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Having played cricket 38 years & retired i think their is not a lot wrong with the leagues but my worry is how can we keep players playing on longer at their clubs as if cannot get stalwarts the future of junior clubs is a concern . I still think their is far to many sunday games with surely no reason why every club must play at least 2/3 midweek games and they should be derby games with say possibly 40 overs that does away with practice & some sundays . The days are going get worse as the present female wife/girlfriend will not simply put up for playing cricket sat/sun not too mention missing valuable family time with kids & such .Theirs bound be every club that has 2/3 local derby games & i remember when dundrum travelled everywher to play midweek ( we went larne /templepatrick that was committment) think the cup games have be sunday/midweek and not keep wrecking league fixtures .Still think 10 teams gives all the smaller clubs a chance to mix it with the so called big clubs and thats surely not a bad thing .

There is a lot of rubbish displayed on here about people playing other sports. How many regular 1sts players in this years Premier League teams play another sport at a serious level. ( Or Division One for that matter ). I can't think of one.
Years ago people like Neil Doak, Jimmy Kirkwood, Adrian Goodrich, Ronnie Elliot, Dessie Kane ,Mark Napier played rugby or hockey at Senior Level.
Let's see a list of today's players who because of other sporting commitments at a decent level wouldn't be available to the end of September.
Let's see how we can get more cricket not less. Has anyone thought about booking the " dome " in Magherafelt for a winter indoor cricket tournament or league.This must have great potential for a NCU/ NW competition.
At Muckamore we are starting our 2010 indoor nets next Tuesday 6th October in Antrim Grammar School 7pm to 9pm. New players are welcome but be prepared for some hard work . Fitness and coaching help available.

Have just arrived home form the Victoria CC end of season dinner. Great night, and I would like to thank my friends and colleagues.

Sat myself down beside my good friend Vic Johns, and the fun and laughter was a great way to end the seson. I look forward to spending many an evening down at the nets, and many an afternoon out in the middle with these guys next season. Until then, thanks for a great year, and enjoy the cricket-less winter!

simple thing to stop these 20 over matches in september! do what the north west do and resume games on monday night! i'm getting sick of the ncu always changing things!

Good points Bruce

I can understand people worried about losing the number of games they will play but realistically if you have 14 PLAYED league games you are only playing a small amount less than you actually currently are .

Look at all the 2009 leagues and how many matches teams actually played.

How many NO RESULTS there are and I wonder out of the played games how many small over bashes were played. Also how many were walkovers and how many were played in the last 3 weeks of the season.

Not far of 14 is it ?

Reducing the league to 8 would allow :

More opportunties to get full games played ( with rule changes ) rather than jumping to small overs

Stonger leagues

Leagues fully completed

Less chance of understrength cricket in September ( and it is happening )

etc... etc.... and all the other points made before by others............

Lets look after the whole game and not just our own club.

We are not reducing cricket ( in the whole sense )...... we are helping it survive the weather, be competitive healthy and enjoyable, bringing into the modern society and way of life.

I'm surprised to read that posting from Bruce Topping. Someone who played sport at the highest level and who played cricket with some of the best competitors the NCU has seen.
Friendlies are a total waste of time apart from pre season when batsmen want to get their eye in and feet moving and bowlers want to get some overs in their legs.
If people want social cricket what about some Friday evening " tavenerers style " matches on a regional basis purely on a social , nothing at stake basis. Playing cricket but not wanting to win to me is a complete waste of 6 hours.
I think young players only develop as players when they realise winning is everything. If we want them to be technically good just get them more net time. I know players who are international class in the nets but just don't have that bit extra which makes them effective match players.
I think the main thing wrong with club cricket is that everyone has gone soft.
Let's look at way's to maximise not minimumize the amount of competitive cricket.
Why not have regional Twenty20 leagues played on say a Thursday evening. About 30 years ago years ago we had a great 20 over league in East Antrim with Carrick,Larne,Ballymena,Muckamore,Templepatrick and I think Cliftonville. Thst's 5 games plus say a cup game or two. The great thing about that league was it didn't restrict who you could play but by nature some regular 1sts players opted out giving opportunity for players to step up and play against better players in a competitive game. ( I don't think this league was affiliated to the NCU ).
Young people have more options now days but I really think we can attract them to cricket if we coach them that winning is everything. I think we should adjust start times, number of overs in 3rds and 4ths ( where most young players can get hooked on the game ), the rearrangement issues ( I personally think the NWCU model is better than anything else I have seen proposed ) and all that before we reduce our league cricket by 22% in one fell swoop.

I would also be very much in favour of 8 team leagues to increase quality in the leagues.
I have been very disappointed in the last two seasons that the some promotion and relegation issues have been settled by 20 over games and on rain affected pitches in September rather than as 50 over matches. It is a 50 over league after all.

To my mind it would be much better to schedule an 8 team league to finish in the first week in August by sheduling some double header weekends (Saturday & Sundays) when the weather is generally better from mid June to end of July.

