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I certainly wouldn't advocate playing in the buff as my fellow club colleague (M.Parks) puts it, but I tend to agree with him. The whites do the job very well, so why make it even harder for new players to join in the fun by forcing them to shell out for multi-coloured clothing on top of the other necessary gear!

Don't get me wrong though, when the T.V. camera's are rolling away and the press are taking continual photo's for papers & magazines etc. the coloured clothing looks great and differentiates between limited over cricket and test cricket to good effect, but do we really need all that here for grass root club cricket... ??
I don't think so.... maybe premier league or a Cup competition, but I wouldn't tinker any more than that on the clothing side off things !

Anyway as someone's already said, the secret to building up a good player base is making the game fun to play..

It's hardly rocket science!!

Don't keep the same 'wee lad' at no. 11 week in...week out and give him an odd bowl as well, even if he gets tanked for a few, he'll soon pick it up and loads of praise when he scores his first runs or takes his first wicket for his club....And the rest will soon fall into place !!

Believe Me !!!!

As usual with a debate on this site one specific bit is taken out of a comment then the sarcasism starts. Comments and attitudes like that are why the game in Our Wee Country is dying. Sure lets just keep it all the way it is so that noboby has to face change and slowly let participation numbers dwindle to the detriment of the game.

If you look back at my first post not only did it mention coloured clothing but it also mentioned changing the way we play the game via the rules we play under. That seems to have been overshadowed by most.

Surely instead of us playing 4 different competitions under 4 different sets of rules which not only captains/players have to remember ( or try to anyway ) but umpires have to remember too we should be stream lining this so we have one set of rules for all.

JL - totally agree with the start times being changed which would definately help stop the abuse from the other halves and the younger ones can still go out partying afterwards as well. Always get the impression that the NCU is held to ransom by schools cricket on the whole start time debate. If the start times aren't changed as a whole why can two teams playing each other who don't have any schoolboys playing in their teams not rearrange the start time to earlier in the day?? Common sense has to privile at some point surely. Seems easier for the umpires to makes a change seeing as it only effects two people involved in the game but at least they have had the guts and foresight to do something.

Sports Minister - You forgot the bit that when the whites actually come out of the bag you get the " next time you bring these F'in things home like that you can wash them yourself. I've tried even thing and the stains don't come out! " Followed by slamming doors and huffing.

I believe that change is inevitable but at the minute I think there is more of a let somebody else do it and take the blame if it goes wrong attitude.

Now come on M.Parks - cricket in the buff would be a rewal winner and attact hoads (yes i did say hoards!)
Finding players may be a touch more difficult!
I propose Victoria CC pilot the scheme in Lurgan Park and see how Buckfast Corner critique it................i hope both Vic & Caleb are 'up for it'!

I have met many people who find cricket boring and have no interest, If I turned to them and said, "Hang on a second, we play in coloured clothing you know!" They wouldn't all of a sudden be interested and sign up to play!

Would playing in coloured clothing work out cheaper? I don't see how! If we are talking about official kit, then colours cost the same as whites.

The great thing about whites is kids can pick them up in sports shops for £10-15. They don't have to order from the club supplier, they don't have to stand out in the field wearing tracksuit bottoms like the odd one out, they can get a cheap pair, pull on a white polo shirt and look like the rest of us.

Would colours make cricket more exciting to the general public? No, they wouldn't care if we played in the buff.

Would colours make cricket cheaper to play? Quite the opposite, I can think of loads of youngsters who wouldn't want to shell out on a new kit when they have their whites which they picked up in the sale.

Sports Minister for clarification - are the marbles you are in possesion of the Elgin Marbles? - if so your official position of Government may be untenable as this could escalate to another Anglo Greek incident of epic proportions. Clever as it may just take the heat of the coloured clothing debate tho!

Armagh CC were the pioneers of coloured clothing back in the late 90's and it created quite a stir if i remember correctly with the BBC or ITV sending a TV crew down to interview a few - it was also firmly opposed by the dinosaurs of the NCU in 'power' at that time (but we have moved away some from those days). Glad to see the debate still rolls on and more than a decade on this small but vital piece of the jigsaw has not been fully addressed. I know the current think tank are progressive and 'fine men to boot' - change is always painful, individuals/clubs afraid to let go of what they posses and often slow........as long as we get there. Ireland have certainly given us all the impetus & foundation to build on. Now let's get a CEO in place at NCU HQ and ammend the constitution/legislation to allow that person be productive and creative for the benefit of the game in NI. Keep the debate alive and the momentum going!

Coloured clothing is something worth exploring but for cricket to exist it must seek to promote the boredom that many people possess of it. As a scorer I have been to the various grades of cricket and it is about the chance to watch a higher standard but it should be about enjoyment and taking in the atmosphere and of course we have the problem of getting home late at night and having to give up some Sundays but thankfully midweek cricket is really a thing of the past so we must look at things like earlier starting times. If you go to a representative fixture your start time is around 11am and with 100 overs this can be over by 5.30pm. This is the answer to appeasing your loved ones however with schools cricket it may be quite difficult for some clubs. Like all sports if you do not like the rules why not work to change them. There is no use complaining if you are not going to take any action. Finally coloured clothing would be an excellent idea and may work our cheaper than whites if clubs were able to secure a deal with a supplier. As a member of NIACUS we have taken the first step what about the cricketers wearing something different?

