Forum

Jeff Maguire - glad your opinion on progressive clubs has changed - seemed to remember you giving Paul McCrum lots of verbals from the sidelines when he was the class guiding Dunmurry to victory over Dundrum............ambition is good but needs careful planning/vision/monitoring ongoing

As a selector at Muckamore it was especially exciting to see us hammer Instonians with four teenagers in our team in the Twenty20. The same four plus Gary Nicholl figured recently in an NCU Under 17 side v West of Scotland U 17 .
Jason VdeMerwe has been a regular in the Ireland under age teams for quite a while and when we play CIYMS in the Twenty 20 cup final we will have at least four teenagers and possibly five on our side. Gary Nicholl has taken 31 wickets in the 2nds this season and also scored a century for the 3rds v Lisburn. Sunson Stephenson has had score of 80,77,46 and 37 in League 2.1 and Jordan Mairs has proved an effective deputy to Brian Dunlop behind the stumps when called upon and Craig Drummond has opened the bowling in the 1sts for the last two seasons. Those five plus another three that are regulars in our seconds in League 2.1 all took part in our recent Cricket Factory at Junction One. ( not just any old nets in any old shopping centre )

We have had over 100 boys on a Monday night , coach in over a dozen local schools and we field teams at Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15 and had young Sam Gordon in the recent Inter pros in Cork.

So our youth policy is sound and allied to the youthful enthusiasm not to mention ability and honsety of our 44 year old skipper Andy McCulloch was the reason that Wayne Horwood decided to return in 2010. As someone who gave him throw downs over 20 years ago when he was a youngster starting out I was particularily proud to see him hit a wonderful century at Bangor on Sunday.

We are also about to launch an Emerging Players Programme as part of a Cricket Ireland initative and now that we have had new clay wickets laid must have one of the best and nicest grounds in the country. Also we have a large travelling support each week mainly made up of ex Senior players and we also realise we are only a small step along on our quest to be one of the leading clubs.

We are a real cricket club with a fine history of playing the game in the right spirit and of promoting young players and encouraging them to play representative cricket.

We are not perfect but my motto is" the man who didn't make a mistake never made anything." And it's encouraging to see some people have a swipe at us because " no one kicks a dead dog ". However I think we will get more positive comments than negatives. I think as a club we have many friends in NCU cricket and beyond.

We return to play at Moylena on 7th August v Armagh and next day in a 20 over game v Saintfield. I hope the sun shines and we get a big crowd to cheer Macca and his boys along.

r.e Wayne Horwood...respect?

What about respect for the other teams? Uncalled for IMO

First Derriaghy then Ciyms now Muckamore nearly always from nameless people who hide and dont say if they play or what club they are from as they continue too run down clubs who work hard too push their clubs too the highest level , fair play too the above 3 clubs as the premier league might have been a closed shop but not any longer so good luck as no reason why Muckamore wont shock quite a few next year and they definitly will, ps macca keep doing what your good at mate as that young fella Billy Dale tormentend quite a few good premier players in his 50& 60s so think m8 you have few years quality bowling left no matter what section or team you play for as you like me love the game of cricket and our clubs!pps next weekend is divorce time cup finals fri & sun ( an few lagers) game sat and what a fantastic achievment too Academy cricket club on getting too the junior cup final 3 years in a row and i for one wont bet againest lifting it for the 3rd year in succession!

The rearranging of leagues which I suggested, has nothing to do with increasing standard, merely increasing the competiveness of Div 2 Sect 3, and therefore increasing the enjoyment of that league!

