It seemed an innocent enough internet poll to determine who the fans would like to replace Kyle McCallan in the Ireland cricket team.

The main question is not 'Can Ireland play Test Cricket?' but 'Does Ireland want to play Test cricket?'

High drama on the pitch and a storm in a teacup off it.

Some meat on the bone.

Which is the stronger Union?

Who needs Kolpak when you have the NCU Cup final?

Keep it in the family. The Strydom's reign in LCU and NCU.

Latest batting rankings

The sport is a marketing man's dream and Razza Mattaz is not a Pakistani squad player.

'Batsmen are the darlings of the committees; bowlers are cricket's labourers.'
Don Bradman

An analytical assessment of the best club batsmen in the NCU.

Manuel Almunia and Eoin Morgan mentioned in the same sentence.

It's a warm welcome back for Woodvale and Ballymena.

It is said they can beat anyone on their day. The opposite is also true.

They say insanity is where you do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

What if you have got everything except a team?

We've had glorious sunshine for the last couple of weeks followed by the rain. It must be the start of the cricket season.

It's make or break for Scotland. High drama in the last round of the Super Eights.

Ireland would add a new dimension to International cricket. But the ICC need to act rather than dither. The choice is to expand or contract. To grow or to die.

"You've taken your Fifty/Fifty. So for £1million, Eoin Morgan will be playing in the 20/20 Cricket World Cup finals in 2009 for (a) England or (b) Ireland?"

Back to grass roots for the Grasshoppers as we mix with the locals at the amazing Parks venue.

Ulster Grasshoppers are treated royally at the Bombay Gymkhana, an old colonial test ground steeped in history.

Grasshoppers arrive in Mumbai to play at the magnificent Brabourne Stadium

Nelson provides the fireworks.

Imagine a supreme sportsman who could put his hand to any sport and do it at the top. Step forward cricket's greatest ever all rounder, Charles Burgess Fry.

I assumed that County Down would be straightforward. You know what they say about assuming though.

With four sides in the top flight of NCU cricket one would think that the Antrim team would be very strong.

Nigel Jones and Alan Coulter were a formidable new ball pairing in 2008.

The region has a bright future with the emergence of Chris Doughtery, Andy Britton and Stephen Clarke.

Fifteen or twenty years ago Lurgan and Waringstown could have selected a side of Ireland internationals.

Three changes to the 2007 team and it is dominated by Limavady players.

Why I want to see a return of decent fast bowlers.

When Ireland played Australia at Downpatrick in 1985, there was only one cricketer worth meeting.

No chance! It's a 'Done' deal.

Stanford 20/20 will be like watching a car crash.

An 8 team top league was never going to go through on the nod. It needed to be sold but for some there was nothing to buy.

A missed opportunity.

Clubs will vote against the new proposals unless they get more information.

All of the fantastic efforts of CSNI and North Down should be applauded.

Why the NCU might be secretly cheering on CSNI on Saturday.

Brigade's 2008 in poetry.

However said it is tough at the top obviously has never been at the bottom.

Why is Donemana such a special place?

"Next on BBC1 Northern Ireland, we have the highlights of todays Ulster Premier League match between North Down and Donemana from The Green, Comber."

These two teams have lit up a summer that was threatening to wash us all away.

Waringstown having been dead and buried had clawed themselves back into the match. Now here is the controversial part.

Experience will win the day.

We need to pick the best team available for the 20/20 World Cup finals.

Too few fixtures are causing players to drift away.

The recent announcement of the ICC that players should be released for International games is welcome.

The NCU has never needed the ISC to assess its standing. But the net result of mentally downgrading the competition has masked the decline in standards.

In the same way that a sporting boycott helped bring down the apartheid regime it will take something similar to highlight the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Is Ireland a County or a Country? The recent debate about whether or not the current Ireland captain should be sub-fielding for England is related to the status held by the Ireland cricket team.

Players need to pay their dues as well as their subscriptions.

Why do I feel so uncomfortable with Cricket Ireland announcing that the International team will play Lashings? It has nothing to do with the standard of opposition or the amount of people that can get to watch the game.

There is always contention when any team is selected simply because it often boils down to a matter of opinion.

Children are no longer school cricketers but club cricketers and Saturday schools cricket is now doing significantly more damage than good.

The Premier League should be renamed the Ulster Bank Handicap Chase. The games are no longer predictable

Carrickfergus has more new faces than an X Factor audition and it is expected they will feature prominently in all competitions.

Big bad Regan West has ridden into town ready to blast CSNI to the top.

There is a different feel to the NCU this year and there is no doubt in my mind that Instonians have the quality to challenge the big two.

Question: When is a Irishman not an Irishman? Answer: When he's a cricketer!

If cricketers mature later than in other sports why are the Ireland cricket selectors obsessed with picking players from the Under 19 team?

The same problems that dogged the inter-provincial competition a decade ago are still there.

Closing the gap between club and international cricket is essential. Change is coming whether you like it or not.

A merger of the two Ulster Unions would make a lot of sense especially with the LCU flexing its muscle in the corridors of power within the ICU.

The re-introduction of inter-pros would be a mistake. The concept is not wrong but it won't work.

Can the NCU and the NWCU be modified, streamlined and improved, or do we need a new design to take us to the next level?

The bandwagon is up and running and its advocates are inviting others to appreciate their clarity of vision regarding a 'Premier League'.

It's hard not to feel a sense of sadness that Shaun Pollock and Adam Gilchrist have retired - the latest in a series of high profile cricketers that have retired in the last 12-18 months.

The ICC needs to step in and take a certain amount of control over the schedules to ensure variety for the fans.

David Kennedy returning to Ballymena, the Ireland U19 squad named, the winter nets squad including surprises both in and out, and allegations that the North West is all about cricket and beer.

What I want for Christmas is a new game. Ideally it would be available for the Playstation, Xbox 360 and the PC. I would call it Ulster Cricket Manager.

Twenty20 cricket has been a phenomenal success the world over. Yet as a cricket fan I am still a little surprised it has been the success it has. In some ways it explains the world we live in.

Following the lead from the Derry Midweek League I have put these three counties in together to ensure everyone has a fair crack at selection.

With the exception of Antrim I have been eligible for 5 out of 6 teams in this County Championship at one time or another in my cricket career.

The dominance of North Down in the area meant I had to work hard to look outside their team.

This was probably the hardest selection yet. Only two Belfast clubs in the Premier League yet a quite a few in Section 2.

When I first sat down to pick the Armagh team my initial thought was that this will easily be the weakest of the teams with only one Section 1 team from which to select.

I have decided to try and pick some teams that could play in a Gaelic football style County championship for cricket. I've joined Fermanagh with Tyrone and made a team for Belfast.

They say a mind once stretched on new possibilities never returns to its original dimensions. I have to confess that that is exactly how I feel about the Ireland International cricket team.

Is it because the pitches have become so poor that anyone can bowl spin or is it because of a lack of role models for other bowlers?