Forum

A response to several postings:-

I will not be joining the group of mature talented players at Belmont.

With regard to the lack of genuine fast bowlers I've decided to go back to my longer up, bend the back (more wd40)and return to my lean mean bowling machine action of the 1980s.
Two bouncers, a beamer and three dream balls will now be my stock over.
Or should I just bowl six on the spot and let the batsman get himself out!!
Looking forward to another season and maybe taking my 1500 wicket. Wonder who the unfortunate batsman will be!!

RE CIYMS

Has someone missed something here - CIYMS have only been able to offer incentives to players due to the hard work of the young committee and due to gala dinners which as far as I am aware would keep the clubs 'pros' funded for 2 to 3 years. It is not from friendly sponsors. You are more than welcome to come to our next gala dinner - however you would need to be quick as they are normally sold out!

Stop the jealousy lads and the fact is it would be an injustice to NCU cricket if with its facilities at Belmont that CIYMS wasnt a Section 1 club.

Also it is rumoured that they have a South African quickie who will scare a few openers next year.

Dan Marks:

Hi Dan,

No apology required mate..

As i said previously it is up to the clubs themselves as to what they do with their money...though i will maintain that having good facilities is paramount before opening the chequebook to entice players...and to be honest ive never played at CI so i cant comment on their wickets/covers/outfield etc etc though they do have the best clubhouse for sure!

Your right,there are generally more player movements than ever before...the big clubs that have the top top players though will tend to ensure that they are looked after in some manner shape or form!

Good luck to Coops at CI...I was amazed when i heard this story the other day..just always thought he would have finished his career at Carrick...good player and good lad into the bargain!

Russeller

Thanks for all your support guys, it means a lot to hear it! It was good to get some things out in the open about what CI are all about and what we're looking to develop over the next 5, 10, 20 years...

We'll hopefully see you all up at Belmont over the summer either in a playing or social capacity. Good luck to all for the season ahead and make sure to stretch well after the first few winter net sessions - they can be a killer!

Re : Russeller

Apologises, it was the previous Instonian's connection I was getting myself confused with. Was just making the point that many club's squads are made up of players who aren't purely one club men, which is just the nature of cricket these days.

Re CIYMS

Can I just say that if a few more clubs in the NCU had the drive, determination, desire and ambition that CIYMS have shown over the past few years then the game would be in a much better state.

Yes, the fact that they probably have a lot more money than most other clubs is beneficial but it takes more than money and sometimes having all the money in the world doesn't mean you'll be successful.

From what I've seen and heard CI seem to have the right mix of people driving their club forward. The general consensus is that CI have paid their way to the top. I played against them last year and the only players that were deemed top players were Heasley and Hewitt (Paul McCrum getting on a bit ;) ) however you could argue that Hewitt hasn't had a great deal of experience in the top section (I could be wrong so dont batter me for it).

My point is they have moved forward on the pitch with most of their own players and it is those players that have formed the nucleus of the team for the past few years.

I have nothing but admiration for CI as a forward thinking club because they will not cease until they can push the club as far as it'll go and I like that attitude. At Dundrum we thought we would never get a Pro because of cost and other reasons, we thought we'd never get to section 2, we thought we'd never get to the quarter final of a senior cup. With a great deal of determination and ambition and, may I add, a very small bank balance we achieved those goals.

If we show the same ambition this year I believe we will continue to improve and who knows what will happen in the future.

As the old saying goes, "You only get out what you put in"! So I say good luck to CI on their journey to the top.

P.S Taito, being captain gives you all the more reason to get in to debates on the forum (and trouble). Thats why I give it up this year!!!

Lets face it, what club wouldn't invest in signing high-quality experienced players if they had the resources to do so? If those guys can return some of the money to the club in the form of coaching time with a busy youth section then even better. I think a degree of the bitterness towards CIYMS is probably based from jealousy, I have always found them a decent and welcoming side to play against at any level.

Dan Marks..

Hi Dan,
FYI im a born and bred ND man...and have played at ND from i was around 10 years of age! I aint a blow in as you have alluded too! All be it i went to Instonians just at the end of my school days at Inst to play senior 1 cricket for a couple of years and laterly spent a really enjoyable season in the NW with Glendermott...a season in the NW was always a wish of mine...glad ive done it...but damn glad in back at home with my mates at "The Green"!

Some interseting debate's goin on re CIYMS...my tuppence worth...good luck to them...they have a superb club house and from what Michael has stated they also seem to have a thriving youth section which is vital to the future...if they have money to spend and they decide it's best spent on some "experieced" players then that's their decision...absolutely nothing to do with anyone outside CI. One hope though is that they have put good money into Good wickets!!!

I for one wish them all the best..

Russeller...

Re Dan
There is no way Colin 'Pro' Andrews will be making the move across east Belfast. His beer allowance alone would bankrupt the club.

