MARCH 2008.
___________________
Welcome to the first official Dungannon Cricket Club newsletter of 2008. We hope it will entertain and inform you, and provide you with a sense of club.
IN THE FIELD.
-----------------------
This season Dungannon is fielding two teams within the NCU, the firsts are competing in Division 1 Section 3 and the seconds in Division 2 Section 3. After suffering relegation from Section 3 last year the firsts are hoping to consolidate and gain some batting form whereas the seconds, after joining the new combined Section 3 and 4 are continuing in their plan of blooding new players and providing a safe haven for the senior club members.
Unfortunately the opening matches of the season were marred by a sporadic outbreak of amnesia were half the Dungannon batsmen forgot how to use a bat. This led to the confusion of the other half who began to think that the aim of the game was to see who could post the quickest time from crossing the boundary into the field of play until returning back to the safety of the pavilion. In an effort to secure the title of quickest duck of the season the seconds captain, R. Charles decided to make everyone pad up alongside the smallest part of the boundary, but this strategy backfired as opener David Wilson square cut a ball over the point boundary for his first ever six in a competitive match. Unable to control his excitement, Wilson decided to sacrifice his wicket in order that he might relate his momentous achievement to his teammates.
Thankfully sanity has finally prevailed and after re-reading the rules of cricket the seconds have finally worked out that the object of the game is to score more runs than the opposition. This startling revelation has lead to improved performances and a much-needed first victory of the season against Dundrum. The most notable achievement of recent matches was a first fifty for Dungannon Cricket Club for Niall Hunter. At time of printing no details of the knock were available, but I have been assured that a rumor of it being scored against Civil Service under 15s is totally unfounded. Niall will be glad to know that this innings has assured him of his place on the team for another thirty years.
The seconds squad has now been strengthen by the return of several of last years regulars, Robin Agnew, Roger Robinson and Andrew Streahorn, and some new faces, namely Mark Gallimore and Neeraj Mehta. Mark has played several seasons with Portadown, but their loss has been Dungannons gain and he is now following in the footsteps of his father Mike who played for Dungannon during the swinging seventies. Neeraj has recently moved to Killyman and his aggressive batting and accurate bowling has so far been a great asset to the club.
This has been a tough season for the seconds as their league has been amalgamated with the league above them providing much stiffer opposition than they encountered last year, although captain Charles feels confident that they can sneak a few victories out of their remaining seven matches.
After winning Section 3 two seasons ago and being relegated last year the firsts have so far not enjoyed the success they would have expected. This can be partly explained by the loss of at least four first team regulars and partly by a lack of practice over the past three or four years. Alan Dickson, Stephen Forsythe, Darren Hazlie and Brian Reid were all consistent performers for Dungannon and they have been hard to replace. Alan has made one appearance for the firsts this year against Shorts were he took five wickets for only 1 run. He is currently studying for his professional accountancy exams in a bid to become the next club treasurer, and classes on Saturdays have made it impossible for him to continue his keen rivalry with fast bowling colleague Gareth Lucas. The absence of these players has enabled others to step into the brink and prove themselves. Paul Kerr has put last seasons poor season behind him and is starting to look like the opening partner Chris Adrain has been looking for. He is proving a revelation at first slip were little or nothing has went past him. It appears that the less time Paul has to think about a catch the more likely he is to hold it.
Simon McAleece has staked a claim for Dicksons mantle as the clubs strike bowler and when he puts his mind to it he can be very tricky to play. Not many bowlers in recent history have dismissed Victorias Reggie McNally for a golden duck twice in one season. His big hitting in the nets has only appeared in one match this season when he struck the biggest six of the season to date against Shorts at Aircraft Park.
