Following the first of the North West's two General Meetings earlier this month it looks fair to say that the Union's office bearers are set for a busy winter.

Delegates in attendance agreed to a request from the top table to postpone the election of officers until the Spring meeting early next year as the Board of Control wanted to use the time in between to put proper structures in place for their various committees.

Personally speaking I believe it is something that is long overdue.

During the past few years some of the criteria for who does what has become fuzzy and if we are to move forward it is essential that all the processes should be pinned down.

The single most pressing issue for the Board right now will be finding a replacement for Jordan McGonigle after the Donemana man relinquished all his roles due to work committments.

Jordan was vice-Chair to Andrew Fleming which brings with it the post of Head of Cricket Operations, and he was also Chair of Selectors for the Warriors.

The Cricket Ops and Chair of Selectors are two huge roles so the Union must look to fill them quickly and decisively so that they can move forward as planned.

No doubt the BoC has identified some sort of "list" of potential candidates but if this overhaul of the various committees is to be successful then it needs to start fairly sharpish.

It's a fine balancing act for them because the BoC need to make sure first and foremost that they get the right people into the right jobs; however we can't afford to stand still either.

If we needed a little nudge then the fact that the Northern Knights are already out of the blocks with their winter training squad should be it.

It could well be the case that it is only a paper exercise at this time of the year, but whether it is or it isn't; we don't want to be sitting on our hands too long.

It's a similar situation with the much-touted Head Groundsman post which has been agreed for Bready.

The Magheramason club has had little luck with the weather in what "showpiece" games they've been given in the past few seasons but the fact that they've been overlooked again in 2017 tells its own story.

Instead the parent body have opted to direct resources towards a dedicated groundsman post for the North West International venue as is already (I would imagine) the case in Dublin and Belfast.

It is a positive move and one Cricket Ireland are to be applauded for, but again, we'd prefer to be looking at him rather than looking for him.

I haven't heard any recent updates but hopefully he's on the back of Santa's sleigh too.

Another hot topic of late has been the suggestion from the North West to change the format of the Ulster Cup.

To be brutally honest I thought the world and his dog knew that clubs were struggling with the amount of senior cricket that was being scheduled and that re-formatting the Ulster Cup had been on the cards for at least a year.

I'm fairly sure that clubs in both regions had indicated a willingness to look at other options in the past few seasons, however the move now seems to have taken some by surprise.

In a campaign that lasts little more than 20 weeks, clubs currently have 14 league games, a minimum of 4 T20 cup games as well as senior cup, Faughan Valley Cup, Irish Senior Cup and Ulster Cup.

So before we see a drop of rain or win through one round of any cup, we're already over the quota for one match a week, and that's without the Interpros.

It's a lot of cricket and one which (and this is just my opinion) has been exacerbated by the decision not to embrace 12 o'clock starts.

At a time when we're lamenting the diminishing numbers of youngsters coming through into the game locally, there isn't a cat in hell's chance of bucking the trend while we keep making these demands on players' time.

Noon starts will be introduced at some stage there is little doubt about that, but lets hope that like 1pm starts, it doesn't come too late.