Forum

Andy, it's clear enough what the outcome will be next Sat. at the top of the Premier-league, depending on who wins or loses; but what's the case at the bottom of the table, if Ballymena lose and D'patrick win, then we have both teams tied on 20 pts !

Who stays up & who goes down then ?

so the Premier season is going to go down the wire at both ends of the table with one set of games to be played. Also some teams going to have to spend a bit of money on covers, etc. with promotion ahead.

I agree Ryan, that indoor-cricket is definitely worth its value when it comes to much younger people and is certainly worth pursuing in order to attract and market the game, for those not familiar with how it is played and as an alternative to other sports.

So yes indeed great work, good-luck and I hope it proves to be a success, but it's a tough old job you have when you're competing against football at a time when it's being played as well.

That was the point I was making, an example being ofcourse, alot of our players (Me excluded) are already 'cock-a-hoop' that Glenavon are sitting pretty at the top of the Irish premier league !

That's all you hear about from them at present, but I seem to remember something similiar last season and then it all went horribly wrong.. !

However that's just a little scenerio from our particular area, obviously it's a much bigger picture over-all, with the Man. Utd. Liverpool, Chelsea and the Arsenal outfits etc. all distracting people from Cricket !

This is the problem and anyway, seems to me that even footballers themselves don't like playing the game, cause when ever I hit the T.V. when there's a game on Ronaldo falls over !!!

Jeff - the Waringstown v Lisburn fixture is a 50 over game. The original game was postponed due to Waringstown's participation in the Irish Senior Cup Semi Final, so it is a Match One, commencing at high noon at the Lawn.

Vic / Indoor Cricket

Indeed Vic the idea would be to initially start with senior cricket indoors regionally to prove its success.
However as the scandinavians have shown it can be the "creche" system for learning the game in a comfortable environment.
I feel that for girls cricket and indeed youth cricket it could be a great way to market the sport.
As for competition Vic well what can we do? We simply have to make the game more appealling as Im sure the stats arent good for youths who start and then leave the game within their first year.

clarence

Excellent article on gary. i have had the pleasure of watching gary grow up and from days of taking his first catch in senior cricket as a sub fielder. A top bloke, a hard working and dedicated athlete and a genuine pleasure to be around. I forget he is only 24 and i wish him every success in the years ahead at surrey and ireland.

Paul McConville
I have to agree well done CI Colts and I also agree CI has come a long way in the last five years. Well done in that respect as well.
This is an open forum and therefore it attracts opinions from everyone and anyone so don't be surprised when some people don't share the vision. All I can say from the UC is that we accept differences of opinion and encourage everyone to express them in a fair and honest way. I sincerely hope people respect your comments in this vein but I doubt if it will change their opinions. We have strong camps on professionalism that go back 31 years and I don't think many people have changed their minds over those years. CI are looking after their own interests and their Colts team has done them proud. That's the most important thing at the end of the day. Good luck going forward.

YES great see CIYMS junior section thriving and winning a trophy . ANY sunday fixtures ? is Waringstown v Lisburn 50 overs or 20/20 sunday .

Congratulations to CIYMS on winning the Colts Cup by beating North Down.

Not bad for a club that less than 5 years ago didn't have a youth section and is much criticised on this forum.

Ryan, for sure the unpredictable weather is a problem for outside cricket, but I would'nt let that put you off more local cricket matches between clubs and their surrounding neighbour-hoods and communities.

Such games can be organised around pre-fixed league matches and so what if on a particular evening its rained off, you can play them anytime April through to September and anyway; you are up against a much bigger nemises than the weather for indoor cricket during the closed season ?

Football !.. Will always take priority in this country, although fair play to you for trying to be intuitive and pro-active, but I just can't see indoor cricket taking off within these shores !!
As the only ones who would want to play indoor cricket then, are the people who have just been playin outdoor cricket for the past five months or so...... and would they really be up for more indoor cricket ?

Ivan
I tried to look into indoor leagues whilst under NICA employment. Finance was the main issue as is now for CI.
However clubs could work with the new Active Communities Coaches in clusters eg. Eugene in Ards / N Down to establish indoor leagues. I have attained rules and regs for a league that Im proposing for Belfast. These could be adopted countrywide and a finals event heald at Easter each season!

Indoor League

Antrim Forum has two five a side football pitches seperated by a curtain. Can you play in that space ? I just wonder could you get a slot every Sunday morning. What is the normal length of a game ? Is it 5 overs a side ? I remember playing in one of these competitions for Ballymena must have been the winters of 86 and 87. It was held in Shankhill Leisure Centre on Sunday afternnons. Great way to market the game with viewing gallery in most leisure centres overlooking the main hall.

My debut on the forum to give some quick thoughts on league restructuring, which seems to be the buzz topic of the last couple of years.

I think that there is an argument for extending the task force's idea (see http://www.northerncricketunion.org/database/2010/news/articles/article69.shtml) for junior cricket to all of the NCU's leagues. This proposal would enable, for example, Waringstown II the present leaders of 2.1, to be promoted to play in section 2 alongside Cooke Collegians, Larne etc.

Obviously this is one, rather large, change from the task force's proposal in that it links the 'junior' leagues to the senior leagues at the top. This is a concept that a lot of other cricket associations (Cambridgeshire for one) follow and it works well there. With the abolition of the 2nd XV league, Ulster rugby is also moving towards a similar structure.

I feel that it means that teams of similar quality will find their level much easier and that there will not be as big a gulf between leagues as there may have been before (particularly between sections 2 and 3). It also would sort the problem of the detioriation in quantity of fixtures in section 3 over the past few years and provide motivation for senior clubs to not neglect the results of their 2nd XIs. There should be something in it for most teams, talented younger players playing for a senior sides 2nd XI will gain a higher standard of cricket (look at how close most games between 2.1 and section 2 sides were in the Junior Cup) whereas existing senior 3 sides will find that it guarantees them more fixtures throughout the year.

This are just a few of my own thoughts (which are not necessarily reflective of my club’s stance) and would need ‘fleshed out’ but I was wondering what other clubs/individuals thought.

Ivan

Clubs should get together "in clusters" over the winter period to establish indoor cricket leagues.
These are highly successful throughout Europe and opens up an entirely different way to market our sport!!!
The weather remains our worst enemy still!

Vic's local tournament.

In the 70's and early 80's we had an extremely successful East Antrim Cricket League which was 20 overs a side mainly on a Thursday night and featured Muckamore, Ballymena, Carrick, Larne, Templepatrick, Cliftonville ( I think ) maybe Academy and a nomads team called Balyclare captained by Muckamore's John Millar. That league was highly competitive and had some rules about a limited number of 1sts etc. Roger Bell will probably have memories of this tournament and Jim Boyce had an involvement among others.
I was a teenager then and it was my first taste of grown up cricket and it was a great grounding in competitive cricket.
I for one would like to see that type of tournament played again during May and June.There must be scope for regional cricket throughout the NCU.