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Jimmy - Man of a Few Words. (Apr. 2006)
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The new season is almost upon us.
Another season of our James.
Saturdays, Sundays, the nets, the bar.
But how will you fill in those few hours of the week, that oasis of calm, when Jimmy is not around?
Now you need never be short of a few words from 'the Colonel'.
Visit his website at
lifebeginsafteraheartattack.com
where you will find that he has now burst forth into print.
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Fitness Sessions move to Tuesdays. (Mar. 2006)
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Our cricket fitness sessions will now be on a Tuesday evening at 7p.m from 4th.April (this coming Tuesday),
as outdoor nets start on the 6th April 2006. Please come along,
it’s well worth seeing Mr Anthony ‘endowment shield’ Withers on the treadmill.
There is plenty on for cricketers who want to improve – two net sessions this weekend 1st/2nd, fitness session Tuesday, development night Wednesdays, senior nets Thursdays and kiddies coaching coming soon on Friday evenings.
This Tuesday will see the start of the Northern Cricket training programme devised
by Chesterfield High School (sports school); John Mooney and Carl Hey.
Start your season, work hard and let’s make this another great season for Northern at all levels.
See you at nets!
Carlos
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Dirk moves on to Sierra Leone. (Mar. 2006)
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Following my recent adventures in Seoul, I am now working in Freetown, Sierra Leone in the UK High Commission here. I'll be here for at least 2 years, probably 3. It's very hot and tropical, which should acclimatise me perfectly for Barbados 2007!
It's good fun out here. There are a limited number of bars and clubs which I seem to be frequenting with a remarkable regularity. I've also been playing squash, tennis and 5 a side football. I'm looking for an 11 a side team but they appear to be quite thin on the ground at the moment.
Sadly, and surprisingly for a commonwealth country, Cricket seems to be non-existent. However, I'm always trying to encourage people to play and will do my best to set up some kind of game, however infrequent they might be. The lack of suitable places to play may be chiefly to blame, because as is the case in many developing countries, open areas are simply routinely built on as a necessity of high population growth.
Anyway, I'll keep you updated with regular reports. Those of you who know me will be amused to know that my colleague is also lacking hair, and being taller than me it is almost a case of Doctor Evil and Mini Me.
Take it easy
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Cheers,
Dirk.
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update, 17/04/06
Hello again everyone, I'd just like to say good luck to all the teams for the new season.
I'm still desperately trying to set up something out here, and at least I have the bare bones of a team now.
Opposition, a suitable location and equipment are proving more elusive though.
On a footballing note, my team are gracing the national stadium on the evening of the 18th,
a full match report will follow if we win and I play well.
All the best.
Dirk
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Sign up for the 31st. (Mar. 2006)
Roll up, roll up, to a night of fun with your friends old and new
as Northern Cricket Section present ...
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Pre-season Cricket Dinner
with guest speaker ex-England and Warwickshire's own Andy Lloyd
and introducing the hilarious Mickey Finn
Friday 31st.March, all welcome
cost £25, sign up on list in Bar
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Pre-season Fitness and Practice update. (Mar. 2006)
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There will be a series of pre-season fitness sessions,
beginning Thursday 16th March,
at Chesterfield High School fitness suite,
from 7pm until 8.30pm.
This will be a cricket specific training program, over the next 4 weeks or so.
Cost is £2 - over 13s welcome – 20 to 30 places.
Also, on Saturday 18th March, and the following Saturday 25th (now confirmed), there will be a practice session from 12 to 2pm at Chesterfield High School.
On Saturday 1st.April, we aim to hold a 3-hour session back at St Margaret’s (12.30pm to 3.30pm confirmed) - bring your tennis balls!
There will be more emphasis on fielding in these sessions.
We will be moving outside as soon as we can thereafter, weather permitting.
The first outdoor sessions are scheduled for Sunday 2nd.April 1pm to 3pm, seniors and juniors.
Wednesday 5th.April is reserved for the Junior Development group.
Thursday 6th.April is the first senior evening net practice at 6pm.
Carl.
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Yet another Legend is Born. (Mar. 2006)
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Welcome to Alexandra Edwards, born 13/3, weighing in at 7lb 10 oz.
Congratulations to Anna and Mark, and a playmate to sister Beth.
All doing very well.
Says Mark 'Surrounded by women for the rest of my life !!!!'
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More Cricket Legends in Hong Kong. (Mar. 2006)
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News from the Hong Kong Cricket Association,
as Scorpions sew up the Sunday League title.
Says our Mark (front left, nearest the bar, in case you've forgotten him),
'The bloke on the back row second from the right wasnt bad!'
