Forum

wasn't last weekend - news takes a bit longer to get to Buckna!

Oh Andy - you are just teasing us! Spill the beans - although, if it was last weekend, the only game that appears to have beaten the weather was CIYMS v Waringstown. Come on, put us out of our misery and give us a bandwagon to jump on!! :-)

I was not at the ISC final so in no way am I qualified to comment on the events. What I would say though is that to ban Donemena would seriously weaken the competition. I have played against them over years at Woodvale/Harlequins and CSN. They always play very hard, competitive cricket and they are great to play against. Like all North West fans they bring a travelling faithful to away grounds that most clubs would love to have and in my view Donemena are welcome at Stormont any day. Football hooligans get banned from games, clubs do not get banned and as many people have said the club cannot control fans particularly with a few beers in.

Andy, no NCU fingers being pointed on the website although the ISC pictures show that some were pointed on the pitch at the Hills. The NCU isn't immune to incidents and they should be reported to the proper authority but the NW seems to have them regularly. Tell us more about the East Belfast story as there's very little cricket to discuss.

I note the comments about Donemana vis-a-vis the ISC final. Having heard a wee whisper about a near-incident involving the father of a player and a senior experienced umpire at a ground in the East Belfast area I would suggest that, if true, then perhaps we shouldn't be too complacent to point too many fingers at the Nort-West.

Andy i accept all that you have said and i have really enjoyed the banter over the last few weeks , i have even tried to improve my spelling & grammer !! i hope we can be forum pals who agree & dis-agree sometimes !!

Gerry - I have never in my life made any humour out of anyone with a disability so your comment is uncalled for. Indeed it was pointed out at a cricket dinner in an unnamed venue that I developed an eyesight problem in 2007 & so I took up umpiring!! The lesson that I learned a long time ago is not to take yourself too seriously - remember that we won't get out of this world alive! You have missed entirely the point that I was making - the ungracious behaviour of the English captain over the Stormont fixture - a game that I would remind you that good money was paid for admission. As for anti - English rants - wrong again. But I DO confess that I had a little smile on Sunday night when I saw that Mr. Shah discovered Mr. Collingwood's lack of communication skills!

Thanks Vic. The award was actually made in 1994 but this year the NCU decided to present certificates to all its hon life members and since I was away I missed the original ceremony hence the individual publicity. Like I've said many times before, it is a great honour of which I'm very proud.
On the Grasshoppers tour the idea is to return to South Africa early next year and Alan Waite is currently putting all the details together. There have been good interest to date but it is getting close to decision time. I'll speak to Alan and do an article for information. Finally are there enough trees in the park to honour all the great players that played there over the years?

Gerry--Good idea!
Although don't think Gerald nor I would like are names on a park bench and after someone reads it they park their butts on top of us! Think it would be better a plaque nailed onto one of those trees around the boundary in Lurgan Park! I'll look into it.

While we're on the subject of cricketing greats, congratulations to our very own Editor on becoming an Honorary life Member of the N.C.U.
(See front page NCU site.)
Richly deserved Clarance and may I say a fine picture to boot!
(Any chance of getting on that veterans Ulster Grasshoppers tour this winter, Clarance; you talked about earlier this year?)

Vic you have mentioned some great Ulster cricket legends in your last posting its good to see them still involved in local cricket maybe when you become a legend / stalward they will name one of the benches in Lurgan park after you !! Have they not done that for the "Pro" come on Vic get that sorted out !!!!

Many congratulations to Roy Harrison on his 70th birthday and the accolade of having the pavilion at the Lawn named after him. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving gentleman of the local game.

Best wishes from Armagh CC

Yes Gerry,he sure did !
Our skipper threw him the ball and he opened the bowling with one of the young lads that have joined us this year.
They both bowled out their allotted overs with pace and accuracy and between them shared four wickets.

It has just occurred to me that our opening bowling pair shared an age differance of almost 60 years, surely that has to be some kind of record !

And Davey--Waringstown man,agree with you.Like our Gerald at Victoria, Roy is a legend at Waringstown C.C. and throughout the broader cricketing fraternity. Recently met Arthur from Templepatrick C.C and big Davey from Cliftonville C.C. all legends at their respective clubs and long may they rein supreme !
And on the same note good to see sportsmanship and a bit of common sense at Ivan's club Muckamore.

Finally high pressure arriving,good weather Wed onwards. (Where was it the last 4 months !).

Congratulations too Lurgan & Downpatrick on promotion into the premier league from Dundrum cc.

Andy bad manners are hard to hide !!!do you make fun of all people that have disabilities lets be thankful that we don,t have this problem . All my postings have brought out all this anti-english rantings from you , and if you really knew me i couldn,t care less about England , but you took the bait like a dumb bass !!!! i support all things Northern Ireland
Well Vic did the "Pro" play at the weekend ??

Donemana isn't the only club that attracts a few drunken louts but if what we read on the other channel is true, then there was more than one incident on and off the field. That doesn't excuse anyone for throwing a beer can on to the pitch or attacking a player. Come on Donemana it shouldn't be too difficult to find out who was involved and to take some action whether it was a member or not. There's no place in our cricket for drunken thugs.