Club News Archives - 2008

If you have a club news item to contribute, we would be grateful if you would email it to us... To make room for new stories on the 'Club News' page, all of our stories will eventually move here to the archives but they will stay available here for future reference... 30/12/2008 First XI League and Cup fixtures available... The 2009 fixtures page has now been updated to display all First XI fixtures (except Clubturf Ulster Cup, and Twenty20 Cup which are not currently available). The cup draws for all mens' teams will be available very soon via the fixtures section - for now see the new item below. The remaining league and cup fixtures for all teams will be added as they become available over the coming weeks. Visit the "Fixtures Section" via the link in the left hand menu or click here. 30/12/2008 Further Cup draw details available... Carrickfergus Cricket Club 1st and 2nd XI's have both been drawn away to Strabane in the NICA Cup competitions for 2009. In the Clubturf Ulster Cup the 1st XI travel to play last year's finalists Strabane. Carrick will be all out for revenge after last season's Irish Senior Cup 1st Round tie where the Co Tyrone side had a comfortable 6 wicket win. The full Ulster Cup draw is available on the CricketIreland site here. The 2nd XI, having been promoted to Division 2 Section 1, now qualify for the first time for the Ulster Plate, and by co-incidence have also been drawn away to Strabane! The full Ulster Plate draw is available on the CricketIreland site here. Meanwhile the 2nds, who will also be playing in the NCU Junior Cup for the first time in 2009, have drawn Ulster Bank League Section 4 basement side Clogher at home in the 1st Round on May 9th, with the winners due to meet holders Academy in Round 2. In the Lindsay Minor Cup, the 3rd XI travel to Comber to play North Down III in the opening round on May 16th, while the 4ths receive a bye before they entertain Lisburn III in Round 2 on May 30th. 30/11/2007 News and pictures from Club dinner... The Club's annual dinner was held on Friday 23rd November and was the usual sociable occasion, allowing the Club to honour its oustanding achievers of the season past. We now have the photographs from the night available, as well as a full list of prize-winners from the night. Full details on the dinner can be found here. . 08/11/2008 First XI Cup draws for 2009 season available... The draws have now been made for the two major cup competitions for 2009. In the NCU's TCH Down Democrat Challenge Cup, Carrick will along with the other nine Premier clubs, receive a bye into the 2nd Round. They will then travel to meet either Laurelvale or Holywood from Section 2 for a place in the quarter final. The date has yet to be confirmed. They should receive a sterner test in the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup where they entertain 2008 Leinster Cricket Union Senior Cup winners Clontarf, who include among their ranks current Irish internationals Alex Cusack and Andrew Poynter, at Middle Road on Saturday 9 May. A full fixture list for the TCH Down Democrat Challenge Cup can currently be found on the NCU website homepage here, and details on the full Irish Senior Cup draw can be found here. 08/11/2008 Report from NCU Annual General Meeting... Following the Northern Cricket Union's Annual General Meeting, Roger Bell and Ryan Eagleson will both serve on the Union's Management Board for 2008/09. Roger was re-elected as Vice Chairman, while Ryan was elected to serve on the Cricket Development Diectorate, and was subsequently nominated as the club representative from that Directorate to serve on the Management Board. The proposal that would have resulted in a new 16 team Premier League in two 8 team sections from the 2010 season was supported by a majority of clubs, but with the voting 50 in favour and 36 against, it failed narrowly to get the required 60/40 majority. Other Competition Rule changes effecting the club passed at the AGM included: Pros now allowed to play in the Challenge Cup where a club is playing against a team from its own Section Duckworth Lewis will now be used to determine a result in the Challenge Cup (mimimum 20 overs per side) 1st XI Match 2's will now be arranged as 20 over matches 2nd XI can now rearrange matches as 25 over matches on a single evening rather than a two night match The final date for all evening matches has been extended from 15 to 31 August Weekday matches (below 1st XI) can now be reduced to 40 overs starting at 2 pm, rearranged weekday matches reduced to 25 overs up to 31 July and 20 overs thereafter, starting at 6 pm and 5 pm respectively All cup matches in July and August will now start at 12 noon rather than 1pm A full report on the NCU's 2008 AGM can be found here. 16/10/2008 News