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Result predictions welcome (Keith)

23 May
Dungannon V (Portadown)Taverners
Monaghan V Clogher.

I noticed that Cavan recently beat Monaghan II.
Looks like another team for the Border League could be on the way.

Alan

Well Ed it is a while since my posting, a downer after those qualifiers in Zim to be a happy one after the Test it is now on to the cups and here are my predictions

My predictions in the Irish Senior Cup are as follows
Armagh v Balbriggan. Away Win,
Bready v CSNI. Away Win
Carrickfergus v Coleraine. Home Win
CIYMS v North County. Away Win
Clontarf v Brigade. Home Win
Cork County v Strabane. Home Win
Donemana v Merrion. Away Win
Eglinton v Leinster. Away Win
Fox Lodge v North Down. Away Win
Malahide v Muckamore. Home Win
Phoenix v Ardmore. Home Win
YMCA v Cork Harlequins. Home Win

My predictions in the National Cup are as follows
Bonds Glen v Lisburn. Home Win
County Kerry v Ballaghaderreen. Home Win
Cregagh v Newbuildings. Away Win
Drummond v Derriaghy. Home Win
Holywood v Sion Mills. Home Win
Laois v Killyclooney. Away Win
Laurelvale v DLR County. Away Win
Limerick v Longford. Home Win
Midleton v Knockharley. Away Win
Rush v Cliftonville Academy. Home Win
St Johnston v North Kildare. Home Win
Templepatrick v Terenure. Away Win

Railway Union v Burndennett game has been awarded to Railway Union

Ireland successful Test debut in many ways
Ireland may have lost by 5 wickets to Pakistan in their Test debut, but it can be viewed as a success in many ways. Finance apart, the players played their part and the Malahide ground was superb. Kevin O'Brien's century was magnificent, Stuart Thompson's half century and Ed Joyce stood apart with their batting, and the pick of the bowlers were big Boyd Rankin, Tim Murtagh and Thompson the impressive all-rounder. In truth, all the players had magical moments, although the hapless Andrew Balbinie had a nightmare. He bagged two ducks and a dropped catch might have changed the result in the closing hours. Alas, it was spilled, and the opportunity that Ireland dared to dream for a fleeting moment was gone. However, it was thrilling that Ireland might just have won against the formidable opponents of seasoned Test players. The world was watching!
Ireland has moved a long way in cricket, and we can proudly sit at the top table of international cricket.
Now we need to build a better bright future and maximize on this opportunity.

The Northern Cricket Union has announced the Northern Knights squad for the 2018 Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial 20 Series (IP20) fixture against North West Warriors, at Stormont, Belfast, on Friday May 18th.
The fixture was originally to be played at Middle Road, Carrickfergus, however due to the persistent rain in recent weeks the match has been transferred to Stormont. The NCU appreciates Civil Service Sports Association taking the fixture at short notice.
The Northern Knights will be captained by James Shannon, with Nigel Jones making a comeback in Twenty 20 cricket. Nathan Smith and Robert McKinley were unavailable for selection due to injury. Mark Adair returns to Inter Provincial action following his spell in England with Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
New additions to the Northern Knights squad for 2018 are former Leinster pair Harry Tector and Neil Rock. Both players represented Ireland at the Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand at the start of the year.
The current Hanley Energy Inter Provincial 20 Series champions are Leinster Lightening.
May 18th (Friday): IP20 - v North West Warriors at Stormont, Belfast - 5pm Start
• James Shannon (Captain)
• Mark Adair
• Shane Getkate
• Nigel Jones
• Gary Kidd
• James McCollum
• Jacob Mulder
• Neil Rock (Wicket Keeper)
• Alistair Shields
• Nikolai Smith
• Harry Tector
• Greg Thompson
Andrew White stepped down from his role as Northern Knights selector in January, following his appointment as Chairman of Selectors for the Ireland Men’s Team. Robin Haire and Ryan Eagleson continue in their role as selectors with the Knights.
All requests for interviews should be made through the Angela Platt, NCU General Manager (028 90 522664 / 07713512315) or Northern Knights Manager Andrew Rose (07967580122).