RE - Coloured Clothing

As usual, the nonsense people come out with on this forum staggers the life out of me at times.
Coloured clothing would make absolutely no difference, the fact is that cricket is just not that popular, simple, end of.
For example - Who on earth, that's in possession of their own marbles could you convince to sign away there entire short summer for a game that starts around mid-day and typically goes on to about 8/9pm then >Shower>Quick Pint then home to the WAG's> who are going ballistic because it's now 1030pm and they wanted to go out for dinner with friends...!
"I'm fed up with your bloody cricket" - is it just me that gets that response when they get home.?
"sorry babe" - I'll make it up to you, BTW can you wash my whites, I've a game tomorrow, sure why don't you come and watch (SLAP)- Haven't even mentioned the two nighter...

Don't ask me what the solution is, I just know what the problem is - However coloured clothing may be able to go into a "mixed wash" if that may help

Brendan, people on this forum tend just to take what they want from a posting and blast it, I agree the wider public in Ireland think whites and boring cricket that's not the case with us the cricket lovers but we accept it.

I think we have it right at the minute with coloured clothing in competitions but I agree with Andrew that powerplays would be a great addition if anything else it will make it a hell of a lot more exciting for both players and supporters!

Brendan - incase you didn't notice I said that if you "ask people" so at no point during that did I say I think test cricket is boring. I enjoy watching test cricket as much as the other forms of cricket but that is not always the concensous when asking others.

You say that coloured clothing is all about marketing. Is that not what we are trying to do in our wee country - market the game to increase participation before it dies a slow death.

If you read some of the interviews with the current Ireland squad there are quite a few who think that the game in Norn Iron and in the South can be improved by what i have said in previous posts. I presume that their opinion is a waste of time as well even though they are at the level cricketers here are trying to get to first before moving on to test cricket if they are good enough.

Andy - I can see your point in the lower junior leagues but everybody has to learn somewhere. I'm sure that currently happens now as it did when I was playing at that level and as it may have done when you were playing there too. There may be some tinkering needed here and there but iI still think the majority of it would be a benefit and not a hindrance to the game.

So there you have it - Ireland's formula was coloured clothing and it worked! So let's all go coloured.
What a load of nonsense.
Coloured gear is about marketing. Ask Manchester United and Arsenal how many kits they have and why they change them so often. Sales make money.
Sometimes I despair at the comments that are made on this website.
However, there is a place for both. Same as test cricket. If you think test cricket is boring you haven't watched much of it. Ask the top players and look at the television figures and attendances. Why does Ireland want test cricket if it is so boring? We don't have to copy everything that happens at the top, we just need to take what is good for our game and apply it.

Try to imagine the scene: 3rd XI match, 35 overs, young guy gets to bowl 4 overs, gets hit a bit, drops a catch and gets stuck at fine leg for the rest of the innings. Over tea he has a sandwich with one slice of ham and a thick spreading of flora but he is pleased to get a couple of nice buns. As his team goes out to bat he is given the book and asked to keep the score then later to umpire an older bowling attack who question every decision he makes. He may or may not get in to bat, most weeks he gets a couple of overs. On the way home he says to himself, "Ah well, at least i got to wear coloured clothing and the ball i dropped was white so Ill come back for more."
Ok, ok, this is maybe a bit OTT but the point is, coloured clothing etc will not make up for other failings in how we play the game.

Every season I witness the excitement of a group of year 8 pupils getting their school whites just before the season starts. They could not be more excited about this. They wear their whites to every practice. Giving them a coloured shirt would not increase their excitement. The fact is that they have come to love the game and want to play it no matter what they have to wear. I go back again to how junior cricket is coached, played and organised. That is much, much more important than the colours in which we play. It is the quality of coaching and the approach to how we play matches and how we practise that needs to be addressed seriously if we want to keep people playing.
The excitement of a game of cricket depends on what happens on the pitch, not on what colour the teams are playing in. If the basic product is wrong then colour will make no difference.

I think the cosmetic side of cricket in this country is a major topic to be discussed.

If you ask people about what whites and a red ball represents I reckon you would get the majority saying "5 day test cricket" or "long days standing about with not much exciting happening!" I believe this is a major reason for people leaving cricket to go do other things on a saturday in the summer.

Ask the same people what coloured clothing and a white balls represents I'm sure the majority of answers would be " exciting, colourful, loads of runs etc.... Mainly positive things.

If the change was made would it drive more people away from cricket than it brings in????

For the younger generation starting they wouldnt have to go to all the expense of buying coloured gear like they currently have to do with whites. Tracksuit bottoms and a club polo shirt could do for starters could it not??

Steps have to be taken to stop the dwindling numbers in the game and from my point of veiw this is a must. The majority of cricket on TV is ODIs, 20/20 and the ECBs 40 over competition so why should we not benefit from that type of cricket exposure??

How many times has Ireland beating England come up in a cricket conversation, England's exciting matches, Ireland v India, Stirsos ton v Holland, KOBs ton to win the match against England etc etc....?? None those games were played in whites so surely that shows some sort of mental shift in the way that cricket is looked upon.

We can go on and on about the "cosmetic" aspects of the game and about what will attract young kids to play cricket but the point I was making is much more about what will keep them playing cricket and there I think the colour of clothing and of ball is not important. I suppose there are two issues - what will attract kids to cricket but what will keep them playing the game is the hard bit.