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To me anyway it sounds as if some of the older guys seem to be reminiscing through Rose coloured glasses, remind me were Irish cricket was in the 80's?

Also you can see yourself from those Ireland team questionnaires that playing against these 'hired guns' raises the standard of the club game and that's coming from the guys who have to face the likes of harbajan, broad etc and not armchair critics living in the past

DK...I dont need to take your word for it, I was there and witnessed much of it.

The overall problem is money, I alluded to "overseas" players, but you could apply it probably moreso to local mercenaries ~ people who can neither say nor spell the word "loyalty" These people ~ and "The Dogs on the Streets" know who they are, need reigned in through legislation.
They and the mindless Wannabe Clubs that employ them are destroying the Local Game...!
If you were a young kid at such a club, why would you waste your time trying to compete for a place in a Club that dosen't give a toss about you.?
Clubs who'd much rather "Buy" a team than build one.

Am I being daft here, or is it not obvious of the massively detrimental impact it's having...?

~ maybe one paid player( though I'd prefer none) ~ I accept it has worked ish, in the past ~ and yes, must be done properly.

I still maintain however, that a certain "high Profile" player from last season, remains the single most ridiculous, obscene waste of money in the History of Irish Cricket...

DK, that CEO would be a brave person to take on the job. There are so many back stabbers and critics about he or she wouldn't have a chance. I've been around a while too and I accept that people who put themselves forward to serve on committees are entitled to make their own decisions and that people who want to deny them that right should stand against them or express their opinions and leave it. Someone has to do the work and some times I wonder why. I suspect most players couldn't care less about committees and cricket administration and that hasn't changed in the past 30-40 years. Thanks goodness we still have people like Ivan, Andy and Wylie around. And remember we had pubs, girlfriends and Saturday nights in the old days too.
The best and the easiest job in the world is to be a website critic.

Anonymous, Agree with much of what you say - would 'agree to disagree' on overseas pros - in my opinion they are worth the investment ONLY if there are strict guidelines for them being in the NCU - i.e how much coaching etc they MUST perform (actual Vs projected!)- otherwise they are the perverbial 'hired gun' with only an instant fix for poorly managed clubs.
As a player of (by the sound of it) your generation and along with the undoubted merits of Andy & Ivan (which i appreciate HUGELY and their like)it was significantly better in those recent years and some of this i'm afraid seems to be current generation who seem to lack the time, effort and dedication to achieve. Nevertheless we must cater for a growing band of CLUB players who want a quick hit once a weekend............Interpros were a great form of pride, aspiration and having them back with an Ireland U-19 and A Team involved would be more than competitive - at 50 overs max!
One other point - no matter the influx of imports in Leinster Cricket (which i admire) - the same would not have lived with the North Downs, Waringstowns and NICCs of the 80s & 90s - who would have been just too good for them , wherever they were from.............trust me on that one audience! More food for thought and open debate

Andy K,

Huge assumption on YOUR part - have the masses of club players at every level been surveyed to see how they feel - NO! Keep Top club cricket 40 or 50 overs - the rest want to play for fun..........what it's all about. Proving my theory many are far detached from a significant percentage of club cricketers who ONLY want a 3 hour hit every week (so they can get to their families, girl friends, pub etc). NB - having watched much of the 20/20 in NCU it also requires fine tuning with a touch more enterprise. Get that CEO in place asap to drag the game into the 21st century in NI!

Interesting that there are still the same "trigger" statments that result in the same old backlash :-)

However...now that it seems Irelands test status is just a forlorne aspiration, should we now concentrate on the local game instead of developing players for a country that is happy to stick the knife in our backs at every cut and turn...?

Reality can often be painful to come to terms with, you can ignore it for a while, sycophants will ignore it longer(and ireland has many) but eventually it bites your ass ~ if everyone is truly honest, they must accept the fact that Ireland would find it virtually impossible to consistantly compete at the higest level, despite the present glorious highs.

The grass roots needs reclaimed by the clubs and some decent changes are afoot, However ~ it is just a start and needs strong "non sycophants" to oversee it. Overseas players would be a great place to start.!
The amount of money being wasted on overseas players by an Idiotic Mentality of trying to "BUY" success completely bewilders me.

You know ~ if we banned them all ~ North Down ~ Waringstown etc would still be the best teams, the only difference would be the thousands of pounds that would be saved ~ and then re-invested back into the clubs or local game.

There are at least 20 teams in the NCU who annually spend thousands and thousands on overseas players.(some more guilty than others)
Surely to God there must be someone out there that agrees with me that it's destroying the local game.

Also,
Andy and Ivan, no one doubts your credentials ~ just some of your ideas i'm afraid, particularly the restructuring of the leagues, I think it is fundamentally and catagorically wrong.
For the record, I'm of the same generation as yourselves and have enjoyed many a past battles with you both...you can't tell me it wasn't better then...?