Kirstie& Micheal, JEALOUSY is a wonderful thing as most of the people that knock your superb club either dont play or HIDE behind assumed names!!! CIYMS have made it from section 3 ( maybe 4) by real hard work from STALWARTS Adams. Macilwaine, Sleith , Hughsie. too name a few & their club is a credit too all junior clubs proving that section 1 is not a closed shop. I will tell you personally that Dundrum lost heavily too them in the challenge cup but they treated us superbly & their after match craic was top drawer( not sure if johnny winning a PINK shirt for a chancless ton would agree). CIYMS have some of the most hard working lads that you will meet & think their is far too much stick being levelled at their great club .Also have too say that they havent changed 1 bit from when they were in section 3 as they play hard & fair & think they deserve every success they have achieved & think theirs more too come & good luck too them. ps on sky sports KAKA going too fortress belmont.

Hinky, cheers mate , but you know all i did was increase the bar takings, which may have helped with signings afterwards. So maybe i did play my part lol.

I have told myself that now i am skipper i have to stay out of these debates. So i am not saying anything else on the matter apart from good luck to CI and i am glad to hear things are going so well at the club.

As an outsider looking in on CIYMS, I felt that I would like to say how I see things, as a lot of postings recently seem to have been very negative towards them.

Firstly, you can't deny that both on and off the field they have come a long way over the past 5/6 years, so maybe this negativity towards them is more jealousy than anything else. With people thinking now, why don't we have that drive and ambition at our club?

They now have a state of the art clubhouse, in which they had to play all their home games away from Belmont for 2 years at Queens and Campbell College whilst it was constructed. They must have a laid a whole new square following this too.

With their success on the pitch, they will have had to update their ground, thus spending more money on sightscreens and covers for starters. They also now have an electronic scoreboard, which not many other Premier League clubs have.

With regards their youth policy, it seems from their website (another cost!), that they have a very vibrant youth section with U11, U13 & U15 teams. I also read on their website, that a couple of these younsters have already received NCU recognition. Their U15 side also had a useful win last season against Waringstown and their U11 side seems to be doing well also.

All these kids will learn so much from watching and being coached by the likes of Heasley, Hewitt, Cooper etc. which can only be for the good of their club.

It was refreshing to read Coops' comments about leaving Carrick, and that he is leaving for cricketing reasons and a new challenge at CI. Fair play as it would have been a lot less hassle to have stayed put and count the money coming in!

Good luck to CIYMS, and from a neutral perspective, I hope that the only way is not down for them, but when you reach the top, a lot more people want to see you fall flat on your face!

Re Stephen :

So Colin Andrews & Charlie McCrum are joing CI too then??

Many people forget that a lot of squads out there, over the past few years and currently, have a few "outsiders" within them. For example, the most successful team over the past ten years or so, North Down, have had a number : Connell, Parsons, Coetzee, Russell, Dazell, D.K., Turk, Sutherland, Khan, Cleland to name a few, but many of them have joined them for cricketing reasons. It is not like they would turn them away from their gates when the rocked up for pre season!

Hi Paul,

I must have been misunderstood, the 'tongue and cheek' nature of my comment was apparently missed. I think you will find that CI will be more than alright for the future, plenty going on around that, but needless to say thats not a debate I need to get into or justify on this forum. have a good weekend everyone!

The facts about CI youth..

Last season we had U-15, U-13 and U-11 teams all competing in their respective leagues and cups. On every junior practice night we had 40 - 50 kids up training. Our 10 week kwik cricket programme would have 70+ kids there every week. Three of our U-11s made NCU winter training squads and one made NICA academy. This is all down to our amazing coaches, senior players who would volunteer and parents.

Youth coming through our senior teams..

Last year I would say that approx eighty percent of our regular 2nd xi players would have been 25 or under, our 3rd xi (league champs two years in a row) had a policy of at least 2 under-15s every week, our mid-week league team (who finished joint second) was majority U-15s and now this season we are putting out a 4th xi because we want to give as many people weekend cricket as possible.

So yeah there's no youth coming through at all at CI is there...? Also no club development or club strength the whole way through the club either...?

Someone also made a comment about the players that we bring in not contributing in terms of coaching or passing on advice. These guys would regularly stay behind after nets with both senior and players to help them work on their games. Every one of them (contrary to what he believe's even taito..u were the pioneer!) has had an outstanding impact on the club and the players within it. They are outstanding cricketers and also top guys, I don't think anyone in CI would have a bad word to say about them. As a CI born and bred player, you can only learn from players like them!

We are an ambitious club, we have modern and excellent facilities and this Premier League cricket is all new to us so we may make mistakes.. but hopefully one day we'll be able to develop some Senior Irish Internationals through our youth set-up.

We have a good giggle at all the rumours about us but when people try and make claims about us, we want to try and put the record straight.