Forum

1. How many overs? 50
2. Does everyone accept DL? No. I hear lots of complaints
3. 14, 16 or 18 matches? 18
4. Do people want ANY midweek rearrangements? Yes
5. How many Sundays per season is acceptable to have to play a game? Very few. A lot of players don't want Sunday cricket.
6. Should cup games be Sunday only? NO! Above comment.
7. What time do people want the game to FINISH at? I don't mind. Start time of 11 or 12.
8. Do players want a T20 competition? No and I don't want a Clubturf. Waste of time and extra matches

Ivan,

An excellent set of questions.

1. How many overs? 50
2. Does everyone accept DL? Yes
3. 14, 16 or 18 matches? 18, but if we remove the 20/20 rearrangement then I'd reluctantly accept 14.
4. Do people want ANY midweek rearrangements? No
5. How many Sundays per season is acceptable to have to play a game? As many as necessary.
6. Should cup games be Sunday only? Yes; this worked very well when I was in New Zealand.
7. What time do people want the game to FINISH at? I don't mind. Start time of 11 or 12.
8. Do players want a T20 competition? No

Ed,

I too am almost certain that the idea of the 20/20 matches was to play these midweek, but in my opinion it just isn't working.

I hate having to play a match with a number of players, who can't get out of work, missing and warm ups being rushed, if they have time to take place at all. If I never have to play another midweek fixture again then I'll be quite happy. I'd be much happier giving up my Sunday and doing things properly.

As with my previous posts, I'm mostly thinking about Premier 2, however, if I'm in the minority on this issue then I'm prepared to get on with it.

re Ivans questions
1. How many overs do players in each section want to play ? 40 as a minimum accross all adult saturday cricket
2. Does everyone accept DL should be in all Senior crickets meaning more results are obtained on the day and less rearrangements ? Yes
3. How many matches and therefore teams in leagues do people want to play. Is it 14,16 or 18 ? 14, 16 games would mean that there is an odd number of sides in a league and some side would have no game each week.
4. Do people want ANY midweek rearrangements and if so one night or two ? Up to the clubs to decide, depending on how far apart geographically the sides are, two night games could be easy enough, but for others they are a nightmare.
5. How many Sunday's per season is acceptable to have to play a game ? NONE
6. Should cup games be Sunday only ? NO
7. What time do people want the game to FINISH at ? After the last ball is bowled, the last wicket taken or the last run is scored, but no earlier start than noon.
8. Do players want a T20 competition as well as the League and the recognized cup competitions ? No.

It is so refreshing to see so many opinions on here on the best way forward and hopefully the roadshows will help get an acceptable proposal together.
To try and formulate a single proposal from all the views expressed it might be worthwhile to answer some straightforward questions.
1. How many overs do players in each section want to play ?
2. Does everyone accept DL should be in all Senior crickets meaning more results are obtained on the day and less rearrangements ?
3. How many matches and therefore teams in leagues do people want to play. Is it 14,16 or 18 ?
4. Do people want ANY midweek rearrangements and if so one night or two ?
5. How many Sunday's per season is acceptable to have to play a game ?
6. Should cup games be Sunday only ?
7. What time do people want the game to FINISH at ?
8. Do players want a T20 competition as well as the League and the recognized cup competitions ?

If we had answers to these basic questions and a few more that I haven't thought of then it might be easier to create a structure that meets the requirements of the MAJORITY ( it's always impossible to please every one ) of the players playing currently and hopefully this new structure will entice a few back or encourage a few to play longer.Make for more meaningful cricket and help attract people along to watch.
This process is to meet the players demands NOT the administrators demands so it would be great to have Players as the representatives at the roadshows.( details on NCU website ).

Andy,

Some interesting thoughts. I think the key issue is that it can’t be a one size fits all league structure may not be the way forward. I think that the Saturday Sunday question will always be there with our weather. Also the training issue is completely separate there are good and bad trainers at every club. Some at our Club may not be regulars at training but will play every week. My concern is that the reduction matches which is bound to happen with eight team leagues across the board will not make the less committed more committed but lead to the more committed becoming less so as Mark alluded to.

