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Hey Quiet Man I didn't say we produced the majority of Ireland players, you did! All I asked was what's happening in the north and you threw up two names so everything must be OK. However, looking at the current squad and the recent additions there aren't too many northern players in the pecking order. And what's wrong with the Aussie -Irish and the Springbok-Irish now? Don't you support your national team or would you prefer we go back to being a bunch of no-hopers?

Is there an Ulster Cricketer magazine coming out any time soon?

Should be a classic match in the cup quarter final, Decker's boys to just shade it for me!

Paul, how can you say that you provide the majority of players for the ireland team when, most of the players that play for ireland from the south are from austraila or south africa! What you said about not getting the rub of the green when you come up north is a load of rubbish, as NCU umpires are the fairest umpires in the game!

muppet is right, "stop living in the past", your the one who brought up this whole debate! and to say that ulster isn't producing any Ireland cricketers is a bit harsh we've got more than a few very promising players coming through the ranks ie stirling and hall but to name a few. NCU cricket is looking very promising for the future and from what i hear the run out decision totally changed the game, can u deny that!

Hatton you Muppet.
I’m not even a North Down fan but had the misfortune of witnessing the major run out incident at Rush last year and believe me, if your club had been involved you would still be talking about it.
It was either the worst piece of umpiring I have ever witnessed (and yes, totally altered the result) or it was just blatant… …well I’ll let you finish that yourself.
To suggest that Leinster teams don’t get the rub of the green when they travel north is a sarcastic remark that will win you no friends.
DS

OK guys I've ruffled a few feathers with my 'Rush hammering' comment but any team chasing 300 to win deserves a break or two and with one over to go they'd have got at least another 20 runs the way the North Down bowlers were being hit all round the place. Let's move forward as our clubs have had a few wobbly umpiring decisions in the north, especially the farther north we travel!
We welcome your return to the competition and stop living in the past as you're only as good as your next result. Also what's wrong with the international team these days as you don't seem to be providing too many candidates for Ireland?

re ncu follower
no doubt the mccrums will be relishing the chance to play at their former stomping ground in the cup quarter final!

The Ulster Cricketer is looking for a correspondent to cover Schools cricket across the province.
Any interested parties should email info@theulstercricketer.com for further information.
This position may be of particular interest to anyone thinking of pursuing a career in sports journalism.

No dought that the mccrums are still top class cricketers, their performances in section 2 have been as good as most pros can offer and Im sure they would still have a lot to offer in section one as well. They opitimize the term old pros.

Just to follow up on Clarence Hiles thoughts on the McCrum's. I had the good fortune to skipper Paul when he played at Muckamore in 1996. Despite living in Armagh at the time he never missed a Monday or Thursday net practice and kept himself very fit and passed on his experience to the youngsters in the team. Uel Graham was also a top pro at Muckamore and I would like to see a lot of the money that's paid to foreigners paid to Irish internationals and on top of appearance money for Ireland and some sponsorship then enable them to be full time cricketers.

Read the message from paul hatton about north down getting hammered last year by rush and moaning about the umpires decisions. first of all we didn't get hammered, unless you call getting beat in the last over hammered!the decisions were poor to say the least. I think being out by 2 yards is an easy enough decision to give, not even test umpires need to go to the 3rd umpire for that one!

Re Paul Hatton
Paul, your points are totally valid but these things go in cycles and don't forget, the NCU dominated the Irish Cup for many years and the Leinster sides recent good run is small fry compared to this.
In NCU cricket, the bigger clubs are getting stronger and it is only a matter of time before 'our' turn comes again.
My take on it is that the Leinster teams consider the ISC the main competition whereas the NCU and North-West teams are more interested in their own domestic competitions.

Goodbye Jesse Ryder.
This pick was always going to be a gamble but two flops and a non appearance is enough proof that Kiwi Ryder is not what we need in Irish cricket. Gary Kidd waits in the wings, full of promise, commitment and enthusiasm. There is no comparison . If you don't get any pride from pulling on the Ireland shirt you should'nt be there.
Goodbye Mr. Ryder you brought nothing to our game and it matters little whether or not you go on to be the best New Zealander in test cricket because your failure to turn up for a game in which you were paid to play tells us enough!

Magnifient McCrums.
Having seen the results of Saturday's cup games aren't the McCrum brothers Charlie and Paul simply magnificent? I have said for many years that pound for pound they are the best value for any professional players around and time and time again they produce the goods. Charlie and Paul have been up there with the best in Irish cricket for two decades and they have been marvellous performers everywhere they've played. Above all, they've delivered the goods and been true pros in every sense. Well done guys and keep it going!