Forum

Ivan as a skipper of a team in Junior 1 waringstown 2s maybe the only team not wanting to reduce overs but every other skipper in the league including Ballymena/Muckamore & myself are requesting 40 overs. It does help keep some of the recently "retired" senior player and some of the 20 somethings involved

Start/finish times are a great concern it's brilliant now that matches start at 11/12 and are over by 5/6 gives teams more of a chance to socialise post game before going our separate ways. Early season starting a 50 over game at 1 and not finishing until near 8pm is an issue.

I think from speaking to a number of people at the cup final on Friday the view is to give clubs more flexibility to pre agree overs/start times l to make sure games get played.

It's great to see the debate on the forum hopefully some good ideas come out of the roadshows and we can less no results etc

Just wondering . We reduce innings by 10 overs . 50 to 40, 40 to 30
, 30 to 20 .
That's a saving of 80 minutes.

What do cricketers intend to do with this extra 1 hour 20 minute ?

Drink a few extra pints ?
Go and watch the end of another game ? ( trust me playing beats watching
every day of the week )
Book at table for 7pm instead of 8.30pm ?
Take a lie in on a Saturday morning as we can now start at 2.30pm instead of
1pm

This needs serious consideration ?

Those three veteran veterans playing at Shaws Bridge that Andy was referring
to were all playing at least 40 over games .

Look at the four Senior Cup final teams at the weekend and I would venture
60% of them were made up of guys under 25 years of age.

Waringstown 2nds are probably the youngest side in Junior 1 and apparently
they are always keen to play 50 overs and refuse offers to play 40 overs .

I look at Ballymena with probably 3 old hands and 8 kids but hear no talk of
"can we play fewer overs".

Same at Muckamore where the average age is around 24 , I don't see anyone
making themselves unavailable because it's 50 overs .

Is it the length of the game or the starting time / time you get home is the
issue ?

I am NOT convinced reducing the number of overs we play will see people
return in their droves.

Four or five years ago the overs were revamped to allow 25 overs in the
lowest leagues stepping up to 30 , 35 , 40 and then 50.

I heard guys say "if there were 30 over games I'd play " . I can't speak for
anyone else but I can't think of ONE person who had previously quit and has
now returned at Muckamore.

As I ask "what's this extra 1 hour 20 minutes people find them with going to
be used for ?".

Just wondering . We reduce innings by 10 overs . 50 to 40, 40 to 30 , 30 to 20 .
That's a saving of 80 minutes.

What do cricketers intend to do with this extra 1 hour 20 minute ?

Drink a few extra pints ?
Go and watch the end of another game ? ( trust me playing beats watching every day of the week )
Book at table for 7pm instead of 8.30pm ?
Take a lie in on a Saturday morning as we can now start at 2.30pm instead of 1pm

This needs serious consideration ?

Those three veteran veterans playing at Shaws Bridge that Andy was referring to were all playing at least 40 over games .

Look at the four Senior Cup final teams at the weekend and I would venture 60% of them were made up of guys under 25 years of age.

Waringstown 2nds are probably the youngest side in Junior 1 and apparently they are always keen to play 50 overs and refuse offers to play 40 overs .

I look at Ballymena with probably 3 old hands and 8 kids but hear no talk of "can we play fewer overs".

Same at Muckamore where the average age is around 24 , I don't see anyone making themselves unavailable because it's 50 overs .

Is it the length of the game or the starting time / time you get home is the issue ?

I am NOT convinced reducing the number of overs we play will see people return in their droves.

Four or five years ago the overs were revamped to allow 25 overs in the lowest leagues stepping up to 30 , 35 , 40 and then 50.

I heard guys say "if there were 30 over games I'd play " . I can't speak for anyone else but I can't think of ONE person who had previously quit and has now returned at Muckamore.

As I ask "what's this extra 1 hour 20 minutes people find them with going to be used for ?".

Interesting looking at all the league tables. There is a possibility that Academy 3rds can be relegated into Junior 6 and Academy 4ths promoted into Junior 5.

OK i have a question for any umpires out there. So the scores are level and only 1 run is required to win, The batman hits it to the long part of the ground and before the ball has gone over the boundary for 4 runs the batsman has ran 1 complete run. How many runs will the batsman get 1 or 4 as i have been told by the official umpire the batsman should only get 1 run added to his score, would anyone be able to clarify

Possibly a spelling mistake went through - please change to Lurgan

Good debate on the pros and cons about shorter overs. But surely there is be room for everyone? If both teams want the shorter games then agree it. If both games want a longer game then continue.
At least give it a try for a couple of years.
Also, make sure the proposals are timely and correctly before the AGM. This is the place to debate and some of the best thinkers are involved.
Clarence Hiles
Editor

Two games at Shaw's Bridge today - 3 players whose combined age you couldn't hit with three darts - Bumperdale, Stevie McCart and Cook - and 4 umpires in the 40+(!!!) bracket. Who says cricket is a young man's game??!!!

Quick question -
for junior matches in July and August why not start matches at 9.30am ?
Personally, from a family perspective, an 11am start pretty much rules out both morning and afternoon with the kids. At least with an earlier start the majority of the afternoon is free and opens up the possibility of watching another match. School kids are used to playing at these times during term time.

Grass and Astro each have their own benefits. Astros are generally batsmen friendly with little turn for spinners and little movement for quicker bowlers. The ball comes through at nice pace. This will produce high scoring games and allow batsmen to play a full range of shots. Astros will encourage the development of fast bowlers because of the extra bounce and pace compared to our slower grass pitches. Of course a good hard grass pitch does the same with a little more in it for the bowlers.

Most of our pitches however are slow and low which means batsmen have to learn how to grind out an innings and play spin. It can produce dull cricket though.

