Forum

Lagan Valley Steels T20
The finals of the T20 Trophy and Cup will now be held at the Lawn, Waringstown on Sunday 29 July 2018.
The Trophy Final will commence at 11.00am and the Cup Final at 3.30pm.
Bryan Milford
General Secretary

Re Ronnie McAlpine - the regulation to which he refers has been in situ for a couple of seasons and the DLS has been in existence for a lot longer. I’m not sure what issue is here. The umpires clearly followed the regulations and the side batting second had a 10 minute turnaround to ‘warm up’ with throw downs, stretches, loosening and all the other exercises that the Woodvale batsmen regularly use at the end of a ‘normal’ 30 minute interval!! So if Ronnie has a problem with the ‘time’ regulation or the ‘equity’ of DLS then this would be for discussion at the AGM.

This is the NCU bye-law adhered to by the officials at Woodvale on Saturday that seems a tad unfair to the side batting 2nd do you agree with the way i see it?...
(c) Tea Interval. The tea interval shall not exceed 30 minutes and should, preferably, be taken
between innings. However, if the innings of the team batting first is completed more than
60 minutes prior to the latest finishing time for the innings, a 10-minute break will occur,
after which the team batting second will start its innings and the interval will be taken at the
scheduled latest finishing time for the first innings.

ok got it? well here's my gripe.. in a low scoring game at Woodvale on Saturday The home sides bowlers were good enough to bowl their opposition out for 126.
As a reward for doing this the Woodvale batsmen were given a short time to get ready to bat, rather than the usual tea break in which they can go through their pre-innings preparations, get mentally ready and maybe have a few throw downs. Then they have to start their innings and get their eye in, knowing, that should they survive the fresh bowlers opening burst, they will have to do it all over again once the tea break is eventually taken.
Also the said opening bowlers can bowl flat out for 5 or 6 overs in the knowledge they can then go have a shower, a cup of tea. refresh themselves and then complete their full quota of overs (which they normally wouldn't do in a single spell) against batsmen having to start all over again. It is a crazy regulation which punishes a team fielding first for being successful.
Even DLS takes into account in its calculation an interruption in an innings as being a disadvantage to the batting side.
Now i have been wrong loads of times about lots of things but if i'm wrong about this let me know why.
NB teas were ready, and yes Woodvale won so its not sour grapes.

Well Ed how are you I have not sent any tips for a while so here are my picks in the 2 Cups plus the League in the NCU. Sorry to say its all Leinster Semi in the Senior Cup and the MCU will have 2 in the semis and it would be good if a MCU side won as it would mean Cricket winners on the whole of Ireland

Irish Senior Cup 15th July
CSNI v Clontarf. Away Win
Merrion v Leinster. Home Win
Strabane v Phoenix. Away Win
Waringstown v Pembroke. Away Win

Irish National Cup 15th July
Co Kerry v Co Galway. Home Win
Knockharley v Limerick. Away Win
Rush v Drummond. Home Win
St Johnston v Ballyspallen. Home Win

Robinson Services Premier League 14th July
CIYMS v Carrickfergus. Away Win
CSNI v Muckamore. Home Win
North Down v Instonians. Away Win
Waringstown v Armagh. Home Win

The semi-finals of the Lagan Valley Steels Twenty 20 Cup take place on Friday evening (13th), at 5:30pm.
Holders Waringstown host CIYMS at The Lawn, and last years beaten finalists North Down take on CSNI at The Green, Comber.
The final is scheduled to be played at The Lawn, Waringstown, on Sunday 22nd July.

Rumours reaching Buckna from South Down about a certain leading umpire who had illusions of making a come-back with the bat only to be ‘triggered’ by a young lad. At this stage I would say that these are rumours but perhaps Jeff Maguire could check the veracity of the rumours! Whether it was going down leg-side, wouldn’t have hit another set of stumps and there might have been an inside edge is unimportant. Watch this space!!