I would treat the 50 over league as the premier competition and attempt to have all matches played as 50 over matches on decent dry batting tracks.

I also feel we have an unhealthy fixation with league cricket. Your club does not have to shut down just because the league season is finished.
If the league was to finish in the first week in August, clubs would be able to organise friendlies with clubs outside their own league.

Clubs could also play different forms of cricket such as time games (11am to 6pm , two day games, T20 cricket etc)

Playing only league cricket leads to presure to win all the time and can hinder the development of young players. By all means put your strongest team out on the pitch for league games but use friendlies to blood younger players in different types of game.

For me cricket is also a social event as well as a competitive one and while I enjoy the competitive nature of the league campaign I would also like the opportunity to play different forms of cricket (especially time cricket) and against teams I would not ordinarily play against.

Good man Stevie Max
At least you hav'ent lost your sense of humour anyway! See you guys next season,all being well.
Cheers Vic.

Vic - "As I say, its a bit of fun and banter or is that now a taboo in cricket as well.
And for the few that do know me from the lower leagues, I'm sure they'll agree; I take my cricket just as serious as any 'Pro', Premier league player or 'Sugar-daddy' in the country!" - Judging by the way you bat, I didn't think you took it that seriously!!! LOL. Enjoy your winter break, and tell Davy he can move up the order next season and you can open the bowling!

I have to admit that I was for 10 team leagues but as I listened to the debate I thought maybe 8 teams is a good idea but wasn't 100% convinced. I was edging towards the " let's try it " camp.
However after reading Peter, Nile and Wayne's posts if I was voting today it would be for 10 team leagues. I can't really see how less teams will improve the cricket that much. It will defenitly create a more them and us split and make the clubs with money stronger. It will also be a great boost to the many golf courses struggling for players.
As Peter and Wayne suggest why don't we leave the leagues alone and tinker about with the cup competitions and rearrangement issues. I am baffled at the pressure down the leagues highlighted by Stuart. They only have the league and one cup competition and 3rds and below its a fourteen game season anyway.
Maybe it's time the captains and leaders sat down with their players and asked " are you committing to the season or not, and if you're not then I'm going to get someone who will ".
I fear it'll go to 14 league games,then 14 with NO rearrangements , then 14 games of 40 overs, then I suppose the eventual step just before we bury cricket for ever is 14 bowl outs ( probably by phone to stop travelling ) .
As a lover of the game ,as someone who has played for 40 years ( including the last ten as a captain of 2nds and 3rds ) and who wants to play for another 10 ( probably as captain to make sure I get a game on the 3rds and 4ths ) please sort this out for the development of the sport and not by thinking of your club or other outside influences like Cricket Ireland.
While the international team has reached unreal heights and more players can make it to the county circuit I feel our club cricket is in a poor state.
We need leaders at clubs who don't encourage part time players . If they don't want to committ to a team game and teammates give them a voucher for Nevada Bob's and tell them to stop dictating to those that want to play cricket.
Can you imagine Robin Haire at North Down or Roy Harrison or Alan Waite at Waringstown putting up with that type.
I say tweak the cups and rearrangement thing first.I think making the league positions as a qualifying route to the Irish Cup competition is a great idea.At Premier level it gives more teams , more to play for, for longer each season.

Re Fixtures...

My simplistic opinion is that for 3/4 years now we have had one CUP competition too many !
(Especially with our weather)

While I appreciate there canbe no place on the forum or the cricket pitch for that matter, for personnal insults,gratuious remarks and slander etc. I hope the forum does not become a cold house for a bit of 'tongue & cheek' humour and craic !
And how transparent does one have to be?
Whats wrong with using a pseudonym, or having an 'alter-ego' as is the case with ' Old Vic' here.

As I say, its a bit of fun and banter or is that now a taboo in cricket as well.
And for the few that do know me from the lower leagues, I'm sure they'll agree; I take my cricket just as serious as any 'Pro', Premier league player or 'Sugar-daddy' in the country!

And finally, yes well played young Porterfield. Makes it that bit more special when the lads from the home land.

On behalf of everyone associated with the Ulster Cricketer congratulations to William Porterfield on his award of Associate Players of the Year. We have all watched his progress with great interest over the years and in reaching this pinnacle he's done Donemana, Ulster and Irish cricket proud. A genuine son of the soil.
Stand up if you're an Ulster man!

Maybe at Saintfield UTD do they have the waistlines you're describing

Would someone who supports league reduction please explain to me how a reduction of around 20% in the number of games played will help DEVELOP cricket. At a time when incresed active participation in sport is being encouraged by health professionals and certainly required when seeking funding from the funding agencies what sort of a message will we send out in reducing
the number of matches we play. It is very obvious when watching matches that the majority of players don`t play winter sports ..........the evidence is in their waistline measurements and fitness levels.Cricket has a small enough participative level in NI without reducing it further.

For those who only want to play 14 matches and do other things then do that,but don`t force those who want to fully committ to the game to miss out because you want to go around shops/socialize or whatever it is you will do with this "new found" time.