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2005-06 HKCA Sunday League
Phil DeFreitas grabbed five wickets as HKCC Scorpions virtually wrapped up the 2005-06 Sunday League title with a 38-run victory over Little Sai Wan in a winner-takes-all match at Hong Kong Cricket Club. Conditions were again fine but hazy as the two teams battled for championship honours.
LSW would have been delighted to dismiss Scorpions for only 196 in the 49th over with Irfan Ahmed (3-46) and Jawaid Iqbal (4-56) claiming the spoils. Ian Duncombe (57) and Ryan Eagleson (35) provided the major contributions in the Scorpions innings. But the LSW batsmen weren't able to handle the bowling of the former England international as they slumped to 158 all out in the 43rd over. Mohsin Naqvi (34) and Shabbir Ahmed (37) were the only innings of substance for LSW.
The victory leaves Scorpions 19 points clear at the top of the table with one round to play and only a shocking result next weekend could deprive them of the 2005-06 Sunday League title.
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ps. Looks like they 'did a Northern' in the final game.
Smacked up 262-6 from 47 overs, and with the title won, contrived to lose by 9 wickets, first defeat of season.
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Nicknaming process transcends new horizons. (Feb. 2006)
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Dateline 13/02/06. The Chairman has tapped this report down the wire, of news out there south east of Madras.
Massive congratulations go to Northern new boys Andrew Miller and Steven Mullaney
who played with distinction in the U19 World Cup quarter final victory v Bangladesh Saturday last.
This is the same Bangladesh team who had beaten England in every match on England’s tour before Christmas.
And were Mill and Mull extras in this fantastic performance? Not a bit of it. Bangladesh,
batting first had two of their top three ripped out by a rampant Andy Miller, both caught behind. He finished with 2-24.
Mull meanwhile blasted the tail away tampering with the timbers of 10 and Jack leaving him with figures of 3-26, as Bangladesh limped to 155 all out.
Was that the end of our lads’ contributions? No way Mull-an-ey! England struggled to 128-5, and then entered the Mull.
Batting with the extremely talented and extremely posh Surrey lad Rory Hamilton-Brown (can you imagine the mid wicket conversations with Mull!)
the lads saw England home with 6 1/2 overs in hand.
Onto the semis. This is a day nighter on Wednesday live on Sky Sports 1 at 8.00 am and highlights later that evening at 8.0 pm.
England go into the game as underdogs v. India the pre tournament favourites who have won all four of their matches so far.
So stock up on J2O's and tune in to support the lads. The Mill and Mull show goes on!
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Mill
Mull
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click here for quarter-final scorecard
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Dateline 15/02/06. The dust is settling (precisely on a spinner's length) in Colombo, the empty J2O's are dispatched to the recycling bin,
and it's back to the drill and tooth whitener for the Chairman.
India completed a resounding win over England today in the U 19 World Cup semi final.
Batting first the Indians scored far too many, and in reply England scored far too few.
Andrew Miller was subbed without bowling a ball after 9 overs, a result of the Indian openers taking a liking to England’s opening pace attack,
and England deciding to sacrifice another seamer, in this case Andrew, for a spinner. Steven Mullaney performed with both ball and bat,
batting for more balls than almost all of his team mates.
Nevertheless, both have performed so well in this tournament, and they and we can be proud of their performances.
Well done lads. We look forward to seeing you both at Moor Park (the home of the champions) this summer.
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click here for semi-final scorecard
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Cricket Development Meetings get underway. (Feb. 2006)
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The evening of Wednesday the 1st.February saw the first of Carl Hey’s newly formed junior development meetings,
with nearly 20 of our young cricketers in attendance. Carl reports …
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Great to get things finally up and running.
The night went very well – it was about goal setting and how it can make you a better player,
started with a presentation and followed by group discussion.
They then went on to set their own goals, and had a think about how they're going to achieve them,
placing a time frame on when they want to achieve them by.
We also got as far as batting goals, with bowling, wicket keeping and fielding to do next Wednesday.
I look forward to seeing you all on Sunday 1:30pm at St Margaret's, Aigburth Road,
when I am going to be doing some preliminary video analysis.
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Playing Cricket at Northern is good for you! (Jan. 2006)
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Dateline 21/01/06. A profound insight from the Chairman into Life, the Universe, and Cricket at Northern (the home of the champions).
- Phil Jaques, Northern 1999, now aged 26. scores 94 in his one-day international debut v S.A. yesterday in the Telstra Dome.
- Karl Brown, now aged 17, awarded Lancashire contract after 1 season with Northern.
- James Marshall, Northern 2004-5, now aged 26 makes his international debut after 1 season with Northern.
- Steven Mullaney joins Northern and regains England u19 place without even playing a game!
- James Robbins captains 4th X1 for first time and wins league!
- James Morrisey, then aged 13, captains u13s to League and Cup double.
