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NCU - FARCE

THOSE WORDS SEEM TO BE USED EVERY SEASON.

I HAVE NO DOUBT WOODVALE WILL FIGHT THIS, BUT AS FAR AS IM AWARE I THINK THE STUFFING HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF THEM. OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS AN AWFUL LOT OF HARD WORK HAS BEEN DONE AT WOODVALE ON AND OFF THE FIELD TO TAKE THE CLUB BACK INTO SECTION ONE (JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER CLUB). CRICKET IN INNER CITY BELFAST IS DYING, RECRUITING PLAYERS HAS BECOME VERY DIFFICULT AND KEEPING THEM IN CRICKET IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR MANY REASONS. DECISIONS LIKE THIS CERTAINLY DON'T HELP...... I WAS ALWAYS TOLD THE UMPIRES DECISION IS FINAL AND NEVER QUESTION IT, DO WE NOW TEACH KIDS TO QUESTION THE UMPIRES JUDGEMENT???!!!!!

BEFORE I TAKE OUT THE VIOLIN AND THE CLEENEX I WOULD ASK EVERY CRICKETER TO PUT THEMSELVES IN THE WOODVALE CAPTAINS SHOES........ EVEN IF HE HAD INSTRUCTED THE WOODVALE BOWLERS TO ONLY BOWL 1/5 OF THE ALLOCATED OVERS (DESPITE GIVING THE OPPOSITION AN OBVIOUS ADVANTAGE) THE MATCH WOULD STILL HAVE BEEN DECLARED VOID DUE TO THE OPPOSITION BOWLERS EXCEEDING THE ALLOCATION.

IN NO WAY DO I WANT TO POINT THE FINGER AT THE UMPIRES IN QUESTION AS THEY ARE DEDICATED AND DO A FANTASTIC JOB THAT I WOULD NEVER CONSIDER DOING. HOWEVER, IF THE NCU WANT TO EVENTUALLY HAVE A CRICKET SEASON WITHOUT CONTROVERSY THEY NEED TO START SINGING FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET AS THEIR UMPIRES.

SUCH A SHAME YET ANOTHER SEASON HAS BEEN RUINED BY NOT JUST THE WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!

Sensible article from Timmy Browne. Understand totally where he is coming from. Laurelvale were put out of a competition basically because the umps got it wrong and Woodvale are now asked to replay games because the umps got it wrong. Thankfully as Bruce points out, the two teams which I predicted to go up, should still go up. However, why should Woodvale have to replay 2 games?
Can I also point out that I am not pointing the finger at the NCU umps who do a good job. Lets ease the pressure on them a little and get shot of Duckworth Lewis. It is a lot of hassle for everyone for what should be a simple club cricket game. If the first league fixture is not completed because of the weather then lets just keep trying for a twenty over game to get a result. Lets face it, in ten years time we will probably be playing 20/20 cricket instead of fifty overs.

Optimism is a must have quality for any Armagh cricketer!

Regardless of any NCU decisions, I think that the aim of any season is that the best teams in a league get promoted, and there can be little doubt that Ballymena and Woodvale have been the two stand out teams in Section 2 this year, and by quite a margin at that. I would hope that any voided matches and no-results won't change that in the final reckoning. More chance that they will have a say at the bottom of the table than the top

Re: Tim Browne

I cannot see Dundrum rearranging another fixture with so few weeks to the end of the season, particularly with another wet weekend predicted.

Still it will be interesting to see how things work out in the next few weeks.

I think the two up two down system is brilliant - I have not played in a single meaningless match this season and as a consequence every match has been played with a real competitive edge. Great Fun !

RE Andrew Haire

Again, dont put your name forward. Clubs dont do it for money - it is for the prestige of hosting a final at one of the best grounds in the country. North Down still had to prepare wickets for 1st and 2nd XI games throughout the period of having no groundsman, the outfield still had to be cut etc - you cant seriously tell me that it would have been a great hassle to prepare one more wicket or re-use one of the better strips! I am sure re-using one of the old stripe would still have been good enough!

Tim Browne - I hope Woodvale fight this! Sounds like another crazy decision from the NCU!!

Apologies for jumping the gun on relegation Gareth, but I do admire your optimism. I have no problems with Armagh either and it too is a great place to play.

Bruce perhaps failed to notice that whether Lauelvale replay their games or not may not matter. The fact is that the game between Dundrum and Ballymena may need to be replayed and Dundrum could win this, though it did seem to be Dundrum's home game and so the fact Eaton Park is unavailable may not matter. Not so sure Ballymena will be keen to send out their strongest team for these three rearrangements when they thought their season was all but over and when they appear to be up anyway. Who knows. Presumably the friday issue will again crop up.

Has Dundrum dried out yet Jeff? It may just see some interesting cricket!

The main difficulty with the Ballymena match from my perspective was that the game was surely voided when Michael Glass exceeded his over allocation. There was nothing Woodvale could do about that (apart from the captain walking onto the field to confront the umpires?) and even if we had bowled 5 x 4 overs and won the game would be lost as the rules were breached.