Here we go again about size of leagues etc etc. Before you make any proposal realise that rejigging leagues will NOT improve overall stanadard of cricket being played...........it is equivalent to rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic [with respect to those who perished]

Crcicket development is more about committment and quality coaching........if you are not committed either as a club or individual DON`T exect your standards to rise

EVEN THE WORMS IN SAINTFIELD KNOW THAT IF YOU KEEP DOING WHAT YOU HAVE DONE BEFORE YOU WILL VERY PROBABLY GET THE SAME OUTCOME

captaincy is a selfless task and one that requires immense effort and personal sacrifice. The work put in by eagy, shieldsy, eugene etc on and off the pitch often goes without thanks
big macca has put in a huge effort at muckamore and watching him running circuits, bleep tests, getting 25 folk to nets in december last year, working with youngsters and seeing that hunger is probably the main reason i returned home. It takes people like this in clubs and perhaps if there were more maccas helping cricket the standard here would be higher.

as a player macca has 13 wickets at 15 this year and goes at under 3. However he has opted not to bowl to try and ensure 1 or 2 bowlers bowl each week and touch wood get some experience in advance of promotion.

I can only assume anyone criticising a captain on a forum has never captained before or they would have shown significantly more respect.

As for standards. Would the late 90s, early 00s teams at waringstown, north down, inst, csn/north, woodvale, downpatrick, lurgan, bangor, ballymena, cliftonville, lisburn etc beat the current teams when you take out the overseas professional??? yes in my view. At the same time irish cricket in many ways has never been in better shape with the full team doing well, half a dozen lads in county cricket etc. The game is just changing and will continue to do so.

Re Davy & Mark

Mark, i think you've missed the point...
The initial comment was that "certain People" had made "disparaging comments" to the press... The insinuation was that maybe "people in glass houses" maybe should not be throwing stones...!
Me thinks a nerve has been touched...

Your right Davy, the skipper you are talking about rarely bowls, preferring to open the bowling with 23 year old Neil Gill and 17 year old Craig Drummond and therefore giving youth a chance.

Yes the club you are referring to do have a professional, but the other 2-3 you are talking about can't be referred to as hired guns.

The 2 South Africans played with each other at school in South Africa and always said they would love to play in the same team for a couple of years before they retired, for the enjoyment they would get from it.

And Mr Horwood started his cricket with Muckamore and always has maintained he wanted to finish there to.

Re Davy

Surely captaincy is as much about organisational abilities as playing ability?

Davy,
A bit catty and personal don't you think?
Everybody can run somebody else's club better than their own these days and expressing an opinion in a pubic forum takes a bit of courage. You even agree with the comments. Let's hear something more positive than a dig at your peer.

I was disappointed to read the comments in the News Letter on Saturday from a Section 1 captain who belittled the standard of cricket in this division. The standard is decreasing yes, no question but maybe he should be looking closer to home at his own team and how they would be shaping up without their professional plus 2-3 other hired guns who I doubt are there just for the challenge of playing every game away from home.

Maybe the selectors at his club should also to reflect why they have a skipper who rarely bowls and bats 11.. club development isnt just about results in the short term but maybe running nets in a shopping centre will see to that.

As a skipper of Academy IIs for the past four years, I agree strongly with the need to revise Division 2. I had hoped the proposed 8 team leagues right through would have passed at last years AGM as this would have sorted the problem of the huge gulf in class between the top and bottom teams in 2-3, and the unsatisfactory nature of playing each team only once.

I have considered straight through promotion through connecting 2-3 with 3-1 but struggle to see this either working well or passing any AGM.

Assuming the 8 team leagues motion is proposed again this year, this would solve the problem. However in case it is defeated I agree that we should propose the move to 10, 8, 8, 7 as a good interim solution.

As a secondary issue, I am wary of the suggestion of shortening the length of league matches. T20 matches are great, but so are 50 over games. I would rather league games were kept at 35-50 overs in length with perhaps fewer of them and then the expansion of separate T20 leagues.

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Club Patron Sammy Haire when I was at North Down on Sunday.

On behalf of both the NCU and my Club Carrickfergus, I would like to pass on our sincerest condolences to Robin, Ryan, Andrew, and the family circle.

Dundrum cricket club would like to pass on condolences to Robin ,Ryan and Andrew and their family on the sad loss off their father . May he rest in peace .