Re: DK's comment on players wanting a 20/20 bash on a Saturday. The odd 20/20 game in a season is fine to settle a postponed fixture but surely a longer game will give more players more opportunities to play a part rather than bowl max 4 overs and possibly not even bat. I can imagine how my senior players would react if I asked them to travel over an hour to play a two hour game in which they do nothing. Clubs and captains have a responsibility to make sure that their players are given plenty to do in a game and in a 20 over game, that isn't easy. The shorter the games we play, the less players will develop their skills. Let's keep the 20 over stuff for midweek league.

One further dignified comment on defining 'real players' - "many are called, few are chosen".........basically most athletes have the facilties and parts to excel - the reason some do and most don't is down to hard work, discipline, dedication, sacrifices and being so darn focused and comitted - recent NCU greats like Kyle McCallen, Garfield Harrison Steven Warke, Andrew White, Charles McCrum, Ryan Eagleson & Derek Heasley to name a few differentiated themselves by doing all these and more -in my humble opinion what makes a real player - NO MORE valuable to the game than ALL other players playing every level at every age of club cricket but to me the definition of a real player........we are all entitled to our thoughts and freedom of speech. Beautiful!

Ivan & Andy C - good at last to see the likes of yourselves (top clubmen & servants) trying to save the game within the Province with fresh ideas - a game which for many years has been in steep decline. I hope its not too late as the game needs to get off the life support machine (that it didn't realise it was on!) and start to be dynamic, exciting, a crowd puller and stimulate kids to want to play cricket above all other summer sports. If most committees were businesses they would have been closed many years ago - bankrupt! - abysmal performances. I still believe too many clubs have too much self interest/preservation plans and they fail to see the big picture - that i don't see changing despite all your gallant & noble efforts. Why not go a step further and get a CEO in - the buck stops with him and a select committee who will move the game forward with the modern age and with an unbiased view KEY here! Keeping eyes firmly fixed on the NCU producing top club sides to compete in the Irish Cup (the way we were), produce and support Ireland players at every age level and ALSO keep a realistic eye on the many club players who want a 20/20 bash every weekend starting at say noon...............so that they may not be subject to a 5/6/7 hour game that does not interest THEM in any way. These are accute challenges which have been overlooked for years and with the bottom line - the game of cricket catering for all which it has NEVER done consistently. Now go get your think tanks (or PC power showers)REALLY working on these and good luck!

the roof fell in on that one DK!!

Re Funding..

I would like to back Wylie in his statement regarding funding. Bangladesh get an annual windfall of cash from the ICC. Yes they have worked hard to get test status and have 100s of thousands of cricketers (all ages) compared to our few thousand but boy we could spend even £5 million really well!

Well said Andy. I don't know what makes a real player but I like you played 1sts cricket for over 20 years and have played everywhere in between before and since that. The Junior Task Force was made up of real cricketers. ( I would love to see this DK tell John Torrans he wasn't a real cricketer ) and the Development Committee is made up of real players and real cricket people ).With all these guys so unhappy I trust they will all come on to committees at the next AGM and revolutionise the game not only in NCU but at CI as well.

DK - As someone who has been involved in local cricket for some years now i have been called many a thing but never a blazer or coat - not sure what a real player is but if that means someone who has played cricket at a reasonable level or an a regular basis then i think most people would accept that i qualify as a real player. As Director of the NCU Development Directorate I can assure you there is no parochialism and lack of reality within it - in fact just the opposite. If you also want to ask all the guys who made up the junior task force last year the same questions i'm not sure you will like the answers you'll get - all those guys like the ones who sit on the Development Directorate are very forward thinking and keen to try and improve and move the local game forward as much as possible. Feel free to contact me if you would like to know what we are doing - maybe that way you might have some better insight into NCU people and its workings!

Re DK from Belfast

Perhaps DK would enlighten us with some examples of where the NCU etc have held the game back with our "parochialism and lack of reality". Also a definition of what a "real player" is would also help.
I for one would be glad if more current players would put their names forward to be part of the NCU set up - sadly when it comes to clubs nominating these players to serve on committees etc their names are absent.
DK also does a disservice to the NCU's excellent Development Directorate, ably lead by Andy Clement, which consists of members from all different cricketing backgrounds. Maybe the re-structuring of the Junior Leagues for 2011 and the Senior Leagues in 2012 has passed him by.
Would DK be willing to put his name forward at the 2011 NCU AGM?

Point being Andy - stop talking dribble............too many blazers and coats hold the game back in NCU/NWCU & LCU with all their parochialism and lack of reality..........get some real players into key positions but sadly that won't really happen as the equivalent of beating one's head against a wall...........not worth the hassle!