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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!

Well done to John Stevenson on a fantastic knock that kept Inst in the Senior Cup.

I just noticed that the winners of the Dutch club Twenty20 competition receive 10000 Euro, thats nearly 7 Grand sterling!!!
In the NCU, the winners get nothing and for winning the senior league it is something like £400 - totally pathetic.

Isn't it time to scrap qualifying for a country? If you are born or have parents in a country then that's your birth right and you can't give it away for a 'professional career. Follow the footballers on this one and stop making a total mockery of nationality.
Ed Joyce and Kevin Petersen playing for England is a joke! Same goes for the
Irish foreigners.

Just browsing some Irish cricket websites and there seems to be plenty of support around for Ireland to move to a higher tier in international cricket. The ICC needs to back them financially or to run two levels of 'test' cricket. They could put Australia into the top section and everyone else in the second section. Not much good for the Aussies but very competitive for everybody else.

Thanks for putting me right 'North Down Down Supporter' and if your team plays half as well as you support then maybe we'll see a bit more competition from the NCU's top team this season because an outsider might feel the NCU teams hadn't entered in the last few years.
As for Merrion I'm not a member but they serve Fosters and Castlemaine in the bar and that's usually a giveaway. You guys have a track record of paying players for some time so don't knock the Dublin clubs if they are better at it and remember nobody is breaking the rules. If you don't think the rules are fair then get your delegates to change them.
However, when all's said and done it's what happens on the field that counts so look no further than Phoenix Park and Rush as those are two tough grounds to get an away win. If you can win there then you won't have to whinge about umpiring decisions and player availability as every team has to face that week in and week out!

Did the Irish Cricket Union do the right thing in naming the Irish Senior Cup after the late Bob Kerr? From all accounts Bob was a decent man and a hard-working administrator but I'm sure there have been plenty of others down the years and there'll be plenty more in the future. Does this set a precedent and does it restrict the union in getting a sponsor or will the sponsor's name just be added?
If that's the case then it will start to look silly!

Paul Hatton

Paul,
You are quite correct in that the LCU are light years ahead of any other participating Unions within the Irish Cup. WHY is this i hear you ask? Well a couple of reasons in my opinion.1- these things go in cycles. 2-FOREIGNERS! I can remember one of our guys saying that he was playing an Irish Cup game down south a few years ago and was told that, i think it was Merrion though not a 100% sure, had 54 registered Australians within their club and that they had a lone irishman playing on their thirds nicknamed PADDY!! I think you will tend to see more "foreigners" coming the Norths way in the not too distant future with the peace process etc and this will even things up in my opinion.

Regards N.Down "NOT setting the world alight" this season-LOL. Paul we have obliterated every team we have come up against this season apart from Inst who we lost too narrowly by playing some poor cricket and also minus the invaluable experience of Coetzee and Robin Haire on the day.All dues to Inst though they fought well. Even in the Irish Cup were we had Ryan and Robin Haire suspended we trounced Strabane and likewise on sunday in the ulster cup minus coetzee and Kennedy we trounced Brigade! I'd say if you were to ask anyone around the NCU or NW who they would fear the most i think the honest answer would be North Down. And as for the Rush game last year we lost in the last over of the match mate after scoring 300-lets just say that the umpires cost us that game hence robin and ryan being suspended for two games when they lost their cool after 3 horrific decisions that even the Rush players were shocked at,one bad one that stands out above all the rest.

So,in conclusion,your right in saying that the NCU are way behind the LCU when it comes to Irish Cup but to say in so many words that North Down havent much hope either is fairly harsh,if we can get past a tough game against Phoenix,minus Ryan and Robin again then with a full team for the next game we will give any team in Ireland a competetive game let me tell you.

Good idea James. A county championship would be novel but would it generate
the pride and passion a representative championship needs? Derry and Tyrone
already have a county match every year and I suggest you don't mess around
with Belfast and just go with the six counties as they are laid out. I read
somewhere that a county championship was the suggested way the NCU was going to be set up in the 1880s. Never too late to change?

Read your article on the Irish Senior Cup and don't think you have it right at all. The Dublin clubs are well ahead of the northern clubs in ability and only a home draw will see the North-West teams advance. North Down has the best chance on paper but they were well hammered at Rush last year and haven't set the world on fire much this season. Until the northern teams stop complaining and starting playing better they won't beat anyone!