It has been a really good start to the North West season and as expected there looks set to be little between the top four or five in both divisions as the summer unfolds. Individual performances of the week included Gary McClintock, Lee Brolly, Jason Lynch and Niall McDonnell who scored the first century of the season as Coleraine won at Eglinton. McDonnell's form will be a real boost for the North West Warriors and Bobby Rao will also be delighted that David Rankin was among the runs as well.

Bready's new professional Ramano Ramoo put himself in the picture alongside Donemana's Kamran Sajid for the overseas slot with the Warriors while Strabane's Matthew Bentley put his name up in lights with an excellent all round performance in their opener.

The official launch for the Interprovincial series took place in Dublin on Tuesday and the North West head coach was accompanied on the trip by skipper Iftikhar Hussain. One of the things to come out of that event was that Cricket Ireland have decided to allow the respective Unions keep their "gate" receipts from the T20 blitz day in their region. The one-day and three day series' will be free admission however with all three teams involved in the T20 blitz on the same day it is fair to suggest that running costs will be high.

The North West are also currently exploring other attractions for their T20 day therefore it doesn't seem unreasonable that a small charge will be applied. Details will follow when finalised by the local Inter-Provincial committee. On a slightly different note the North West representatives were heartened by the encouragement they got for having picked a squad for the Inter-Pro's very much with development in mind. Bobby Rao and Ian McGregor have made no secret of the fact that they are looking at the full three year term of the competition, and indeed beyond, and kudos to them for it.

This coming Sunday sees the first silverware of the season up for grabs as Donemana and Brigade lock horns in the Faughan Valley Charity Cup final at Bready. This was the first of four trophies picked up by Richard Kee last year and the Holm skipper will be determined to hold to it however Gareth McKeegan's lads have a bit of a point to prove. That game is due to start at 4pm but before that St Johnston and Eglinton will contest the Midweek Charity Cup final.

The matches aren't to be confused with the Faughan Valley and Sperrin Springs finals which happen at Beechgrove later in the year by the way, but action gets under way at 1pm and both will be 20 overs a side. The Derry Midweek League do a lot for the sport here, not least by the profile they give North West cricket courtesy of their charity efforts, so all support is openly encouraged.

Finally, and I know its a long way away but Eglinton Cricket Club have announced plans for a cup final preview evening on the Wednesday night before this season's decider at the village ground. Organisers plan to have three guest speakers who will discuss their own cup final experiences from years gone by and with Connie McAllister and Ossie Colhoun already confirmed as two of them, it is likely to be entertaining. The club is also in the process of digitalising a selection of photographs dating back a generation belonging to the late Billy McLeod, most of them never seen before. These will be put in a loop and displayed on television screens throughout the evening.

There will also be a launch of the 2013 North West cricket annual, looking back over the past 50 years of local cricket and the evening will finish with a buffet supper. All clubs will be issued with four tickets, however I would suggest those looking to go should talk to John Pierce sooner rather than later as numbers will be limited. The event, and indeed the launch of the Annual is being organised in conjunction with the City of Culture Company.