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Folks, in my past 3 games against opposition I have witnessed a player nicking the ball behind but not walking as the umpire didn't give the decision because he didn't hear it.

I can totally understand and agree with the umpire not to give the batsman out as he can only give what he sees/hears and in this case didn't hear anything.

However, I would like to throw the topic out there to see how many batsmen actually walk nowadays or wait until the umpire gives them.

It would be great to get some replies as I was under the belief that most people walked and sportsmanship was still alive and well within the game.

It would also be interesting to hear from players in the premier league as someone said to me that most of them don't walk because of the pressure they are under playing for top clubs.

Interesting topic and looking forward to hearing some replies.

Rodney

I think that's a good idea from M.Parks!

Maybe to allocate clubs that turn out the odd umpire or two from within their own ranks on some sort of regular basis a preference, when it comes to who's fortunate enough to have umpires for the various N.C.U.league & Cup matches.

And fair play to Victoria, for a Cricket club that play in the lowest senior league and aren't always guaranteed umpires for their matches, they have more than their fair share of 'men-in-the-blue-shirt' out on 'active duty', doing their bit for the cause...And speaking for myself enjoying the experience !

On a seperate issue, it's great reading the recent encouraging chat on here.. how to improve local cricket and I know alot of hard hours are being put in by the Task force etc. but yet again another poor weekend just past weather wise, with alot of cricket matches wrecked once more.

Not just the players that get 'cheesed off', but symphathy has to go to match secretarys,etc. and ofcourse the poor old captains of the teams, must be very frustrating keeping moral high never mind all the phone calls that are made and re-made again !

No doubt when the kids go back to school(& the cricket season is over) we'll get an Indian summer !!

Couple of positives.

Played a 3rd X1 game yesterday at Muckamore and had one of the best cricket teas ever. Choice of tea AND coffee, beautiful sandwiches (including Veda) assortment of sweet offerings as well as yoghurt and fruit, all served up on a china plate. Well done Muckamore on that bit of effort well appreciated by the players. puts many other clubs to shame....not to be named... who dish up hard sarnies from tin toil washed down by juice in a plastic cup!!)

Other is with all this umpire talk there is an article on Bobby Kane on the Woodvale site which shows that it takes a certain individual to umpire with that sometimes needed sense of humour.

If anybody would like tickets (seated together), send me a text (07584087730) or e-mail (mparks05@qub.ac.uk).

Tickets will be at cost price.

I'll be out of the country until Wednesday, but will get back to you and post tickets asap.

Ire v Eng (Clontarf 25th Aug)
NDCC will be running a bus to the match with a limited number of bus plus match ticket packages available. Cost £45 per adult / £30 youth.
Text Ryan - 07988937391

The problem of biased club umpires can be sorted by introducing an odd number of teams per league. In the week where there is no match, that team will be responsible for sending 2 players to each of the games (obviously only works up to 11-team leagues; 5 games to umpire per week). This way, all clubs are guaranteed umpires without motive, it assists the NCU by providing umpires and, who knows, some players may even find they enjoy umpiring and look to take it up on a regular basis.

Would it be possible to only assign umpires to those clubs which have umpires on the list? Thus providing an incentive.....

I am pleased that there is a healthy debate in relation to proposed new structures and changes to NCU but you are forgetting a very important issue. We are experiencing problems with the recruitment of Umpires and without them how will you play your games? We urgently require umpires from all clubs to come forward and attend our training to allow for all games to be catered for. We were down to the bare bones a few weeks ago and credit to Ian Houston once again for getting umpires to turn up and assist. I believe that the current President of Cricket Ireland and Paddy O'Hara looked after a fixture at Templepatrick and we are most grateful for their assistance but this should not be the case. There are clubs who do not have any umpires on the list at moment and yet they expect to be supplied on a Saturday. It is time to pay attention to this issue. It can no longer be forgotten. Being an Umpire in today's game is more than simply looking after a league fixture. The opportunities for match officals beyond the local game are endless. Elevation to the ICC list provides you with the chance to take part in games across Europe and Mark Hawthorne's elevation to the Elite Panel of Umpires illustrates that you can achieve great things with a little effort and hard work. So while you are debating the future add Umpiring to the agenda.

