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Re: Alastair Burton. Think you will find it is not a lack of interest in playing cricket and more that some teams bowling attacks are not suited to playing on a mat. Indeed had the weather not intervened this week our club would have played 10 matches in 8 days...(no lack of interest there)
I don't know what team you refer to but know this situation arose with Woodvale 2nds this week and as they are in with a chance of promotion, should they win their remaining fixtures, It made perfect sense not play on an artificial surface not suited to their bowling unit.

Teams win leagues and congratulations to them but then their team dramatically changes after then teams who are fighting relegation suddenly hammer the league winners not fair on other teams who are trying to stay up as well ncu should deduct points from them.

Alongside the contributions on various forums I have been chatting to journos/ club pros/ coaches and others over the last few weeks about our beautiful game and the issues at club level.

Unfortunately as with any problem there is no one remedy but the fact that the matters are being addressed / discussed will now hopefully focus all on the cure!

Every club/ community will be different and have varied challenges so be open minded, never give up and don't rule any idea out if untried in respect of making club cricket better!

Having read several posts over the past number of weeks regarding matches not being played or the use of artificial wickets in order to get matches fulfilled I felt compelled to write about our experience this weekend. We were due to play a match one (Junior League 2) on Sunday. A grass pitch had been prepared but due to heavy rain overnight and a split pipe on the covers the pitch was un-playable. Our captain contacted the opposition, explained the situation and suggested getting the match played on our artificial wicket – the response was “our boys don’t want to play on a mat”. I know by the letter of the NCU laws they were within their rights to decline to play on a mat but personally I find this ridiculous especially in September and also when the weather was good. It just seems that there was a lack of appetite to actually play the game at all. We had several young players left dissappointed with no game and this sort of situation will eventually put them off playing the game.

8 wickets win by muckamore agonist academy should see them promoted to primer league. I genuinely hope they will do well in primer league and at least stay up. I watched couple of their games this season .They were a good bowling team but I think they are bit short in the batting dept. Hope they will bring in couple of good batsman for new primer league season.

Many thanks to Laurelvale threes, for one of the most enjoyable games of cricket at Templepatrick today. Pleasure to be part of see you next season

Well done Donacloney. Good season

Just seen that Wayne Hughes (Derriaghy) and Colin Stewart (Laurelvale) have been nominated for Sport NI 2016 coaching awards. Congrats and good luck to both.

Downpatrick cricket club golf day- Friday 16th September at St Patrick's golf club Downpatrick. The cost is £30 a head which includes a fry back at the cricket club followed by an evening in the club and prizes. It would be great to see a few four balls from other clubs. Tee times are between 13.10 and 17.00. If you are interested in booking a tee time contact paul Linehan on 07745574534.

ncu have opened a can of worms now having no balls to stand by a team after they called a game off giving points to templepatrick I for one will go to any ground if a team calls a match off and if I decide the ground is playable I expect my team to get the points no problem this could happen now in any league

Cheers NCU member, good luck next year

I feel compelled to add my opinion to the current rumbling of clubs/game in decline and the need to shorten games.

This is in no way intended as a 'blowing our own trumpet' exercise. I'm simply a bit cheesed off with a lot of the negativity surrounding our great game.

I'm happy to report that, although our 1st XI had a disappointing season, as a club we are very happy with where we are at. We are putting out 4 senior teams on a regular basis, competing in those leagues and have A&B teams at every youth level (bar Colts).

We have a superb team of coaches and captains whose tireless efforts make this all possible. However this would not be possible without the playing membership and support of parents etc.

We want our 1st XI playing 50 over games and so do all of our players, young and old.
Less overs for the more junior teams is perfectly fine but once you start reducing 1st XI cricket where does it stop?

There's been a lot of talk about the young players not wanting to play long games. We don't have this problem.
If people love the game they will play it. Will golfers start playing 9 holes because 18 takes too long? Don't think so.

We see our youth, 3rd and 4th XI games as a way to enthuse young players about the game. We try, as much as possible, to give kids roles within those teams so that they feel important and integral to the team. It only has to be the chance to bowl a couple of overs or bat a couple of places higher than they expect to get them hooked on the game. That's why they keep coming back for more and want to play up the club and in longer games. It may cost us victory in some matches, but the long term benefits are worth this small price.

Don't get me wrong, we want to win, but not at all costs. Too many times I've witnessed the top 5 batters in a youth match also being the 5 bowlers and sharing the gloves too!!!! Where's the enjoyment for the other 6 players??? How long will they continue to simply fill a shirt???

Can anyone see any similarities in senior cricket here???

I think some senior players will drift away as there are too many hired guns, passport loopholes and tenuous, non cricket related jobs created to bolster some ambitions and our own players' opportunities have become more limited. I don't see how this really benefits cricket development in N.I.

Do things need a shake up and change? Definitely!

Andy Nixon made some very good points in his article.

The rearrangement rules really need looked at. There really is no joy in travelling/ sitting around with virtually no hope of play which happens because teams are petrified of having games voided.
We rush every season to get games finished by the start of September, often playing in poor conditions and on poor pitches, to then see glorious sunny days with no games left to play. September can be a nightmare in terms of player/ ground availability and would be tough for us as a club but it seems wasted in my opinion. Why can there not be another attempt at a Match 2 before its binned?

We must be allowed to play games on artificial wickets at any time. Everyone wants to play on grass but we have to be realistic. In our climate, we're not going to get 'roads' every week but you only have to look at some of the scores from this season to see that the ball appears to be coming out on top of the bat regularly. Surely this to some degree has to be attributed to tough batting wickets?
If both captains agree get the game played on whatever surface is best.

The capping of overseas players involvement in games would be a step in the right direction - retiring at 50 and limiting overs bowled. This would encourage player development rather than reliance and encourage appointments based on coaching credentials rather than just batting averages etc.

Cricket is not the only sport suffering in these times - playing numbers are falling in a lot of sports. Part of this is due to the variety of other social and sporting activities widely available but part of it is clubs not doing enough to sustain themselves for the future by providing a good product and opportunities for kids.

Start playing the long game!

Re junior 1.

All teams bar waringstown pretty much opted for 40 over matches. That is the preferred duration at this level. Which is junior cricket.
And there is nothing wrong with that. it's moving with the times. it's making cricket more amenable to more people and that can't be a bad thing.
I'm recent years the junior leagues have been opened, duration of matches varied, start times amended , two up two down instroduced. All these have made cricket more attractive and more interesting.
I am not convinced that opening all the leagues would be a good idea. I see smaller clubs suffering. Also with all due respect do you think that junior one clubs who play at the top grounds will want to play on uncovered pitches etc ?

I think we should be playing as much overs as we can. Because if we ie ireland want to play test match cricket then we should be playing as much as we can. Yes in the lower JL leagues you should play 40 maybe 35 overs. But from JL1 and 2 you should play 50 over. Just because to younger players might 1 day be playing for the 1st x11 so why not get use to it now? Just seems weird that we don't want to play as much as we can. Cheers.

Congratulations to templepatrick on claiming 4 points for a match that was called off there was a chance to rearrange but you chose to get the points without playing great to see the spirit of cricket being shown you should be really proud of yourselves NOT!!!