The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) has announced its Women's squad to play the North West Women, on Sunday 15th July (12 Noon), at Burndennett Cricket Club, in a 40 over contest.
Staci Maxwell (Captain) North Down
Amy Benson North Down
Laura Campbell North Down
Alison Cowan (Wicket Keeper) CSNI
Alex Craig Lurgan
Becky Hall Muckamore
Abbi Leckey CSNI
Suzi McCollum Lurgan
Beth McCrea Templepatrick
Molly Mathers Donaghcloney Mill
Naomi Matthews Waringstown
Suzi Morrison Muckamore
Nikki Niblock Muckamore
Sam Todd Lurgan
Burndennett Cricket Club is located at Drumenny Rd, Strabane.
Coach Alex Haggan said, 'the NCU Women have trained hard over the winter and are looking forward to commencing their summer match programme. Amy Hunter, Cara Murray and Jennifer Hannah are unavailable due to Ireland Under 19 selection, while captain Hannah Grieve and Jane Kilpatrick are away with Irish Hockey in Belgium'.

Sorry to learn of Hubert’s death. I met him in Belfast a couple of years ago at a bus stop and we had a good chat about the ‘old days’ and the characters around the Divisional Committee at the time. Names like Jim McMorran, Bob Law, Jim Barry, Frank Thompson, etc. Funny that I can remember those days as if it was yesterday but who was that I WAS talking to yesterday - or was it Wednesday? Another gentleman indeed.

Hubert Cranston
We are sad to hear the news that NCU and Collegians stalwart Hubert Cranston has passed away this morning. He gave sterling service and in recognition he was an NCU Honorary Life Member.
More details will follow.

Northern Cricket Union Under 17 Girl's in T20 Action
The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) has announced an Under 17 Girl's Squad to play the North West Under 17 Girl's, on Thursday 5th July, at Stormont, in two Twenty20 fixtures (Noon Start).
NCU Under 17 Girl's Squad
Abbi Leckey (Captain) - CSNI
Nadia Bell - North Down
Katie Glass - Muckamore
Jennifer Hanna - Donaghcloney Mill
Rachel Hanna - Donaghcloney Mill
Amy Hunter - Instonians
Zoe Kilpatrick (Wicket Keeper) - Lurgan
Lois Lyttle - Donaghcloney Mill
Beth McCrea - Templepatrick
Emily Mathers - Donaghcloney Mill
Molly Mathers - Donaghcloney Mill
Sarah Sandford - Waringstown
Sam Todd - Lurgan
Coach Alex Haggan says, 'the NCU under 17 Girl's have trained hard over the winter and are looking forward to commencing their summer schedule. If last year is anything to go by, Thursday will be a tough and exciting day. The NCU will be captained by Abbi Leckey of CSNI, and we wish her and the side all the very best'.

Front page cricket grounds,

1 Dundrum
2 The lawn
3 Mallusk
4 Lurgan Park

Can you name those NCU grounds in the Home page?

Andy pleasure as always and bumper is 104

Great to enjoy the company of a few North Down ‘veterans’ at Ballymena on Thursday evening especially Bumperdale. Just proves that there still a bit of craic to be enjoyed in the local game.

The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) has announced a PwC sponsored Under 14 squad to take part in the prestigious West Cricket Festival, at Kings College Taunton, England, from Sunday 22nd July to Friday 27th July.
NCU Under 14 Squad
* Mohammed Aahil
* Sam Allister
* Mathew Daly
* Harry Dyer
* Rory Ellerby
* Matthew Halliday
* David Kane
* Adam Kennedy
* Finn Lutton* Adam Ly (Wicket Keeper)
* Stuart McCollum
* Carson McCullough
* James Rose
* Sam Topping (Wicket Keeper)
NB: Captain is to be selected.
Fixtures
* Monday 23rd July, NCU Under 14's v Cornwall, 10:30am
* Tuesday 24th July, NCU Under 14's v Cheshire, 10:00am
* Wednesday 25th July, NCU Under 14's V Northamptonshire, 10:00am
* Thursday 26th July, Fixtures to be confirmed
* Friday 27th July, Fixtures to be confirmed
NCU Under 14 Head Coach Callum Atkinson commented, 'We are once again pleased to have been invited to play in the West Cricket Festival at Kings College, Taunton. Over the past couple of years both our Under 11 and Under 14 squads have benefited from playing against the English counties and minor counties, as well as teams from outside the UK such as Trinidad & Tobago. The NCU would like to express our congratulations to the boys who have been selected to travel to Taunton. We have selected an exciting squad of players who provide much needed
balance over five days of challenging cricket against strong opposition at Kings College. As always, our boys are eager to test themselves against some of the best cricketers in the UK and from further afield, in the Under 14 age group'.