Northern Cricket Union - Welcome to Coaching Course
The NCU in conjunction with Cricket Ireland Coaches Association are delighted to announce they are running a Welcome to Coaching Course (old level 1) on Sunday 20th May. Clubs interested are invited to register a maximum of 2 people (per club) via Callum Atkinson (callum.atkinson@ncucricket.org). Places are limited on this course so please register ASAP to avoid disappointment.
The Cricket Ireland Welcome to Coaching Course is a starting point for people to get into coaching. This course is held over one day and is ideal for Primary/Secondary School Teachers, volunteers, and assistant coaches within junior club teams. Most Head Coaches for teams in clubs would be UKCC Level 2 qualified (which is the next step from a Welcome to Coaching course).
• Participants would be expected to develop their own coaching practices, principles and philosophies on coaching.
• Further development of small-sided games and drills specific to cricket.
• Offers options on the ‘type of practice’ that can be done e.g. fixed, variable, game-based learning.
• Develop an understanding to the needs of the players.
• Raises awareness of dealing with poor behaviour.
• Shows coaches how to deliver 60 minute long sessions.
• Introduces coaches to the “Coach’s Toolbox” e.g. Instruct, Explain, Demonstrate, Analyse, Evaluate, Feedback, Questions, Praise.
• Resources and follow up notes emailed to the participants following the course.
• Cricket Ireland Certificate on completion of the course
The NCU is keen to give as many cricket clubs in the area a chance to up-skill people and prospective coaches who might be getting involved with junior club coaching.
Course Details
Venue: Wallace High School, 12A Clonevin Park, Lisburn BT28 3AD
Date: Sunday 20th May 2018.
Time: 0945 - 1700
Cost: FREE for all participants. The course costs are kindly subsidised by the Sport NI Active Clubs programme.
How to apply: Register through the NCU Development Team (callum.atkinson@ncucricket.org)
Equipment required: Sportswear and trainers as you’ll be taking part in cricket drills, games and exercises (injury/health permitting) - Cricket Ireland will provide all the cricket specific equipment that is needed on the course. Bring a pen and a notepad as well if you would like to take down some notes on the day.
Further queries: Please contact your Development Officer.

Cricket Ireland AGM Sunday 29 April
A healthy attendance was held yesterday and history was created with a new President from the Women’s hierarchy following a long line of male dominance since 1924.
Aiden Rice from YMCA was warmly welcomed from ongoing Brian Walsh, a tireless worker in his term of office.
Cricket Ireland produced a very professional production at Ballymascanlon Hotel, near Dundalk. Chairman Ross McCollum was impressive when covering the long list of achievements since 2017, but in particular paid a handsome tribute to Chief Executive Warren Deutrom, who has been largely credited with attaining Ireland Test status. Deutrom spoke knowledgably about the future that is looming on Ireland cricket, and in particular, the visits of Pakistan and India and the new Headquarters on the horizon. His upbeat presentation had every reason because Ireland is on the threshold of reaching truly International status.

Local umpires in the forefront at Malahide
As we all know by now Ireland face Pakistan in the inaugural Test match on 11 May, but we now learn further honours have followed from local Officials.
Umpires Alan Neill and Mark Hawthorne are both included, which is a huge boost for the NIACUS. The other Officials are Englishmen Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth, who were embroiled in the turbulent series between Australia and South Africa. Beware of ball tampering!
Former England Test match player Chris Broad is the match referee.
Support Ireland on this memorable occasion.