The hard working Gareth Lucas has looked on in disbelieve on many occasions this year as other bowlers have picked up the wickets by bowling bad balls. He is now staring to wonder if bowling a consistently good line and length is the best way to pick up wickets. Gareths younger brother Rodney has returned from New Zealand with that Kiwi edge of competitiveness and a strange fondness for sheep. His ability with the ball has seldom been doubted, (only every other delivery), but he is now starting to justify his position one place higher than Gareth in the batting order. Rodney has provided the team with many classic moments this season, none better than against Victoria were he managed to deflect an extremely wayward throw from a Victoria fielder of his pads and onto the stumps to run himself out. He also questioned the decision of umpire Johnny Briggs not to raise his finger when Rodney clearly felt that the batsman had edged one of his deliveries to the wicket keeper. Young Lucas stared in disbelieve at the man in white only to feel extremely embarrassed as he turned round to see the batsman half way back to the pavilion having done the honourable thing and walked.
With several players finally finding their feet (and hands) the firsts have started the season winning 4 out of 7 league matches and also progressed to the dizzy heights of the second round of the Junior Cup after comprehensively beating Donaghadee by 7 wickets. Although the Dee had lost several key players to Bangor, Dungannon showed no mercy and exacted sweet revenge for their two humiliating defeats in Section 3 last year. Dungannon also showed that it was possible to win a cricket match against weaker opposition without resorting to intimidatory tactics. A first cup win since 1981 was toasted with a pint in the Moat Inn.
The second round saw a clash with Instonian IIs who showed arrogance and disrespect for their country cousins right from the off by practicing on the wicket before the match. Although Inst ran out winners Dungannon gained sweet revenge as McAleece and Meeke double teamed an Instonian batsman in a sandwich tackle sending him crashing to the ground with a broken wrist. Rumour has it that a close relative of a senior first eleven member, working as a nurse in Craigavon A & E, deliberately set the wrong wrist in plaster after she heard who the unfortunate player had been playing against. Dungannon, naturally threw this match in an effort not to affect their drive for mid-table mediocrity with a pile up of fixtures.
New captain Neal Kerr has apparently been quoted as using this season to regroup and promote young talent. The only young player to break through into the firsts has been Denver Parr who has been causing all sorts of problems for schoolboys and seniors alike with his unorthodox left arm spin. Unfortunately he hasnt had the opportunity to get many overs under his straining belt, but what he lacks in experience he makes up for in confidence. The perfect example of this being an attempted reverse sweep against Donacloney in the McCreedy Cup.
At the other end of the scale Billy Adrain has turned out on several occasions for the firsts and shown that he still has it, this despite several visits to the doctor. He has also shown some flashes of genius in the field taking several catches the best of which was a low hard chance of his own bowling against Instonians. This resulted in bruising to his bowling hand and a lengthy lay-off, but he arrived back against Victoria and with the help of a protective black glove he pulled off a direct hit on the stumps from his fielding position at third man to dismiss a disbelieving batsman. The retiree raised his gloved fist in celebration, in a scene reminiscent of the Munich Olympics.
The fielding for both sides has been pretty good this season with most of the catches being taken and runs saved in the field. The youthful nature of both teams has helped this, but the field placings of both captains have cramped batsmen and provided chances for the bowlers. Although dissimilar in stature they appear to share the same attacking mind set to their game.
Both teams are optimistic about their fortunes for the rest of the season with fixtures against some of the weaker teams looming. We wish all the players the best of luck for the remaining few weeks and in case you need a greater incentive to raise your game a list of the positions of some current players in the all-time averages is provided.
NAME RUNS POSITION
---------------- -------------- -----------------
Chris Adrain 9436 1st
William Adrain 7584 2nd
Michael McNamee 2373 9th
Peter McNamee 2281 11th
Ronnie Charles 1473 15th
Neal Kerr 1071 18th
Mervyn Hamilton 954 20th
Alan Dickson 950 21st
IN THE PAVILION.
-----------------------------
This section of the newsletter deals with all the issues of the pitch, all the behind the scenes things that you have never previously been aware of. After leaving Shiells field we have taken up residence at Dungannon Park and thanks to Dungannon District Council we have the setting and facilities required to make up for the loss of our previous ground.
