Clarence Hiles is a former senior cricketer with North Down CC, former Chairman of the NCU, wrote the acclaimed 'History of Senior Cricket in Ulster' (2003) and is the founder of the Ulster Cricketer website (www.theulstercricketer.com). Clarence now lives in Barbados. Here he selects his Top Ten post-war Ulster club teams.
TEN BEST POST-WAR TEAMS IN ULSTER CRICKET
It's an awesome task to pick the ten best in any sport because it all comes down to personal opinion and inevitably some teams are left out that others may feel should have been left in. Also how to you compare different eras and different regions? That said, here are my picks as the best post-war teams in Ulster cricket. In this fantasy exercise none are better than the others, they were simply fine teams at a particular time in history.
SION MILLS 1947
They were the first North-West team to win the NCU Senior Cup and added a North-West league and cup double. Fittingly the legendary Andy MacFarlane scored a century and John Flood 87 in a thrilling one-wicket victory over Armagh. Big crowds travelled to Belfast for the final and celebrations lasted for weeks after the match.
DONEMANA 1950
Alex McBrine's team won the league in six successive seasons and but only achieved the league and cup double in 1950 by defeating old adversaries Sion Mills in the final. As always, Alex led from the front, and had fine support from Sammy Jeffrey, John Cochrane and Paddy McLaughlin, but the hero in the cup final was his brother Willie John who took 13 wickets for 55 runs.
LISBURN 1957
Lisburn was the star team of the Fifties in NCU cricket winning the senior league three years in succession and the senior cup four times. Between 1955 and 1962 they lost only two cup games! The 1957 team was arguably their best and they beat Woodvale by an emphatic innings and 127 runs in the cup final. Rugby and cricket international Raymond Hunter was in his prime and hit a brilliant 133 while the great Jack Bowden took 13 wickets for 76 runs in the match. Captained by the affable Jack Simpson the team was full of lovely cricket people like Cecil Walker, Tom McCloy, Simpson Robinson and wee Billy McCloy.
NORTH OF IRELAND 1960
The Ormeau club celebrated its centenary in style with a league and cup double under the captaincy of their debonair Ireland batsman Stuart Pollock. The team was full of stars including Stanley Hewitt, Given Lyness, Sonny Hool, and double cricket and rugby international Jimmy McKelvey. North continued their fine form into the Sixties but their 1960 team was their best.
BRIGADE 1973
Brigade has probably been the pick of North-West teams in the modern era but their current side would be hard pressed to better the 1973 league and cup winners. Captained by Ross Torrens, this team included brother Roy, the current Ireland team manager, who was in his prime as a prolific fast bowler. They also included two of the best batsmen of their time in Ian Rankin and Clarke Nicholl, former ICU president Davy Todd, Ron Collins and John Watson. Brigade won the cup three times in the Seventies but their 1973 season was very special.
WARINGSTOWN 1979
In the Seventies Waringstown won the cup and the league eight times and were almost invincible. Their 1979 one-run win over Woodvale in the cup final was an epic and historically unforgettable because six Harrison bothers featured in the success. Add Ivan Anderson, Michael Reith and Eddie Bushe and this team was surely amongst the best of all time in Irish club cricket.
DONEMANA 1989
In 1989 Donemana was in the middle of a run of nine successive league titles and had just won the North-West Cup for the fourth time in the Eighties. Their only blemish was a four wickets defeat by North Down in the Irish Senior Cup. Captained by Raymond Mitchell the team was invincible in the North-West with the McBrine brothers Junior, James and Roy backed up by Decker Curry, Roger Kerr and the inimitable Ivor Dougherty.
WARINGSOWN 1992
Dubbed the 'Dream team' by the Waringstown faithful, the Villagers had been the most successful team in the NCU for over twenty years but the Irish Senior Cup had always eluded them. It all came good in 1992 under the leadership of Garfield Harrison, when they beat Sion Mills with a team that included three Harrisons and six players that would eventually win international honours. To cap a wonderful season Waringstown won yet another NCU league and cup double.
LIMAVADY 1994
Decker Curry's controversial move from Donemana to Limavady was complete with his century in the Irish Senior Cup final in 1994 and Limavady started a series of seven successive league titles. It also included the ultimate prize at the end of the decade when Decker captained his new club to another Irish Cup win over Donemana in 1999. It all started with a solid if unspectacular team under Nigel McElweee's leadership, but once Curry took over the captaincy the Limavady club became one of the best in Ireland.
NORTH DOWN 2007
Although North Down won the Irish Senior Cup three times between 1989 and 1995, there is little doubt that within the club the 2007 league and cup winning team is regarded as the better of two fine sides. And little wonder, because from the turn of the century this team has made the NCU Cup a virtual monopoly, and won the senior league title five times, although in 2006 their title was controversially wiped out in the committee room after a successful player registration protest. The team bounced back in style in their sesquicentary year to record another league and cup double and that showed tremendous character.
Copyright: Cover Point