NCU to Host Festival of Under 16 Cricket
The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) is to host a prestigious Under 16 Cricket Festival from August 13th-15th, in Belfast.
Following on from successful tours to festivals at St Alban's (U17) and Taunton (U11/U14) in the past two seasons, the NCU considered hosting their own inaugural event, with Campbell College Belfast as base.
Campbell College has agreed to host players and officials, with CSNI (Stormont) and CIYMS (Belmont) hosting the games over the three days. Teams from Yorkshire Schools Cricket Association, Cornwall Cricket Board and St Joseph's College will join the NCU in a round robin tournament.
Chairman of the NCU Alan Waite speaking about the forthcoming festival said, 'the NCU will warmly welcome our visitors from Cornwall, Yorkshire and St Joseph's School, Ipswich to our inaugural cricket festival. Our young cricketers, coaches and administrators have been hugely impressed by participating in similar festivals in England and Scotland over the past four years. With the support of Campbell College, to whom we are grateful for hosting the players and officials and also some grant funding from Belfast City Council, NCU staff have worked expediently to co-ordinate this exciting new chapter as part of our commitment to youth development within our region.
St Joseph’s College in Ipswich is where Mark Patterson (former Cliftonville Cricket Club and Ireland International) taught, and he was instrumental in the NCU U17 participation in the St Albans Cricket Tournament, in the last two years. Mark also encouraged their school rugby team to tour Northern Ireland, which they have done for the past few years. Ben Clements, who teaches at St Joseph’s, is a former Belfast Royal Academy (BRA) pupil, adding to the NCU connection.
Brian Walsh, Director of NCU Representative Cricket said, ‘it is great to see the development of Youth Cricket in the NCU over the past five years. A lot of credit must go to the Representative Directorate who are responsible. Full support to the development has been given by NCU chairman Alan Waite and our thanks go to a tremendous group of coaches and parents. The new venture this year of our Under 16’s Festival at Campbell College is an extension of our development where, instead of our young cricketers having to travel to England or Scotland, English counties are coming to Northern Ireland to play in our Festival. Great credit has to go to General Manager Angela Platt and Uel Graham for the organisation of the tournament. It is also a welcome development to work with Campbell College and to be able to use their excellent facilities’.
Robert Robinson MBE, Headmaster of Campbell College said, ‘we are delighted that the NCU has decided to hold its first ever residential festival at Campbell College this summer and look forward to welcoming the three teams from England to our campus. We are grateful for the strong partnership we enjoy with both the NCU and Cricket Ireland and look forward to watching some superb talent on display in East Belfast’.

Wilson Scott
It is with sadness throughout Ulster and Ireland cricket that we learned Wilson Scott has died at 90. He will be missed around Ballygomartin Road and further afield. Wilson was an integral part of a great Woodvale era, which included Ken Kirkpatrick, Larry Warke, Adrian Erskine, George Upritchard, Dennis Tunnah and Ronnie Berryman. He was also capped by Ireland several times and took great pride in playing down the teams after his prowess later declined. He loved Woodvale, and played a big part in its development within the administration. Edward Liddle has written an excellent Biography in Cricket Europe, which cannot be bettered and is worthy to recall his distinguished career.
To David and the family circle, we extend our sincerest Condolences.
Rest in Peace.

Andy,
that border regiment cup is still being contested. It's a big event with the intermediate football leagues.

Re Alan Chambers - with reference to the ‘border tournament’ I remember an old football tournament called the Border Regiment Cup - if that is still in existence you could claim the trophy! My old umpiring colleague Reggie McNally might recall it!!

Ed: Border league is really well done to Roy Nicholl. When Clogher had no opposition and Monaghan were 'toe dippin' local cricket, they played a 7 match series and the border league began from there.

PRESS RELEASE...
North Down Cricket Club (NDCC) are bowled over to receive funding from the Housing Executive for a sports project this summer, providing cricket coaching sessions to youths from Comber and Newtownards.
Aimed at children aged 7-17, the coaching sessions will give young people the opportunity to try cricket under expert instruction and become part of the thriving youth section at NDCC. Open sessions at the club will be running from the first Wednesday in May. As well as this, coaching sessions will also be available in local estates and community locations, promoting good relations among youths across Comber and Newtownards.
Project Co-ordinator, Ryan Haire is delighted the project is going ahead next month. He said:
“We are extremely grateful for the Housing Executive’s Community Cohesion funding to allow us to bring cricket to the next generation. If your school or community group is interested in bringing sport to your community please contact me via email: haireryan@hotmail.com Come along and have fun!”

Please note these dates could change at a moments notice,
and do frequently.
23 May
Dungannon V (Portadown)Taverners
Monaghan V Clogher
30 May
Taverners V Monaghan
Clogher V Dungannon
6 June
Clogher V Taverners
Monaghan V Dungannon
20 June
Taverners V Dungannon
Clogher V Monaghan
27 June
Monaghan V Taverners
Dungannon V Clogher
4 July
Taverners V Clogher
Dungannon V Monaghan
July 25
Final and 3rd 4th playoff.

Cecil Kirkwood O.B.E.
The cricket fraternity will be sadden by the passing of Lisburn stalwart Cecil Kirkwood. He was a lovely man in every way and he gave Trojan work at Wallace Park. He never lost his cricket roots and always supported the club in difficult times. Sadly, he will be missing on the boundary and I'm sure the members and others throughout the grounds will miss him.
To the family and circle we extend our deepest sympathy.
Rest in Peace Cecil.