- Derek Blanchard and Dave Harrison (combined age 210) mastermind the junior teams, and the u11s record 1st round robin victory in U11 winter wickets tournament last Thursday at Bootle Stadium
There can be only one conclusion to be drawn from these facts. Whatever your age, wherever you come from, whatever your playing ablility, playing cricket at Northern is good for you! Tell all your friends!
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New boys head for Sri Lanka. (Jan. 2006)
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Two of our new boys will be off soon to the U19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka from Feb 5 to Feb 19.
Steven Mullaney (top) and Andrew Miller (middle) are the chosen ones. We are very proud of them and wish them well.
Andrew was one of the successes of England U19’s recent tour to Bangladesh
whilst Steven, not selected for that tour, has benefited from the difficulties that some players experienced.
Despite some good performances in Bangladesh our own Karl Brown has been left out of the squad for Sri Lanka.
They must have some pretty good opening bats if Charlie is being left at home!
Karl had some consolation as he was recently presented with the inaugural award
of Liverpool Competition Young Player Of The Year award for 2005
after scoring 809 runs at an average of 48 and taking 22 wickets at 16 in his first season in the competition.
This prestigious award was presented at the club just before Christmas.
Our congratulations to him on a brilliant year last season, and best wishes to him too for the year ahead,
his first on full-time contract at Old Trafford.
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Under 11's enter winter league. (Jan. 2006)
Northern are entering a team in Sefton’s U11 winter cricket league.
Derek Blanchard has agreed to be team manager and is currently organising the squad.
The competition is split into 2 groups, with our Northern Knights team in the south Sefton group one,
pitting their skills against Bootle Bulldogs, Bootle Bullets, Maghull Missiles and Hightown Hawks.
The competition is scheduled for Bootle Leisure Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm.
click for rules and fixture details
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Main points from the Liverpool Comp agm. (Jan. 2006)
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The Liverpool Competiton's name lives on.
The motion to change the name of the comp to the Lancahire Premier League (Liverpool Competiton) was not carried.
Bonus points change from 2006 for 2nd XI and below.
Up to 5 bowling points for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wickets.
Up to 5 batting points for 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 runs, from 45 overs.
So similar to 1st XI cricket, but scaled down for the shorter game.
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More New Faces for 2006. (Jan. 2006)
Further to our cricket development plans for 2006 (see
below
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we are pleased to announce a new addition to our coaching staff in
Jonathan Finch, aged 22, a cricketer at the Lancashire league champions Lowerhouse.
He is a level 3 coach, has been Lancs U13 coach and has just started a job as Staffordshire CDO.
He is currently in South Africa coaching for 6 weeks having been selected by the ECB for this prestigious post.
When he qualified as level 3 at age 19 he was the youngest ever to do so.
On his return from SA he is going to be helping us, specifically with our Youth Development Programme.
He will hopefully be coming to our last 4 indoor nets, as well as attending 2 nights a week through the season,
while continuing to play his own cricket elsewhere.
On the playing side, Nick Woods has agreed to join us from mid-June.
Having previously played at Horwich in the Bolton league, Nick is currently studying Psychology at Oxford University,
where he also plays cricket with the UCCE.
Nick bats and bowls slow left arm.
He has been playing for Lancs U19, under the captaincy of our own James Cole.
He is currently in India at a spinners' camp sponsored by Oxford University.
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Twinnies hit 21. (Jan. 2006)
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Karl and Mark are celebrating their 21st birthday, yes both of them,
and invite all who know them to their birthday bash on Friday 27th January.
Unfortunately, being both the great lads that they are,
they can't fit all their mates in at the club.
So the Do is at the Comrades, 8:00pm onwards.
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Winter Nets and Coaching. (Jan. 2006)
Winter nets begin on Sunday 5th February, from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
They will be held this year at the brand new
St Margaret's 'Cricket Centre of Excellence'
in Aigburth.
Anyone needing to arrange a lift from the club, please get in touch with Carl Hey.
Prior to that, on Sunday 15th January at 7:00pm, there is a meeting at the club,
chaired by Carl Hey,
to discuss our cricket development plans for 2006,
and the creation of our new Junior Development Group for 13 to 18 year-olds.
Juniors, coaches and anyone else interested are urged to attend.
Free sandwiches!
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Happy New Year from Soeul. (Jan. 2006)
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Alright Everyone.
For those of you who don't know I'm out in Soeul at the moment working in the UK Embassy here. Then after a brief return to the UK in February, I will be jetting off to Sierra Leone in March for a 3 year posting.
Anyway all the best to all the cricket section, Gordon, the bar staff and anyone else who knows me - I'll do my best to have a pint with you all in February when I'm back.
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Cheers,
Kev.
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