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Davy McCullough
I am sure I speak for many people when I add our condolences to the McCullough family and CIYMS Cricket Club on the very sad passing of Davy McCullough. I had the pleasure of being in Davy's company on many occasions and he was always the same friendly and genuine personality. I doubt if anyone had even a bad word to say about him, and as an umpire he added much to the enjoyment of the players with his impartiality and honesty. He was a lovely man, and we will all have very happy memories of being in his company.
Rest in Peace Davy.
Clarence Hiles
Editor

I am sad to report that Davy Mc Cullough, past President of C.I.Y.M.S.C.C. and Former Umpire passed away yesterday............he will be sadly missed by his old friends at C.I.

I don't think that the obese chanteuse has even started singing yet - never mind finishing! Long way to go and the weather could be a contributory factor in the current game. Could be a bit like England's bid for the World Cup. oops - forgot about the oligarchs in the mafia!!

Dazzler,

looks like that England favourites tag is looking pretty good right about now, still enjoying those headlines?

But like u said still a lot of cricket to be played!

Vic - i got a platinum duck one day! Rushed all the way to Ards when the skip asked if i coiuld open,. I was more than keen, thinking if i batted the whole 40 overs, I could be onto something. It took me longer to pad up, as a guy named Gul had me in the "shed" first ball of the day. It was a long day!

I always thought being run out without facing was known as a platinum duck?!

Would'nt think-so Jim,

More like the Adelaide groundsmen have taken my advice and sent for Neil Hunter from Lurgan to show them how to prepare a better wicket, that gives the bowlers a little assistance as well as highlighting the batsmen's resolution and technique, Ponting, Clarke and Kaditch were found wanting........

Now let's see if Strauss, Cooke, Peiterson,Collingwood etc can live up to all the hype and accolades and prove to us all that England really are the finished article ?

Ps.. Know all about 'golden ducks', but never heard of a 'diamond duck' until the start of the first over of this 2nd Test !!

Good effort from the boys down under last night. Especially Anderson, Bowling really well with the new ball and completely obliterating the top order.
Kookaburra Balls? What do other forumites think of these? According to reports it gets soft after the shine goes surely this favours the batsman. Or does Kookabura design a ball which helps the opening bowlers and if unsuccessful punishes them?

Yes Jason, if your 2nd XI is your bottom team you are ok to play more than 2 games on days other than a Saturday if your opponents agree

Roger did i not read somewhere that it was proposed that if a club had no lower than a 2nd eleven like ourselves they could arrange more than the 2 games on a day other than a saturday???

(Matt, Blackie was sorting that out last week if I heard correctly at our committee meeting).

On the subject of all these changes within the league structures for next season, particularly for the Junior teams.
I for one am certainly happy enough with the proposed changes, it should help balance things out a bit for the various 2nd,3rd & 4th teams etc from all clubs.

A good example of how mismatched it was for instance, was a league match involving my own club V.C.C. earlier this season, Armagh 2nd's-v- Victoria 2nds ? A tough match (for us), to say the least !

The issue here ofcourse is that it is hardly a fair contest when their 1st eleven were playing section 1 cricket, Victoria.. section 3 !

Anyway if you want my opinion, we should all abide by what has been set out for us next season, the N.C.U. worked very hard and diligently to reach out to all clubs and meet the grassroot cricketing fraternity in order to guage points of view and feedback and what's on the table now should be good enough for everyone.

There was nobody more than me, who used to 'sound-off' on these very forums about what should be or should not be, but a little knowledge in the wrong hands can be a very dangerous & devicive concoction, so it's best to allow the people who hold rank within the union to get on with their good work and for the rest of us to support them and keep enjoying playing cricket.

Roll on next April & God-bless you all.... Vic Johns.

Re M Parks

Don't panic! Victoria have entered

Robert...Could you give a list of clubs who haven't applied? Just so that I can ensure that we are not on it.

PS: A reminder to clubs that today is the deadline for NCU competition entries for the 2011 season. I understand that, despite Clubs being given an extra month this year, a few have still not responded, and would remind them that they should do so immediately using the new on-line Club Information Entry System if they wish to play in NCU competitions in 2011.

Thank you for the support shown on this forum following the unjustified criticism of the Junior Cricket Taskforce's excellent work.
We do not intend to stop there and intend to consult with clubs again on a number of issues with a view to putting some more proposals to the 2011 AGM.
A number of issues have arisen since the AGM and we are looking at these. Should the 21 clubs remaining after the creation of the two 8 team Premier leagues be split 10/11 rather than 8/13 as they will be in 2012 if there is no proposal to the contrary? Should it be 2 up 2 down or 1 up 1 down between the new Premier/Senior Leagues?
The new Junior League set-up starts in 2011 and as Robert Best points out, unless there is a rule change there will be no promotion in the Junior Leagues at the end of next season. It is not possible to reduce Junior 1 to 8 teams for 2011 as this requires a rule change, but if there is a proposal that Junior 1 remains at 10 teams after 2011, then 2 up 2 down promotion and relegation shall apply in all the Junior leagues at the end of next season. As Robert also quite rightly says, the Competitions Directorate has decided that to assist clubs who may be struggling to field lower teams, for next season at least we will only insist that Clubs' 1st and 2nd XI's schedule no more than 2 fixtures for days other than a Saturday, and allow 3rd XI's and below to play at any other mutually agreed time. We will also be asking clubs not to schedule fixtures after the second weekend in September at fixture meetings, which are due to take place in the week commencing 11th January.
We look forward to consulting with clubs on these and other issues in the near future.