Re - Mathew and Starring

Get all clubs to submit Passport sized pics for all Player Registrations/Starrings - should be a simple task to compile such a Database

Does anyone know what happens with the Ulster Shield final on sunday if it happens to be pouring, is it reaaranged or a bowl out? What is the minimum game that can be played? and is D/L used?

Stuart / Marks comments
Interesting to see the views from both sides on schools cricket. Saturdays for me should be club cricket day exclusively (post 16). Similar to Stuart all the memorable occasions were Wednesday afternoons schools cup matches etc not rushing to meet the Chemistry teacher (who didnt want to be there)at 8am for a 9am / 20 over bash!!

star 11 for 1sts and 2nds 3rds star 8 maybe this will stop teams stacking their sides when 1sts have no game and something needs to be done about teams who dont play sundays playing on a friday is very unfair

A lot was made earlier about the fairness, or lack of it, when it came to umpiring games without official umpires.

There is no doubt that it can be a problem. We've all encountered games, where LBW decisions are turned down, that seem to be hitting half way up middle. However, there are still honest teams out there. I am rather proud of how the majority of guys umpire (and are encouraged to umpire) at my own club, as I beleive if you want other teams to umpire you fairly, you have to return the favour, although this isn't always the case.

While on this subject, I would like to comment on a dismissal during my most recent game. Our 2s have endured a poor season, and played Waringstown IV on Tueday night at the Lawn. A young batsman (Kennedy), 12 or 13, played very well. He was on 28, and looked to have seen his sides run chase threw from start to finish. A large appeal went up for a caught behind, the umpire seemed to have not heard the knick, when the young fella took it upon himself to walk.

Now I have seen guys at Victoria walk before, guys who have played the game for a few years, and have always played in that spirit. But with all the talk of "the spirit of cricket", seeing a young batsmen, who had played wonderfully, and must have been thinking of his not out, take it upon himself to hold his hands up and say "I'm out", I thought it made a very good innings even better!!

In reply to Andy Kennedy, and the starring system. I think you're right, it needs sorted. At the moment, it is an extremely flawed system. It relies on all league sectretaries keeping a very careful eye on score cards, to de-star players who havent played etc (and I'm not having a dig), but does this happen??

I'm not sure what a better solution would be, but surely we should look into what other sports do, and come up with a better system.

Something along the lines of, if you play x number of times for the 1st XI, you can't play below 2nd XI. If you play y number of times for the 1st XI, you can't play 2nd XI. I don't know, but an alternative needs to be put in place.

Re: mark's comments on Schools' Cricket
Very well said Mark. Yours is the best thought-through assessment of the present set up and probable impact of proposals made. As one involved in both school and club cricket, I agree whole-heartedly with all that you have said.

schools cricket

i have never understood the idea of cricket on a saturday morning. over the last 10 yrs alot of new rules have been brought in to protect U18s from supposed burnout. yet we still persist in club U15 matches on fri evening, school matches on sat morning and club matches on sat afternoon...3 matches in 24hrs?! where is the logic in that???

my memories of sat morning school cricket are a complete shambles. constantly checking your watch to make sure you would make your club match.

the only enjoyable matches i had at school were the midweek matches. most grammar schools have their 'games' sessions on the same day so there is no reason why classes should be missed. if there are exams on, matches starting at 3 or 4pm will not affect these.
in my experience pupils who would not play because of exams would also make themselves unavailable for the saturday matches.

i have no objections to schools U14 matches being played on sat morning. most likely these children will be playing for lower level teams at their club which start later and are shorter duration in terms of overs.
but if 1st XI cricket is 50 overs it must start no later than 12, and give the kids a break from early morning school cricket