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simon- now your talking , i might play for a few extra years.

Just looking outside and wondering how the hell we are going to play a match tonight in that light, floodlights please.......

Re - Taito
pretty much agree with that...

Unfortunately cricket isn't that "Sexy" - we could sit and talk till we're blue in the face, but kids have bigger and probably tastier fish to fry...

What self respecting "stunner" is gonna be stood up by a plonker dressed all in white that has been playing rounders for the last eight hours...?

Maybe we should contemplate "Mixed Cricket" - just may save the day...

I think ultimately, by starting games earlier we might hang on to more young talent rather than lose them as they have other commitments (i.e partying with friends etc on a sat night). I think rather than catering for people who think they are wasting their time, i think its more a case of trying to keep as many people as possible interested in the game and possibly attract a few more. People unfortunately will want to enjoy their saturday nights so why not give them the opportunity to do both... play cricket and have their satirday nights to themselves?

Re ed...

I never said that - though when i'm skulking back to the hutch with my bat under my arm it does often feel like that...!

Either through obligation/loyalty or otherwise you turn out - there may be a million reasons why, just when you get a bit older you are maybe trying to claw a bit back...

I think Rodney maybe made the wrong choice of words - but his point is most perinent...

Re Rodney & ed's Response...!

Yes we do...

I work all week, i'm 40 years old and after 25 years do you not think my friends and family should be entitled to my exhillariting company when I'm only playing social cricket...?

If the senior leagues still wish to start at 1.00pm - crack on...!

Let the rest of us get done and dusted during the hours of daylight please...!

BTW schools cricket and people working Sat Mornings are two seperate issues - and should not be factored into this arguement

My view is that all senior games should start no later than 11am. Yes there is an argument that a lot of school cricket is played in the morning but I would be fairly certain that we are losing more people due to wasting a whole Saturday and Saturday night as opposed to being home at 6pm. If young players are good enough and they have the chance to play at a high club level then schools should allow them to play for their club side instead if there is an overlap in time.

Re start times

I can appreciate both sides of the argument but surely the rule book provides for the LATEST start time - there is nothing to stop earlier start times being arranged (just as our match at CSN was on Sunday) Does it not just require the 2 captains to agree?

is there not someting in the rule book that a game can start earlier than the "published" start time - provided both sides agree? I recall a couple of years ago that Muckamore 2s & Waringstown 2s had such an arrangement that benefitted everyone. As for late finishes, I don't believe that the "30 minutes" before overs are deducted is helpful - 1:30 starting time with the 1st innings due to finish round 4:40, 30 minutes tea interval and we end up with a finish time of 8:20 - forget about schoolboys - what about me having to get home to help Flossie get the hens in?

Davy McC Vistoria.

Davy I appreciate that you and others work on Saturday morning but I contend more people have quit playing for the reasons outlined by Billy Adams. I contend that if this Saturday every player in the NCU ( at all levels ) was handed a postcard with three options of start times of 11am , 12noon or 1pm that a vast majority would go for 11am. It would be great to see this done on an individual basis as a private ballot without any lobbying or discussions about school cricket etc. If my hunch is right then it's up to the Union/Schools to facilitate the wishes of the majority.
Spectators also need to be considered and getting home by 9pm isn't appealing to anyone. Those that want to spend two or three hours at the cricket and be home for tea or to go out that evening could get there for 2.30 pm and the game would be over by 5.30pm /6pm allowing them to see the game played to a finish.
A sport without spectators will never progress. I'm sure some of the young guys playing in our nets or outside the boundary on Sunday at the Muckamore v Waringstown game will have gone away thinking " I want to play in front of crowds like that ".
Selling cricket isn't easy. I was listening to Boycott on the radio today discussing the Rose Bowl's first test and he said " it takes time to build a test watching public ". When they struggle to " sell cricket " in Hampshire and in Cardiff you can understand how much work we have to do to get people watching NCU cricket.
Without spectators it is harder to get sponsorship or other revenues. Without money we can't have better facilities or better coaching. Without those we won't attract young players in to the game.Without the young players the game will die. So you can make an arguement that supporters are THE lifeblood of the game and we as clubs in the main treat them with contempt.
And just in case you haven't thought about it cricket in Ireland was dealt another heavy blow at about 20 minutes past midnight on Monday morning when Rory McIlroy was hailed as potentially the biggest sporting star on the planet. Well done Rory and I'm as proud of you as the next man but it needs to be " wake up cricket ".

if the NCU decide to start all games next season at noon this year will be my last playing, and as we have about 4 or 5 players that regularly work saturday mornings, it may well be a step too far for them as well, not to memtion the amount of players that will be lost as they will be playing for their schools.

