10-TEAM NORTH WEST CHAMPIONSHIP A GENUINE OPTION

Plenty of good things have happened in North West cricket in the past 5 years and from my own limited involvement I know that every decision has been carefully and honestly thought out by those involved before being presented to clubs. Most of the new ideas have worked well, some have worked in parts but perhaps it’s getting near time to re-think one or two completely.

In the vast majority of cases, trying something new requires the courage of conviction, but also the ability to measure how successful you have been, and then use your findings to move forward, or backwards as the case may be.

At the end of 2012, the Union opted to move to an 8-team Premier Division. Contrary to the beliefs of many, the second tier of local cricket had been operating the 8-team format for two years before that, so it was already used to the demands.

At the outset I will hold my hands up here and admit that I was a massive fan of the move and in the Premiership at least, still am. Because while the individual stats will allude to the fact that the standard of cricket definitely hasn’t increased because of the new format- the competitiveness certainly has.

Prior to 2012 most of the main issues of the old 10-team league had been resolved by early to mid-August with maybe two sides competing for the title and two more cut adrift at the bottom. From there until the end of the season, 60% of matches were mind-numbingly irrelevant.

For the North West to give their Interprovincial and potential International players a meaningful club system it was essential to increase the competitiveness of the top flight. And it still is.

The Premier League is where every club should be looking towards but the Championship, as the next level, needs to be more accessible to the rest of the clubs.

Interestingly, of the nine (yes nine) teams in the old Senior 2 in the season of conversion- three are now in the Qualifying Leagues and five are exactly where they were- only Ardmore succeeding in getting into the Premiership since. That would seem to confirm that the standard has changed little in that time.

So while there are valid reasons for keeping the top division at 8, there is substantially less to be gained from restricting access to the second tier of the senior ranks.

On the minus side it will mean four extra games for the existing teams, a quota that can easily be accommodated by shuffling the T20 group stage process or simply scheduling in some early season evening cricket but on the plus side it could breathe new life into three or more clubs.

Because let’s face it, our clubs are struggling big time. Some are living hand-to-mouth and one or two not even doing that, however their needs are varied and not simply financial.

This season at least 5 of our 8 Championship clubs brought in “hired hands” and one or two probably struggled to do it. Ironically however half brought them in not because it would turn them into a Premiership side, but because of the prospect of falling out of senior cricket. Belonging to the senior ranks might not bring that many visual privileges but it does make a club a much better proposition for attracting players and certainly makes them more media-friendly.

One individual I spoke with recently told me that his club had applied for and been awarded a grant to appoint a part-time development officer to help work within their own community. Financially they were self-sufficient through the hard work of their members however if they were operating outside of the senior circle it would be a near impossible task.

For the record- at the end of this season the 8th placed team in the Championship will be relegated automatically if either Ballyspallen or Sion Mills win Q1, or more realistically will go into a play-off against one of those two sides if Donemana 2’s win it.

The amount of work that has gone on at ‘Spallen in the past couple of years warrants senior status at Bridge Park, and may well get it via the play off if they get there. But what if they don’t? Will another season chasing Donemana 2’s encourage their array of young players to give it another go? Would it encourage the lads who play at Sion- or is it more likely that they’ll get disillusioned and walk away?

And what of whoever would go down- say that was Killyclooney or Creevedonnell or Burndennett? Would they have a better chance against the big guns’ 2nd XI, or would they become the next washed-up former North West club?

I have no doubt whatsoever that Ballyspallen will be a wonderful addition to the Championship when they get there. Sion talked last year about bringing a player-coach if they were back in and with the new Club Licensing Scheme set to kick in fully in 2016, this is a wonderful opportunity to reassess where we’re at below Premiership level.

A blind man on a galloping horse can see how badly our clubs are struggling so instead of watching them fall over the cliff it makes much more sense to throw them a rope.

A 10-team Championship will cost nothing. It will require a few minor amendments to the Qualifying Leagues (which in itself may be no bad thing) and obviously the senior cup would require two preliminary games.

I accept that if there is no promotion to or relegation from the Championship then we could be back into the “meaningless” end of season fixtures scenario. Well, for a start, only the top 8 teams would then qualify for the Ulster Shield (in whatever guise that may be) and we could also make it so that the bottom 4 teams in the Championship go into the senior cup preliminary round automatically as well.

On top of that we should be looking at developing progress at Limavady, The Nedd, North Fermanagh and even Maghera so that in the not too distant future there may well be a full on promotion and relegation process in the division.

The alternative is to do nothing and let either ‘Spallen, Sion or whoever may be relegated this season to take their once-a-year shot at a play-off until their players either get fed up or are tempted to jump ship to play at the next level with somebody else.

As I said earlier, we’re lucky to have a number of very proactive committees in the North West these days and I know there are some concerns about the state of the game here. It will be up to them to decide how best to take us forward at club level because something needs to be done.

Pointing at a problem rarely makes it go away.