from AGM and season reports... Members gave a vote of confidence to the Club's Management Committee at this year's AGM, with all existing members being returned. Wilbert Palmer replaces Ivan Walker, who stood down as Assistant Secretary but remains on the Committee. A welcome addition saw the return after a number of years' absence of club stalwart Alex Adams to the Management Committee. The 1st XI will again be led, for an eighth year, by Ryan Eagleson, with the other captains being appointed shortly by the Management Committee. With the Northern Bank Executor and Trustee Company recently announcing its closure, five long serving members Alex Adams, Robin Beggs, Jim McClurkin, Jim Nelson, and Michael Ross were appointed to act as the new Custodian Trustees. The season and youth team cricket reports were also presented at the AGM and copies are available via these links: season report / youth report (Adobe Reader required). The Management Committee for 2008/09 is: President: Leslie Thompson Senior Vice President: Roger Bell Hon Secretary: Roy Parkhill Hon Treasurer: Roger Bell Assistant Hon Secretary: Wilbert Palmer Assistant Hon Treasurer: Gary Thompson Club Captain: Ryan Eagleson Additional committee members: Alex Adams, Harry Cowden, Wallace Luney, David McKillen, Philip McKnight, Michael Ross, and Ivan Walker. 17/09/2008 Pictures from vital Derriaghy victory... Carrickfergus' First XI's vital victory over Derrighy in their reduced 30-over league clash last Friday (12th September) saw the team secure their Premier League status for another season. In this rain-ravaged season, it a massive boost to the Club to know that their status at the top level is now secure without reliance on completion of further fixtures, which is no certainty as we draw towards the conclusion of what has been a chaotic season. CricketIreland has posted an extensive series of photos from the match by renowned local cricket photographer, John Boomer, which can be found here. 17/09/2008 Narrow defeat for U-15's in League Final... Click to enlarge... Carrickfergus Cricket Club Under 15's were narrowly beaten by a very strong North Down side by 2 wickets in the final of the NCU Under 15 League. With the recent bad weather, batting conditions were not ideal as Carrick batted first at Comber. They lost an early wicket, but opener Jordan McClurkin and skipper Alex Haggan got their heads down and batted together for twelve overs, taking the score along to 47 after 15 overs. Carrick then lost both batsmen, with McClurkin caught at mid wicket for a gritty 12, and Haggan, who had been batting superbly, caught on the long on boundary for 30 including five fours. Peter McAlister marshalled the lower order, and a further 37 runs were added in the final ten overs, to leave Carrick on 74 for 9 at the end of their 25 overs. Alex Haggan removed both North Down openers early in the innings, and finished with 2 for 8 from a fine opening spell. The third wicket pair took the score slowly along to 34 before leg spinner Peter McAlister, who finished with 1 for 7 from his 5 accurate overs, achieved another breakthrough. A further two wickets from Johnny Addis and Glenn Shimmon before the score had reached fifty offered Carrick hope, but a vital fifteen run partnership at this stage edged North Down closer to their modest target. Shimmon picked up another couple of wickets and a run out left them 8 wickets down, but in the end they just scraped home in a tense finish with 2 wickets and 6 balls to spare. Carrickfergus 74/9 (25 overs; Alex Haggan 30, S Irvine 2-6, M Martin 2-13) North Down 78/8 (24 overs; Alex Haggan 2-8, Glenn Shimmon 3-15) 20/08/2008 Under-15's reach first U-15 League Final... Carrickfergus Cricket Club's Under 15's have reached the final of the NCU Under 15 League competition for the first time, to be held at Saintfield C.C. on Wednesday 27th August at 1pm. After a number of semi-final defeats in recent seasons, Carrick travelled to Armagh last Friday and, in a close encounter, won by 3 wickets with only five balls to spare. With The Mall unplayable, the match was switched to Armagh Royal School where the outfield had not been cut, making run scoring difficult for both sides. Carrick won the toss and asked the home team to bat first, and restricted them to 71 for 7 in their 20 overs.Leg spinner Peter McAlister, bowling with great control, took 2 for 7 from his accurate four over spell, with left arm opening bowler Glenn Shimmon also bowling very well and picking up two wickets, with Marc Gordon taking one. Armagh restricted Carrick to 20 for 2 after 8 overs, with Peter McAlister having scored 13 of these.However, a brisk innings of 28 from skipper Alex Haggan which included two sixes and two fours helped Carrick along to 53 off 13 overs, before he was trapped