to the advice I gave him he didn’t play and I had to quickly get a player from a lower side to stand in.
He stopped playing altogether a year later. Always wonder how happy they are now!!
Cant play at the weekend I'm afraid I'm playing for Northern Ireland against Wales in the Carling Nations Cup in Dublin!!!!
We thought it was a fair excuse
From a more "mature" player, for a midweek match...
"sorry skip, the doc tells me I have an irregular heartbeat and have to have my heart stopped and restarted again that night! Should be OK for Saturday tho!"
Re Niall & excuses.
Don't know if I could list 10, but my favourite from last season was 'I can't play this Saturday skip - I have a chess competition.'
I don't mind chess, but surely cricket isn't that boring.
Ivan a new subject for you. In an age where lots of kids appear to be starting off but fail to become available when they get past 16-18 (demon drink and the opposite sex I guess ....are you allowed to say sex on this forum?) what about a listing of the top ten excuses for not being available.
I have heard of kids birthday party, shopping, hangover, going out that night and one peculiar one from long ago ‘doing a ballroom dancing exam’. Believe that when told the captain had to be physically helped into his seat at selection! Sure there are lots more.
editor... Yes again i do agree with what you say if guys are going to be paid then the facilities , i.e pitch etc should be the priority first of all. All i am saying is each to their own, some clubs are against some are for paying guys, it is going to happen unless there is some change in the rules. When people with the experience of Ivan and the editor speak i listen.
Ricky.... take whatever you want with a pinch of salt. I went to CI for one season and returned to the club i have played with my whole life, at that time it was an apportunity that was appealing to me and i enjoyed the year and made some good mates along the way.
Ricky, no need to apologise mate. Only my thoughts and opinion. I always think it's healthy to get lots of views on any topic we debate. We aren't sitting an exam on this and we don't have a set of right and wrong answers.
Wayne ( as always ) makes some very very valid points about the roles of a club in it's community. I would just hate to see the ambition taken away. When I started playing Carrick were very much a small junior club playing out of the rugby club from memory but a small group of guys like Roger, Beggsy, Bobby Henderson, Robin Stewart and a few others I may have forgotten started to build the club and I don't think it's saying too much that the emergence of Eggy was the catylyst to them getting real Senior ambitions.Those guys matched Eggy's ambitions and that's why he remained a one club player throughout his career. Now they are an established Premier club with vastly improved facilities and an excellent clubhouse. That's what ambition can do.
Remember though that clubs last for 100's of years while many individuals pass through their gates. Some stay a short time and some a longer time and some for life.
Ards have every right to be proud of the part they played in the career of Andrew White as can Millpark take credit for starting the Nelson's and others on long careers. William Porterfield has had a wonderful international and county career but he started out at a junior club Killymallaght before moving on to Donemana as he had ambitions.
The question should a player stay or should he go really depends on what motivates them as individuals. I personally think money plays a very small part if any in the majority of the moves players make. I have spoken to players who have turned down substantial financial incentives to move.
Are there any other topics we could debate ? This one seems to be almost flogged to death.
RE- Wayne
Glad to see you back with your pearls of wisdom
With the amount of clubs Paul's Had, I'd say many have played with him or against him...!
His cricketing ability was never questioned BTW
Re - Nile
Well found mate, How the Cricketing landscape would change(for the better)if we could get the NCU to be as pro-active...
Why dosen't the NCU have a referendum on the subject - maybe then we can put this finally to bed...
First post in ages so a few comments on reading quite a bit of tripe over the last while.
Firstly - for people heckling Paul McCrum you probably have not played against him or with him. Awesome competitor throughout his career.
Paid players/inducements - it will always go on in some way, shape or form. Each club has to make its own decisions on how it goes forward. Sustainability is better than short termism and also what are a clubs target? you dont have to be top of the premier league to be a good club. Clubs are about adding value to society, entry points to the game for kids and friendships. Great work by andy mccrea and look at the Academy story over the years. awesome stuff by both clubs and even if kids leave templepatrick for whatever reason they will remember where it started. do ards feel aggrieved their prodigal son andy white went to Comber? doubt it....it all started in Ards (i may be wrong but bear with the thought!). Look at the work that has gone on at woodvale for years. Great club with tremendous work in the community.
Winning per Ivan - yes its nice but not at the expense of the above. Take our own club. great to go up in 2010 and get the experience in 2011 but the loss of a couple of players made 2011 a hard season and had the propensity to be counter productive if it were not for the tight relationships built in a club.
Personally I think all clubs need to understand their role. Cricket ireland is developing well and it needs to increase the number of people getting access to cricket in both communities and not just at the historic grammar schools. that work is ongoing and each club has a vital role here. success is not just measured in trophies!
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/cricket/cricket_dunfermline_knights_demoted_in_cash_row_1_1988580
According to this report, a club in this scottish league may have one paid player but may also pay "reasonable expenses" to others.
I suppose then everyone will agree that this is reasonable?
Re - Ed and Michael Shannon
Spot on, at last sense indeed
Taito - Clubs,Inducements,your comments - "Large pinch of salt"
Ivan, sorry mate, utter garbage...!
Here here to the editors response to Taitos posting ! - that is definitely the best(and most sensible) post on the forum for a long long time !
Ivan.... One of the best posts on here for a long long time, here here i say. The game is developing in a different direction. the days of totally amateur cricket in the NCU are over. Surely this can only be for the good of the local game.
No doubt things are changing Taito and becoming more 'professional'.
Seems to me though that in most instances the only professional thing is players walking away with a lot of cash.
It is only a good thing if clubs and teams become more professional in how they operate, in on-field and off-field matters.
For example, there is nothing professional about having paid players if you only get half of your 1stXI at practice, nor is it very professional to have any paid players and have sub-standard pitches (of which only 3 or 4 clubs can be excused) because you don’t pay a groundsman!
Ricky, I don't see the problem that you and others have alluded too. Society demands FAST today, Fast Food, Fast Broadband whatever. So cricket clubs want FAST results. I think every club aspires to producing their own players but remember even that comes at a COST be it in overseas professionals, new nets, bowling machines, booking of indoor nets etc.
We have many qualified coaches and development offers sprinkled throughout Ireland but now being a cricket coach is protrayed as a way of making a living. I have nothing wrong with that but let's then not be hypocritical of those who say ours is no longer a true amateur sport. If you take money out of the sport in return for doing any task to develop that sport then you are no longer "doing it for the love of the game". I have no problem with people getting a financial reward for this work but please don't then tell others how to spend their money.
I know every club has those who would never dream of taking a penny from their club be it for coaching, doing the ground or admin work and without those true amateurs who do it for the love of the club/game or just escapism our sport and indeed the world we live in would be a poorer place.
But I know some of these true amateurs in many clubs including my own who are more than happy to either put their hand in their pocket or work hard at fund raising to get that extra player who will help create a winning team. Nothing develops a club like a winning mentality and mindset. The feel good factor , the press coverage the pride it brings to the town or village is hard to quantify. And as I said we all want these things FAST now.
It always baffles me that the clubs that get the plaudits for having the " best coaches and coaching structures" are playing in the lower leagues. Are they coaching techniques when they should be coaching ambition and a winning mentality.
You can't be be a winner being a whiner.