Retiring to be an umpire may not be the best idea after all! Where does it end? If a 5 or 7 ball over is bowled will games be voided? How does a captain prevent that from happening?

Any further thoughts?

Just noticed that the Chairman of Cricket Ireland is from Strabane and the ISC Final is at Strabane. Also Chairman of NICA is from Coleraine and the final of the ClubTurf was at Coleraine!
Why was the NCU Final not at Larne???!!!

Tim

I totally empathise with you and other clubs that have used their best efforts in a challenging season to try and get fixtures played. I do not understand how some of the decisions are made or are consistent. Last year CSN played Derriaghy in a game that started as a 20 over match. It should not have under the rules however both captains agreed, the umpires agreed and on appeal the result was let stand. I have watched this year some bizarre things in 2s cricket. One club was kicked out of the junior cup for not providing a ground. Seemed a bit harsh as their 1s had a home game. Same thing happened to our 2s in a league game. They were due to play a club and the home teams 1s had a cup game. The 2s could not provide a ground and would not play at our ground. We claimed points and were denied and told to rearrange.

And don't get me started on the fluid use of the 22 day rule!

I have said before I empathise with administrators but as an observer it appears there is a lack of consistency that frustrates players immensely.

Good luck tim and I will be delighted to see Woodvale back in the top flight in 2009 all being well.

RE: Tim Browne

Interesting post from Tim. Not sure that there will be a great impact on relegation issues though. Laurelvale lost the two games in question so our points total will be unaffected. It is unlikely that there would be time before the end of the season to replay any of the three fixtures but if the games are therefore made void it might improve our net run rate.

Does it have any impact on Woodvale's promotion ? Ballymena and Woodvale have clearly been the best teams in the league this year and deserve to get promoted.

Is this the annual NCU gaff about to screw the season upside down?
Memories of Derriaghy and North Down are coming to the fore...

Armagh aren't relegated yet Tim as a point of detail.

There would surely be no reason for the other D/L affected games you mention to be replayed if captains had used that most basic of cricketing thoughts that a bowler can bowl no more than 1/5 of the overs in an innings, be it 50 overs long or 20 overs. I can't speak for the legality of all of the D/L matches in Section Two this season, but the one that stood out was the Ballymena Woodvale fixture and the Union could do little other than review it when raised.

While it is certainly inconvenient for matches to have to be rearranged at this stage of the season, it would merely seem to back up the idea that a system like D/L is a development a bit beyond the standard of cricket it is being used at. Is it used in the NWCU and LCU??

Woodvale have been advised by the Union that their games at home to Lurgan and away to Ballymena have been declared void and will need to be replayed.

Both games were reduced under Duckworth Lewis. The umpires standing in the matches allowed bowlers to exceed their allotted overs yet the Union, by their decision, appear to be placing the responsibility for interpreting and applying the laws of cricket with the captain of each team under a newly introduced competition rule 3. In each game the Woodvale captain sought reasurrance and guidance from the umpires as to how many overs each bowler could bowl and it seems the umpires got it wrong. A difficulty lies in the fact that the captain of a batting side cannot control how many overs each opposition bowler bowls. To place the onus for on field decisions with the captains is surely a recipe for disaster and will only serve to undermine the umpires authority? To openly question the decision of an independent arbiter is a tricky thing.

At a time when it is difficult to maintain an interest in the sport due to the weather results determined in a committee room don't help.

Two results may not matter in the grand scheme of things and those who know me will realise that this is not about sour grapes. However, The decision taken does appear to be more far reaching. A quick glance at the scorecards relating to the other matches in Section 2 reduced under Duckworth Lewis detailed on the Union website reveals that other games will also be affected and will need to be replayed. These games include Ballymena v Dundrum, Ballymena v Laurelvale and Laurelvale v Armagh. If these games are to be replayed (there may be others) it could determine which team gets relegated along with Armagh. Bear in mind Ballymena do not have a home ground available.

Regardless of the outcome Ballymena will finish top of the league and deserve to do so. They have been unstoppable this year.

With Duckworth Lewis newly introduced to Section 2 this year I had hoped that less time would be wasted and fewer games would need to be rearranged. The truth has turned out to be quite different. Half a day off work for the Lurgan game and eight hours in Ballymena for nothing (I have nothing against the place and actually like playing there - they also like me playing there!).

Interesting times ahead.

PS Is the temporary groundsman still in their position ?

re North Down CC

I think it would be quite diffcult for North Down to be involved in an Under 17 European Championship or a Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier, don't you ?

Re Gary

The fact is that North Down firstly cannot and never has been able to pick and choose the finals that it does or doesnt host - think we may have wanted to host the Senior Cup Final if that was the case!

North Down has for a number of years now put their name forward and indeed hosted alot of representitive and domestic finals, many of which have not involved a North Down team, for little or no financial reward!!

To suggest that North Down just didnt want it halfway through the season is an absurd suggestion!