With Boyd Rankin and Phil Eaglestone spending more time on the treatment table than bowling in the middle it takes two of the big guns out of the Tyrone attack. Therefore it is time to ring the changes for the 2008 selection.

Although this isn't the team that would take the field in a county match the idea was to recognise people who achieved good performances and made an impact on the season past. By and large because of the weather slow bowling was more effective than the quicker stuff.

The best batsmen last year just switched about in the order with the exception of Mark Gillespie who had a disappointing year with the bat by his high standards. But as usual he demonstrated all his guile with the ball so I have picked him to bowl. I'm backing him to bat at seven or eight and prove I don't know what I'm talking about!

One pleasing thing to see was the emergence of batsman Stephen Clarke from Bready. He was undefeated with big scores in both games against Glendermott so they will be hoping to see a little less of him in 2009. He also did well in both Donemana fixtures and has gone from strength to strength since his maiden senior hundred against Ardmore in June.The young man became the North West Young Player of the Year at the annual dinner and it will be interesting to watch how his game develops over the next few years.

Andy Britton also followed up a superb U19 World Cup with pretty solid club performances for Donemana. His 38 wickets were a big part of their highly successful season. He has a nice high action and the ball hits the deck pretty hard meaning he can cause problems off the pitch not just through the air. That's a useful attribute to have when the ball isn't swinging. It's a shame work commitments prevented him from joining up with the Ireland squad but hopefully his opportunity will come again. Add to that Chris Doughtery who is travelling to South Africa with the European Academy and it means there is plenty for the region to be optimistic about for the future.

Two men I was loath to leave out last year proved that I should have trusted my instincts. James McBrine had yet again, an excellent year with the bat and Jordan McGonigle had yet again, an excellent year with the ball. Along with the Player of the Year Junior McBrine and the dependable batting of Dwayne McGerrigle this quartet make up the backbone of the league champions. The Tyrone side is:

Chris Doughtery (Bready)
Stephen Clarke (Bready)
Peter Gillespie (Strabane)
James McBrine (Donemana)
Junior McBrine (Donemana)
Dwayne McGerrigle (Donemana) captain
Mark Gillespie (Strabane)
Jordan McGonigle (Donemana)
Paul McNamee (Strabane) wicket keeper
Andrew Britton (Donemana)
Gary Neely (Fox Lodge)

12th man
Trevor Britton (Bready)

So four changes from last year's side. The experience of McBrine and McGonigle, with the exuberance of youth in Britton and Clarke are the main changes in the county set up. Trevor Britton had another very good year and if I was managing this side I would pick from the twelve depending on the pitch so I'm not exactly leaving him out. Overall it still looks a pretty strong unit to me.

(For pen pics of remaining players see last years articles)