My amended suggestion therefore for all divisions would be to have a t20 league for one third of the season and a 40 over league for 2/3 thirds of the season for junior 2 and below. Same for j1 and senior divisions but a 50 over league rather than 40.

All matches to played on grass as first choice but Astro can be used if required except in senior cricket.

A few years of this would demonstrate which format players prefer.

NCU Discussion Papers

Neale and others - thank you for your hard work drawing up ideas and presenting these well in advance of the AGM, where hopefully any necessary changes will be implemented.

Personally speaking (and not on behalf of WCC) I think captains should have the power to agree at the toss how many overs they wish to play. I do understand potential problems this may cause but I can't remember playing 40 overs this season in Junior 2. My proposal would be to let captains agree at the toss the numbers of overs they play and set a wider range e.g. between 25-40 or 30-40 for Junior 2 etc. in the bye laws.

The majority of our 3XI (rightly or wrongly, and including myself) have no major aspirations to play 2XI or above. We all enjoy getting together as a team every week, enjoy some competitive fun, enjoy the odd drink together and then go our separate ways to the WAGS or otherwise. For me, the amount of overs (below Junior 1) have to be reduced. I have played 3XI for well over 12 years now and the days of playing 45/50 over cricket at that level are well gone. There is simply very little appetite for it.

To keep the interest in our game I genuinely believe below Junior 3 needs to move to T20 cricket. The youngsters will get enough cricket in the Junior leagues, underage teams and schools cricket. We need to make it exciting again and encourage people to play and not face questions every week like "Please tell me we aren't 40 overs?".

As an interested spectator when I am not playing most Saturdays - there is too much cricket being played for Premier league teams given the climate we have. The Ulster Cup either needs to go or be seriously reformatted (perhaps to a T20 version or invitational where top 4 from each league from previous season qualify). I know we can't control the weather but rearrangements for cup competitions need to be looked at. The NCU made a smart, informed and quick decision re T20 finals day. The fact that semi finals are being decided by a bowl-out is a farce, especially considering there are weeks between the semi final and proposed final dates.

Dundrum cricket club annual draw ill be attending the NCU Senior cup final this friday and expect all my cricket friends that look to me for favours for Slieve donard hotel stay to buy at least FIVE tickets .
prizes include
1 Slieve Donard overnight stay for couple inc breakfast
2 Richard Croft PAINTING
3 Two superb local pictures of Dundrum bay
4 30£ Voucher for the excellent Ohares restaurant Newcastle

tickets only 1£ and no doubt ill be in BAR area so come and see me if you want bit craic and chat lets hope we get a cracking game as just as supporter SENIOR CUP always excites me .

ASTRO PITCHES
Cricket on grass wickets should always be the first priority at all levels. Everyone needs to have these experiences to develop and learn and playing on grass should be where high level cricket is played.

However , it is better to have a 50 over game on astro rather than not be playing on an unplayable grass pitch and then having to play a 20 over game a few weeks after.
It will also save fixture backlogs.

20 over cricket does have its place and I agree with Bruce - it's place however is in a 20 over comp.

Possibly an audit needs done of which astros are suitable for play. Of course unsafe ones should not be used, but it is a club's responsibility to make sure all their surfaces are fit for practice and play.

Possibly the clubs that need facilities updated could make benefit of the recent NCU grant aid announcement.

BYE LAWS
Another rule change proposal we have made to the last 2 NCU AGM's but were told it was a bye law and not for NCU AGM business is the fact that the inner ring rule should be applied to more of the junior leagues ( possibly the top 4 or 5 )

We need cricketers who are thinking and tactically and technically challenged and young players being challenged as they progress and learning how to play the game with these restrictions.
As a captain in junior 3 it is far too easy for me to defend by simply putting out a lot of boundary riders. I am against this, but it is within the laws so I will do it because I can

These leagues are where our young inter pro cricketers come from and where our 1st XI cricketers should be coming through so lets get them, thinking and having their skills challenged.

Discs and a piece of rope cut to the correct length are quite cheap and take 5 minutes to set out ( before anyone starts down the lack of facilities route again )

Neale - great post and I have always thought that Forums have a place in getting opinions . I just wish people would put their names to the post . I think everyone is entitled to an opinion and should not be knocked for expressing it.
The skill of the roadshows will be to take as many opinions as possible back and trying to please as many people as possible but unfortunately as in life you can not "please all of the people all of the time ".

Bruce - from what I see in the twenty over games less players make a contribution and that's where cricket differs from rugby / soccer / GAA / hockey. In those games you are constantly involved. I think as a spectacle T20 on a Friday night with a bit of entertainment can be a good night out. We have two midweek teams who play in the midweek 20 over league on a Wednesday night and the guys love that as it gets them in the main ANOTHER game of cricket in the week.

No results - I see tonight ( 28th July ) that in Junior 5 Derriaghy 3rds v Carrickfergus 3rds is " postponed due to the weather - and now void ". Why ? The cricket season has nearly two months to run. Surely there can be more leeway in getting these games played ( one night - twenty overs - and that can play on Astro ).

Off tomorrow to my favourite game of the year - the NW Senior Cup final and it will be good to hear what's happening with cricket in NW.

NCU Discussion Doc

Just wanted to acknowledge the responses to date. Pleased with the constructive views being given. This is what we are looking for - your views as current and ex players. As administrators and spectators. Keep them coming.
If you read the forum but never post and have some thoughts please break your duck.
Finding a formula that suits every player or every team or even every club is very difficult but if we don't know what is wanted it is impossible.
There are 4 discussion nights coming up in August - don't start next season wishing you had expressed your views.
It is your NCU.
N