Regarding free block Saturdays I like the theory but the practicality for it to work would require that the Saturday be left free for when there was a compete wipe out of league fixtures as otherwise logistically it wouldn’t work out as people would go to that date “on a first called off basis”. Would it also apply to Junior League who maybe are due to play on the ground that day thus meaning they have to rearrange?

Hopefully all these discussions are taken forward to the meetings.

NCU Senior working group

Firstly, congratulations to the NCU and this committee on taking steps to improve local cricket. Let’s hope we as clubs can get on board to create a good model.

I agree with a lot that Neil and Mark have said and here are some further thoughts.

It is good to get the debate going and people ideas before the roadshows.

• League Structures
Obviously we don’t want to reduce both the amount of cricket games and the overs played so therefore how about creating a structure that is manageable and realistic considering weather and timescale.
Our 1st XI seem to have been playing Saturday and Sunday forever this season and we need to look after our players with regards to rounded individuals with balanced lifestyles and their fatigue. Always playing does not always mean you are getting better, although it can contribute. To really progress, players need time to get quality practice sessions under their belt and work on certain aspects of their game – that is the key – the match is were it all comes together.
With 37 NCU teams, how does this sound ?
Sections with 8, 8, 8, 8, 5
The bottom section with 5 teams play each other 3 times , therefore 12 league games ( same as currently ).
This means each league contains teams of similar standard and is competitive . We suggest talk to the 5 / 6 clubs who may find themselves in the bottom section and get their opinion on this. If the bottom league has 10 - 13 teams there will be too much of a gap between top and bottom standards and this will not do anything to promote their cricket. Easy wins and heavy defeats means nobody learns or benefits or progresses. Might be worth talking to the teams who have yo-yoed between Sect 2 and 3 to get their opinion on this. TCC have been on this journey and jumping standards was not easy.

Current rearrangements policy
The fact that matches are decided by 20 overs or are even voided means the weather is determining results and leagues and not the cricket. If there were 8 teams in the league this would hopefully free more dates for rearrangements. After all we should want to actually play in cricket matches.

We believe 1st XI cricket should be 50 overs with the introduction of Duckworth Lewis to take into consideration conditions and will mean less need for rearrangements and help these circumstances. If conditions are conducive and umpires and captains agree that full games can be played then get people playing.
Perhaps 8 teams in a league will free up Saturdays. We suggest that free block Saturdays are set and these are then allowed to be used as backups for cancellations. Eg - Sat 2 July - no fixtures are arranged for this date until fixtures have been cancelled and need arranged after season has started. This will reduce the Saturday / Sunday scenarios.

Any thoughts ?

Midweek 20 over rearrangements. This week Bangor travelled to Ballymena for a 5pm start. To be there and get properly prepared would mean leaving Bangor at 3pm. Similarily for Ballymena players working maybe in Belfast or Lisburn. Inevitably that means taking a half day. Why not start at 2.30pm and play say 40 overs? Then guys might be more keen to take the time off.

enjoyable debate on the forum at present with lots of positive comment. To throw something else into the mix - what about the re-introduction of the "bonus points" system that existed a few years ago? I'm sure there are some forumites who can recall the details!

Fair enough Ed, see your point�

However it doesn�t really work anyway� we still have 3 attempts in the 1st round so there�s Sundays taken up with the 2nd attempt on 1st round matches & if your in the crazy number of Cups & doing well then your Saturday League fixture that falls on the same day as a Cup is then moved to a Sunday.

So why not bin one Cup & only have 2 attempts for all League matches & if captains want to play on a Sunday that�s free with the 3 options available for the 2nd attempt then go for it, if not then play a T20 mid week. I still feel most would take the (3 option) Sunday option� certainly towards the end of the season when the title race/relegation zone heats up!

Plus all 2nd attempts to be able to play on Mats if umpires state or captains agree.

Failing all that� ?

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing away of our former Chairman and dear friend, Alwyn Orr. Alwyn umpired for many years in the NCU and will be fondly remembered for his dedication and support for the local game. NIACUS has lost a true friend and we will also remember him as the first editor of our newsletter, the Follow On and his work paved the way for our members to be kept updated on news and events.