In an effort to enhance these facilities the council have agreed to provided a fenced in area which can enclose new practice nets. The club will move the existing posts from Sheills field to our new site in Dungannon Park and new netting and mats will be purchased with a lottery grant, which is currently being processed. It is hoped that all members will make good use of these facilities and give us a chance to increase our success on the field.
By moving to the park we have secured our roots for the foreseeable future and also increased the potential for promoting the club to the general public. The downfall of playing on council grounds and in a public place are the increased annual expenditure of the club due to ground maintenance, changing facility fees and public liability insurance. We have estimated that the annual running costs of the club have now increased to £2,000 and subsequently a greater effort needs to be made in providing this revenue. The importance of annual subscriptions cannot be stressed enough as it has been calculated that if 80% of members paid their subs in full the revenue generated from them would total £2,100. Over the past two years only one third of subs have been received which has left the club stretched to the limit. It has been proposed within the General Committee of the club that all avenues of fund raising shall be looked at because of this the annual prize draw will be resurrected. I would ask all members to support this both in the purchasing and selling of tickets, details will follow.
The draw will be held at the annual dinner, which is taking place on the 9th November at the Cohannon Inn. This years dinner will be an extremely special occasion as a reunion of the 1981 Liddel cup winning team will be held prior to the meal. If you would like to attend this event contact Ian Gilpin for more details.
Other forth-coming events include the Golf weekend to Bundoran on 29th September, contact Chris Adrain and the inaugural memorial match between Dungannon CC and Blue Circle CC for the Brian Reid Memorial Cup. This will take place on Friday the 24th August at 7pm in Dungannon Park and your support would be gratefully appreciated. Brian was a great servant to both clubs and a genuine friend to all of us.
Finally, congratulations are due for some of the Club members, David Faulkner is now the proud father of a baby boy, Gareth Lucas, Robin Agnew, Roger Robinson and Mark Gallimore have all graduated from their respective universities and our president, Ken Maginnis has recently been awarded a peerage by Tony Blair and is now Lord Maginnis of Drumglass. Well done to you all.
That is all for now, the next issue will be produced at the end of the season and will provide a comprehensive summary of the whole season. See you in the field!
___________________
Welcome to the first official Dungannon Cricket Club newsletter of 2008. We hope it will entertain and inform you, and provide you with a sense of club.
IN THE FIELD.
-----------------------
This season Dungannon is fielding two teams within the NCU, the firsts are competing in Division 1 Section 3 and the seconds in Division 2 Section 3. After suffering relegation from Section 3 last year the firsts are hoping to consolidate and gain some batting form whereas the seconds, after joining the new combined Section 3 and 4 are continuing in their plan of blooding new players and providing a safe haven for the senior club members.
Unfortunately the opening matches of the season were marred by a sporadic outbreak of amnesia were half the Dungannon batsmen forgot how to use a bat. This led to the confusion of the other half who began to think that the aim of the game was to see who could post the quickest time from crossing the boundary into the field of play until returning back to the safety of the pavilion. In an effort to secure the title of quickest duck of the season the seconds captain, R. Charles decided to make everyone pad up alongside the smallest part of the boundary, but this strategy backfired as opener David Wilson square cut a ball over the point boundary for his first ever six in a competitive match. Unable to control his excitement, Wilson decided to sacrifice his wicket in order that he might relate his momentous achievement to his teammates.
Thankfully sanity has finally prevailed and after re-reading the rules of cricket the seconds have finally worked out that the object of the game is to score more runs than the opposition. This startling revelation has lead to improved performances and a much-needed first victory of the season against Dundrum. The most notable achievement of recent matches was a first fifty for Dungannon Cricket Club for Niall Hunter. At time of printing no details of the knock were available, but I have been assured that a rumor of it being scored against Civil Service under 15s is totally unfounded. Niall will be glad to know that this innings has assured him of his place on the team for another thirty years.
The seconds squad has now been strengthen by the return of several of last years regulars, Robin Agnew, Roger Robinson and Andrew Streahorn, and some new faces, namely Mark Gallimore and Neeraj Mehta. Mark has played several seasons with Portadown, but their loss has been Dungannons gain and he is now following in the footsteps of his father Mike who played for Dungannon during the swinging seventies. Neeraj has recently moved to Killyman and his aggressive batting and accurate bowling has so far been a great asset to the club.