lbw. Carrick now needed 19 off 7 overs. Glenn Shimmon and Johnny Addis added a further nine runs, but Carrick then lost three wickets in as many overs, and still required four to win off the final over. Addis then hammered the first ball of the over to the boundary to secure a place in the final for his side.They will now meet either Instonians or North Down. Armagh 71/7 (20 overs; A Dodds 22 no, G Shimmon 2-12, P McAlister 2-7) Carrickfergus 72/7 (19.1 overs; A Haggan 28, H Boyd 2-24) Carrick won by 3 wickets For those who want to show their support for the lads, the final will be held at Saintfield on Wednesday 27th August at 1pm. 15/07/2008 Northern Bank Summer Cricket Academy... With the summer holidays upon us, Carrickfergus C.C. is proud to announce the commencement of its summer cricket academy in association with the Northern Bank. Commencing on the 22nd July, the academy will cater for children from 9-15 years of age and is open to all skills levels from beginner to experienced player. AGES 9 - 11 YEARS (born after 30.6.96) Every Tuesday morning 10.00 -11.30 am Commencing 22 July until 19 August AGES 12 - 13 YEARS (born after 30.6.94) Every Wednesday morning 10.00 -11.30 am Commencing 23 July until 20 August AGES 14 - 15 YEARS (born after 30.6.92) Every Thursday morning 10.00 -11.30 am Commencing 24 July until 21 August In attendance: Colin Birch (Western Province, South Africa), Ryan Ervine (Zimbabwe) and other ECB qualified coaches. Bowling machine available. Matches arranged for Under 11/13/15 XI's 15/07/2008 Alex re-writes cricket record books... Alex Haggan recently became only the third player in Carrickfergus C.C.'s history to score a century in an Under-15 match, on Friday last. He managed to surpass his predecessors, however, with a sensational score of 119 not out, the highest total ever by a Carrickfergus player at this level. His feat is all the more remarkable given that innings at this level are limited to just 20 overs. Alex has been in a rich vein of form of late. As recently reported, he represented the NCU U-15 team against North West and top-scored in that game earlier in the same week with 40 as well as having best bowling figures of 3 for 46. The weekend before his U-15 heroics also saw him in the runs, top-scoring with 70 in the Second XI's victory over Larne. The Carrickfergus Advertiser featured the story here. With useful medium-pace bowling backing up his undoubted batting abilities, Alex is marking himself out as having exceptional potential as a top-class all-rounder at the highest level. 12/06/2008 Alex Haggan makes U-15 NCU squad... Congratulations to Alex Haggan who has been selected to represent the NCU U-15's in the upcoming Inter-Provincial series (30th June - 2nd July). Full details on the squad can be found on the CricketIrland site here. 12/06/2008 Carrickfergus lads selected for Taverners... Congratulations are due to both Jordan McClurkin and Glenn Shimmon on their selection for the Belfast U-14 squad for this year's Lords' Taverners Inner Cities Cup. Full details on the squad can be found on the CricketIreland site here. 12/06/2008 Gilmour shines in Varsity Match... Warmest congratulations go to Michael Gilmour for his excellent performance in the recent Irish Universities win over MCC, top scorring for the Irish team with 58 runs. See the match report here. 16/05/2008 Matthew Palmer selected for NCU U-17 team... Warmest congratulations to Matthew Palmer who has been selected for the NCU Under-17 team after the recent trials held at our very own Middle Road over the last couple of weeks. The team will face Leinster and North-West this Sunday and next respectively, coached by Club Captain, Ryan Eagleson, as part of his role as NCU Cricket Development Officer. Full details ad a squad listing can be found here on the CricketEurope website. 10/04/2008 Carrickfergus old boys shine... Two Carrickfergus "old boys" have enjoyed some great success in the last few days with both AB de Villiers and Shane Singe making headlines. AB de Villiers showed he is a class act on the world stage by becoming the first South African ever to notch up a double century against India with an amazing unbeaten knock of 217. Those who saw the innings suggest that he could easily have gone on to rack up an even bigger total, were it not for late evening rain which cut him short. Regardless, his knock was instrumental in their crushing innings and 90 runs victory in Ahmedabad. CricketIreland featured the story here. Word has also reached the Club in the last few days of Shane Singe's success, captaining Papatoetoe to the Auckland Premier Grade 2 Day Championship. Our warmest congratulations to Shane on this fine achievement. The Auckland Cricket website feature that story here. 03/03/2008 Carrickfergus signs Birch