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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!!!

Pete Portadown . Why not make the change you want regarding voting entitlements a proposal to the AGM ?
Then you will see if that's what the club's actually want .

Pete

Templepatrick are trying to put this system into place. Last I heard they were trying to work out how to change a bye law, which is done at the AGM. Andy McCrea would be able to update the situation

Michael, at Instonians we did not play a single 50 over game* in Junior 1 this year. When proposing the rule I expected the 40 over option to be utilised mostly in early season and late season when teams were perhaps struggling to get sides out.

Turns out the appetite for 40 over cricket at that level was larger than expected. I have to say I found the 40 over games much more involving than 50 overall as well.

*Disclaimer - this is not totally due to our inability to bat time for once, we actually did bat our full allocation more this year than in recent seasons!

The NCU AGM is a bit of a waste of time as the proposals made by clubs are voted on by all clubs in attendance so for example Monaghan would be entitled to vote on the amount of overs being played in Junior 1 or something affecting the Premier League - something that does not affect or is likely to affect Monaghan but they have their vote on it.

Would it not be the case that any proposals made at the AGM are only voted on by teams it directly affects or the teams in the league above it and below it so say a proposal is made to limit Section 2 games to 40 overs then only the clubs in Section 1, 2 and 3 can vote on it or if a Proposal is made for Junior 9 then only clubs in Junior 8 and 9 are entitled to vote?

To celebrate Donaghcloney Cricket Club's 125th Anniversary we are holding a celebration dinner at the Belmont Hotel.
Guest speaker : Graham Thorpe ex England international cricketer and current batting coach of the current test team.
Music : Quorum
Dress code : Smart/evening dress
Cost : £50 per ticket.
Raffle and Auction on the night.
Enquiries and to book your ticket : Keith Ogle 07711918875

Question - how many 50 over matches where played in junior 1 outside of waringstown involvement?

any ?