This has been a tough season for the seconds as their league has been amalgamated with the league above them providing much stiffer opposition than they encountered last year, although captain Charles feels confident that they can sneak a few victories out of their remaining seven matches.
After winning Section 3 two seasons ago and being relegated last year the firsts have so far not enjoyed the success they would have expected. This can be partly explained by the loss of at least four first team regulars and partly by a lack of practice over the past three or four years. Alan Dickson, Stephen Forsythe, Darren Hazlie and Brian Reid were all consistent performers for Dungannon and they have been hard to replace. Alan has made one appearance for the firsts this year against Shorts were he took five wickets for only 1 run. He is currently studying for his professional accountancy exams in a bid to become the next club treasurer, and classes on Saturdays have made it impossible for him to continue his keen rivalry with fast bowling colleague Gareth Lucas. The absence of these players has enabled others to step into the brink and prove themselves. Paul Kerr has put last seasons poor season behind him and is starting to look like the opening partner Chris Adrain has been looking for. He is proving a revelation at first slip were little or nothing has went past him. It appears that the less time Paul has to think about a catch the more likely he is to hold it.
Simon McAleece has staked a claim for Dicksons mantle as the clubs strike bowler and when he puts his mind to it he can be very tricky to play. Not many bowlers in recent history have dismissed Victorias Reggie McNally for a golden duck twice in one season. His big hitting in the nets has only appeared in one match this season when he struck the biggest six of the season to date against Shorts at Aircraft Park.
The hard working Gareth Lucas has looked on in disbelieve on many occasions this year as other bowlers have picked up the wickets by bowling bad balls. He is now staring to wonder if bowling a consistently good line and length is the best way to pick up wickets. Gareths younger brother Rodney has returned from New Zealand with that Kiwi edge of competitiveness and a strange fondness for sheep. His ability with the ball has seldom been doubted, (only every other delivery), but he is now starting to justify his position one place higher than Gareth in the batting order. Rodney has provided the team with many classic moments this season, none better than against Victoria were he managed to deflect an extremely wayward throw from a Victoria fielder of his pads and onto the stumps to run himself out. He also questioned the decision of umpire Johnny Briggs not to raise his finger when Rodney clearly felt that the batsman had edged one of his deliveries to the wicket keeper. Young Lucas stared in disbelieve at the man in white only to feel extremely embarrassed as he turned round to see the batsman half way back to the pavilion having done the honourable thing and walked.
With several players finally finding their feet (and hands) the firsts have started the season winning 4 out of 7 league matches and also progressed to the dizzy heights of the second round of the Junior Cup after comprehensively beating Donaghadee by 7 wickets. Although the Dee had lost several key players to Bangor, Dungannon showed no mercy and exacted sweet revenge for their two humiliating defeats in Section 3 last year. Dungannon also showed that it was possible to win a cricket match against weaker opposition without resorting to intimidatory tactics. A first cup win since 1981 was toasted with a pint in the Moat Inn.
The second round saw a clash with Instonian IIs who showed arrogance and disrespect for their country cousins right from the off by practicing on the wicket before the match. Although Inst ran out winners Dungannon gained sweet revenge as McAleece and Meeke double teamed an Instonian batsman in a sandwich tackle sending him crashing to the ground with a broken wrist. Rumour has it that a close relative of a senior first eleven member, working as a nurse in Craigavon A & E, deliberately set the wrong wrist in plaster after she heard who the unfortunate player had been playing against. Dungannon, naturally threw this match in an effort not to affect their drive for mid-table mediocrity with a pile up of fixtures.
New captain Neal Kerr has apparently been quoted as using this season to regroup and promote young talent. The only young player to break through into the firsts has been Denver Parr who has been causing all sorts of problems for schoolboys and seniors alike with his unorthodox left arm spin. Unfortunately he hasnt had the opportunity to get many overs under his straining belt, but what he lacks in experience he makes up for in confidence. The perfect example of this being an attempted reverse sweep against Donacloney in the McCreedy Cup.