Alwyn will be buried at Roselawn on Monday 8th August at 2.30pm.

A small issue I picked up on by Ed…

Currently… T20 rearrangements on a Sunday.

Surely it makes more sense if you have a Sunday free to use it… or you just run the risk of bad light & weather determining the outcome during a weeknight fixture.

By playing on a Sunday with an 11am start as a T20 you then have all day to be on & off with covers etc and it still gives you a far better chance of a team getting a result.

By playing mid week over a free Sunday you are running the risk of no points for either side… I’d rather have 7-8 hours to get a result than a no result deciding it on a bad weeknight. That could be your league gone or even relegation with a no result!

That said even as a family man of 14 months!

If our Summers were lets say like a Summer then yeah go for midweek, that makes perfect sense but this place does know how to rain…

Into the future… 2 attempts only per match!

*** Please note times will be explained in summary below paragraph ***

Hutchy makes a good point, if we turn up on a last chance (2nd attempt) fixture and the big blue is out & forecast good then lets play/start as a 50 over match starting at 11am (Sunday’s only). If the weather doesn’t look so flash then lets say if you haven’t started the match by 12:24pm on the last chance (2nd attempt) fixture then it atomically becomes a T20 as soon as you can get started after 12:24pm. In the case where you have started at 11am or anytime before 1pm but less than 10 overs of the match has been completed by 1pm then it is scraped & a T20 will apply from 1pm onwards.

Summary: (last chance only/2nd attempt)

Option 1: 11am or anytime before 1pm start with 10 overs or more completed by 1pm = 50 over/reduce DL game.

Option 2: 11am or anytime before 1pm start with less than 10 overs completed by 1pm = T20 match starting anytime from a 1pm.

Option 3: If no play before 12:24pm due to weather/ground = T20 match starting anytime after 12:24pm – this is due to taking 4 minutes per over off from 1pm (9 overs total, 1 over short of being able to play a 50 over/reduced DL match)

Note: If the original fixture that was washed out was say in June then you should have until the end of July (but 1st available date for both clubs within the timeframe) to complete the fixture, this would hopefully allow you to have a Sunday free to use even if in a Cup run. In the case where there is no Sunday free over/during this period then it would have to be forced as a mid week T20.

Just my point of view…

Personally I love playing cricket (well apart from this season when I could quantify the matches ive enjoyed into overs) but this season ive found it especially hard to get players out on the pitch and so weve forfeited 3 games already this season are any other clubs finding it hard to get players on the pitch???

I had 3 promising 17-18 yr olds the past 4 years in the side but one has “found work” another “found women” and the third “retired” so maybe im like the posters on this site and enjoy getting a game of cricket during the summer but unfortunately at my club anyway everyone seems to be the opposite

From the posts on the forum that I have read it appears that there is a general consensus that the Premier league should be eight teams, eight teams in Premier 2 is too small, and more thought needs to be given to section 2. It's good to see that there have been comments from guys like Marty, Mark, Andy and Stuart who are all playing in their respective leagues. Hopefully, the clubs will take these views forward to the meetings.

In relation to rearrangements I, like Mark, thinks that each team should have at least two opportunities to play a 50 over match as the league is intended to be a 50 over league. After that I have no real difficulties with the match going down to 20 overs if necessary to try and get played. I don’t want the old system where matches get towards the end of September and there is no appetite at all to play. One point I would make in relation to the editor's comments regarding 20 over midweek rearrangements. I agree that the theory is correct to try and keep some Sundays free and play these matches midweek but my personal experience of midweek 20 over cricket is that there is a massive reduction in the quality of cricket as there are almost more difficulties with the availability of players for midweek matches with work commitments and also many players only arrive as the game is about to begin. In 20 over cricket you need to be on your game from start and with people rushing from work and then going out to bowl or bat within five minutes of getting out of the car the matches never really have the same intensity or quality.

How do you make a proposal for the NCU AGM, and when does it have to be made?

Also, when and where are the roadshows taking place?