and Ervine for 2008... The Club is delighted to confirm the appointment of South African all- rounder Colin Birch as Club Professional / Coach for the 2008 season. Colin made his first class debut for western Province in October 2006 and has already built up an impressive record in domestic cricket in South Africa. The Club is also delighted to announce that we have secured the services of 19 year-old Zimbabwean all-rounder, Ryan Ervine, for the 2008 season. Ryan, youngest brother of Zimbabwean international star, Sean, is Irish-qualified and will be hoping to impress Irish selectors during his time with Carrickfergus in the NCU Premier League. Ryan will work alongside Colin as the Club's Assistant Professional / Coach in the coming season. Further details and background information on both players can be found here. 03/03/2008 Pictures of Ryan with Snehal in India... As many of you know, Ryan is currently on tour as one of the Ireland U-19 coaches at the World Cup in Malaysia. After the disappointment of the group stages, with three defeats, just yesterday, the boys notched up their first win over Test opposition at U-19 level with the win over Zimbabwe, which saw them equal their 13th place finish in Sri Lanka in 2006. See the match report here. Prior to the World Cup group matches in Kuala Lumpur and Plate competition in Johor in Southern Malaysia, the boys were in Mumbai for a warm-up week and Ryan met up with old coach and mentor, Snehal Parikh. Snehal, who remains a firm friend and supporter of Carrickfergus C.C., sent through the following mail and a couple of photos of their meeting. "Dear Roger: I am attaching herewith two photographs of Ryan in India. First one is two of us at the boundry line watching the Under 19 match at The Marine Lines ground, opposite Indian Ocean in Mumbai and the second one is even more interesting. Complete team went for a dinner at The Tendulkars - Sachin Tendulkars designer restaurant in Mumbai. Only of its kind. Share the pictures with club members by uploading on the Carrick Website or getting it published in the local newspaper. All the very best for now. Best Regards, Snehal" Click to enlarge... 03/03/2008 Twenty20 draw and fixtures complete... The draw for the 2008 Twenty20 Cup has been made, with Carrick Eagles drawn in the same qualifying group as Stormont Spitfires and Cliftonville Cobras.The format has changed this year with the competition moving from midweek to a Sunday. Twelve teams have been placed in groups of three, with all group matches being played on the same day, Sunday 22 June. Carrickfergus' group has been drawn to take place at Middle Road. The winners of the four groups will contest the semi finals at Shaw's Bridge on Sunday 6 July, with the final taking place there later that day. The additoin of the Twenty20 fixtures see the Fixtures Section of the website complete for the 2008 season. On the subject of Twenty20 cricket, the qualifiing tournament for the next ICC World Twenty20 will take place at Stormont from 2-4 August 2008. As Ireland will be involved in this tournament, the NCU has declared that weekend as closed dates for club cricket - see article on CricketIreland website here. 03/03/2008 Youth cup draws now available... The draws have now been made for the 2008 Colts, Banoge, and Quoile Cup competitions. In the Colts Cup 1st Round Carrick's Under 17's will entertain Lurgan at Middle Road by 20 June, with the winners travelling to Muckamore or Downpatrick. The Under 13's receive a bye in the 1st Round of the Banoge Cup, and then like the Under 15's in the Graham Cup, they travel to Larne. A quarter final tie at Instonians or Templepatrick will be at stake. The Under 11's face a daunting task away to holders Instonians in the 1st Round of the Quoile Cup. Full draws can be found here. For all Carrickfegrus' teams' fixtures, go to the "Fixtures Section" via the link in the left hand menu or click here. 18/01/2008 Graham Cup draw made... Carrick Under 15's have been drawn away to neighbours Larne in the 1st Round of the 2008 Graham Cup. The match will take place at Sandy Bay on Friday 9 May. The final of the competition will again take place at Middle Road, on Friday 25 July. The full 2008 Graham Cup draw can be found here. All cup draw details for Carrickfergus teams can be ound in the "Fixtures Section" via the link in the left hand menu or here. 18/01/2008 More fixtures available... The 2008 fixtures page has now been updated, adding the Graham Cup draw details to the Cup Draws page and adding all Second, Third and Fourth XI league fixtures for the 2008 season. The remaining 2008 fixtures (Twenty20 and youth league fixtures) will be added as they become available over the coming weeks. Visit the "Fixtures Section" via the link in the left hand menu or click here.