At the other end of the scale Billy Adrain has turned out on several occasions for the firsts and shown that he still has it, this despite several visits to the doctor. He has also shown some flashes of genius in the field taking several catches the best of which was a low hard chance of his own bowling against Instonians. This resulted in bruising to his bowling hand and a lengthy lay-off, but he arrived back against Victoria and with the help of a protective black glove he pulled off a direct hit on the stumps from his fielding position at third man to dismiss a disbelieving batsman. The retiree raised his gloved fist in celebration, in a scene reminiscent of the Munich Olympics.
The fielding for both sides has been pretty good this season with most of the catches being taken and runs saved in the field. The youthful nature of both teams has helped this, but the field placings of both captains have cramped batsmen and provided chances for the bowlers. Although dissimilar in stature they appear to share the same attacking mind set to their game.
Both teams are optimistic about their fortunes for the rest of the season with fixtures against some of the weaker teams looming. We wish all the players the best of luck for the remaining few weeks and in case you need a greater incentive to raise your game a list of the positions of some current players in the all-time averages is provided.
NAME RUNS POSITION
---------------- -------------- -----------------
Chris Adrain 9436 1st
William Adrain 7584 2nd
Michael McNamee 2373 9th
Peter McNamee 2281 11th
Ronnie Charles 1473 15th
Neal Kerr 1071 18th
Mervyn Hamilton 954 20th
Alan Dickson 950 21st
IN THE PAVILION.
-----------------------------
This section of the newsletter deals with all the issues of the pitch, all the behind the scenes things that you have never previously been aware of. After leaving Shiells field we have taken up residence at Dungannon Park and thanks to Dungannon District Council we have the setting and facilities required to make up for the loss of our previous ground.
In an effort to enhance these facilities the council have agreed to provided a fenced in area which can enclose new practice nets. The club will move the existing posts from Sheills field to our new site in Dungannon Park and new netting and mats will be purchased with a lottery grant, which is currently being processed. It is hoped that all members will make good use of these facilities and give us a chance to increase our success on the field.
By moving to the park we have secured our roots for the foreseeable future and also increased the potential for promoting the club to the general public. The downfall of playing on council grounds and in a public place are the increased annual expenditure of the club due to ground maintenance, changing facility fees and public liability insurance. We have estimated that the annual running costs of the club have now increased to £2,000 and subsequently a greater effort needs to be made in providing this revenue. The importance of annual subscriptions cannot be stressed enough as it has been calculated that if 80% of members paid their subs in full the revenue generated from them would total £2,100. Over the past two years only one third of subs have been received which has left the club stretched to the limit. It has been proposed within the General Committee of the club that all avenues of fund raising shall be looked at because of this the annual prize draw will be resurrected. I would ask all members to support this both in the purchasing and selling of tickets, details will follow.
The draw will be held at the annual dinner, which is taking place on the 9th November at the Cohannon Inn. This years dinner will be an extremely special occasion as a reunion of the 1981 Liddel cup winning team will be held prior to the meal. If you would like to attend this event contact Ian Gilpin for more details.
Other forth-coming events include the Golf weekend to Bundoran on 29th September, contact Chris Adrain and the inaugural memorial match between Dungannon CC and Blue Circle CC for the Brian Reid Memorial Cup. This will take place on Friday the 24th August at 7pm in Dungannon Park and your support would be gratefully appreciated. Brian was a great servant to both clubs and a genuine friend to all of us.
Finally, congratulations are due for some of the Club members, David Faulkner is now the proud father of a baby boy, Gareth Lucas, Robin Agnew, Roger Robinson and Mark Gallimore have all graduated from their respective universities and our president, Ken Maginnis has recently been awarded a peerage by Tony Blair and is now Lord Maginnis of Drumglass. Well done to you all.
That is all for now, the next issue will be produced at the end of the season and will provide a comprehensive summary of the whole season. See you in the field!