On behalf of NIACUS I would like to extend our most sincere sympathy to the Irwin family upon the death of Mrs Irwin. We are truly sorry to hear of this and wish Brian and family every sympathy at this time. May they be comforted by the prayers and thoughts of the Officers and members of our Association. I only met Mrs Irwin last year at a fixture at Dunmurry and she was a very kind and charming lady and I really feel for Brian at this time. I am thinking of you and your family and with you every comfort from the words and thoughts that will be around you at this time.

didn't have a game on Saturday but was at a cracking match at Stormont on Sunday that had everything - CI 46/5 getting to 149 wuith some fantastic running between the wickets from the brothers Brittain, dropped catches on both sides and then to see young McMorran bat with determination to swing the game from 199/9 to win by 1 wkt. Maybe you should be arranging for extra seating to accomodate the crowds that will be following the visitors on Saturday!

I don't know what match Andy Kennedy was umpiring on Saturday and I'm not great with my North, East, West and South's so I don't know which club he's referring to but the one I was at on Saturday wouldn't be in a position to comment on Muckamore's ability to attract a crowd.
The number at Moylena on Sunday was about 280. Maybe with Father's day and a lot of heavy cloud about at midday we lost a few. However the day was a success off the pitch. Spectators saw some good cricket for about 75% of the game with excellent individual performances from Ober Pinnear and Lee Nelson with the bat for Waringstown and with the ball for Muckamore by Neil Gill, Indrajet Kammtekar and Jason Van de Merwe. Jason followed his 10 overs 1 for 23 with an excellent half century while Josh Hall took 6 wickets for Waringstown ably supported by Simon Harrison and Gary Kidd and Johnny Bushe gave a wicketkeeping masterclass.

Bar sales were well up on a normal fixture , the bbq stand was very busy all day and a lot of local people where there for the first time or hadn't been at a game for years. I really think it will be easier to go from 280 to 500 than it was to go from 60 to 280.

Waringstown bring a large travelling support. This Saturday we play Instonians at Moylena and they are one of the less supported clubs in the League.We again will be promoting the game through social media and by a poster campaign in local shops and would hope to get an above average crowd.

We have learnt many lessons from this past week's efforts and will carry on promoting the club and fixtures. We did get a lot of youngsters and clubs might be advised to promote to a family audience. Maybe the addition of a play area to grounds would help and also 2 musts " I think to encourage people are 1. A permanent PA system and 2. Permanent seating.

I was at Shaws Bridge ( where we played as bad as we have in years ) and not a seat in site and later on at Eaton Park ( great finish ) and again no spectator seats available.

As the Premier League goes to 8 teams and the standards expected to rise I think clubs need to look at spectator facilities. Guess which two clubs have the best seating and best PA.- North Down and Waringstown while Lisburn provide excellent seating.

I encourage all clubs to take responsibily for promoting the game locally. We got more publicity in the past weeks than we have in years, and remember ALL publicity is good publicity. "Dogs don't bark at parked cars ".

well done to all concerned at Muckamoe on the lead-in to Sunday. The number who turned up is certainly much higher than the 40odd that was being rather churlishly being predicted at a certain South Belfast club on Saturady afternoon! But then again I haven't seen that particular club attracted 40 spectators over 2 games!

Great effort by Muckamore to get 300 through the gate. I think this approach has a huge part to play in the future of Irish cricket. Advertising and promotion of cricket will bring people through the gate. A lot of people don't know there are cricket teams in their local area and certainly at Dundrum we have attracted more members through the kids section who thoroughly enjoy watching and didn't know we were there before.

The problem with advertising, promotion etc is that it takes time and money not to mention a committed and hard working committee who arent afraid to get their hands dirty.

I cant talk for committees around the country but from what I've been told Muckamore seem to have a committee that work as one and do not oppose change or the idea of moving forward. Moreover it seems they aren't afraid to put the effort in and look like they understand this is a pre-requesite for the club to achieve its long term vision.

Well done.