Downpatrick Cricket Club’s plea for players

Downpatrick Cricket Club’s plea for players

4 November 2020

DOWNPATRICK Cricket Club have issued a plea to players to come and save the club.

The Strangford Road side have a rich history. They won the forerunner to the Premier League title six times between 1968 and 1994.

As well as that, they have been Challenge Cup winners four times in those same four decades, and lifted the Irish Cup in 1985 and 1991.

However following relegation from the top flight a decade ago, they have been mired in Section One. In 2019, the last full season of 50-over cricket, they finished in a lowly eighth spot.

Paul Linehan, club chairman, who played in that 1985 Irish Cup win was all set to confirm to the NCU they could only field one team next year — and that would have to be from down in Section Three.

However he is now urging one last rallying-call and asking for players who would like to bat in the top four of a Section One side, or bowl ten overs to get in touch with the club.

“We have already lost two key players in Ross and Craig Boultwood who have signed for Cregagh,” he said. “We are though, in our most financially secure position for 20 years so if we can strengthen the playing staff, we can afford to bring in a professional next year. 

“The opportunity is here for players who are struggling to get into a Premier League first team, or Junior League One players who want to revive their careers. Downpatrick is not a bad place to play cricket.”

One possibility that has been explored in the past for Downpatrick has been mergers with other local clubs. However, as Linehan points out, for one reason or another, they were never able to make those solutions stick. 

“Merging with Saintfield once upon a time was close, and we have come close to others in the past, but it just hasn’t come off. Joining with Dundrum would be another possibility, although we haven’t spoken to them about that. That could have happened in the past, but mergers take a long time. “We have lost a number of key and experienced players over recent years. The reasons for that are complex. Certainly with relegation, came a dilution in the quality of players we had available to us. Some of the players we then had, to be honest were not all that worthy of a first team place. With that, came key players who got frustrated with the strength of the team.

“As well as that there is natural loss, players get older, retire, people went off to university, or jobs in England. When you add all those things up, it is difficult to recover from the loss of so many players in a short period of time.” Another problem Downpatrick have suffered from in recent times is a supply line of youth players as Linehan explains:

“Dundrum and Saintfield have a boys’ team. It will take a couple of years for that to happen for us. We are on a sound financial footing and with that I would like to get a really good pro in, and then players around him into the first eleven. This player plea if you like could be coming too late, but we are trying.” Another avenue the club have explored is visiting local schools, trying to bring the hearts and minds of youngsters to cricket.

“It’s been a painful process all in all. Trying to recruit players at that age is obviously playing the long game, and there can be many other temptations for them in terms of playing other sports too, so cricket has a lot to compete with.

“Hopefully the work with schools can help us to yield success in the future. But this is about the here-and-now to save the club. It is 170 years old and the main thing we want to achieve now is simply to keep the club alive.”

Any players interested in linking up with Downpatrick should get in touch with Paul over the next few weeks.

Fixtures for the new season will begin to take shape after the NCU’s AGM on December 2.