The predicted rains thankfully held off on Saturday, long enough at least to allow another round of action in the Billy Henderson Properties Limited North West leagues and the action came thick and fast on Sunday in Division 2 as well, and once again there were one or two surprises around.

There were several talking points in the wake of the opening set of fixtures, the most obvious being that even after a couple of games it looks pretty certain that whoever finishes above Brigade will win the league.  Saturday’s action at the other end of the table leaves both Ardmore and more surprisingly Glendermott still searching for their first point. The gulf between the champions and the likes of the bottom sides was illustrated perfectly on the opening day when Brigade, Killymallaght and Glendermott all took the field without their overseas professional.

Brigade, without Wasti beat a very decent Strabane side with the minimum of fuss, courtesy of a Stephen Smyth century and some very tight bowling, whilst Killymallaght offered only token resistance at Bready without Danza Hyatt and Glendermott were thumped at Fox Lodge without the Bad Boy. With ‘Mallaght side thinking primarily about survival this year any ground lost now could be critical and it’s very disappointing for them that their pivotal player has contrived to miss their opening games. Having spoken to one or two of the players last week they certainly didn’t mask that disappointment and the feeling was that he would have to get here sooner rather than later.

Whilst Killymallaght enjoyed that superb win at the Rectory on Saturday the weakness of their middle and lower order was patently obvious. The stats will show they went to Bond’s Street and won, but it’s also true that from needing 3 runs to win the game, they lost 4 wickets without adding a single run and there were plenty of nerves jangling from what should have been an easy ask.  It’s definitely something that clubs should surely be looking into, ensuring that their contracted men are available before the season starts, particularly when you can expect every point to be precious.

Glendermott themselves have had plenty of problems in recent seasons and despite the Rectory side being very bullish about their star man Hasan Raza being available for the entire season, once again they’re in the mire. The Pakistan International is conspicuous by his absence at the minute and despite the Bonds Street club being asked the question at the weekend, no-one was prepared to answer. It would appear that Raza is currently in the United States playing in a 20/20 tournament and his future plans are unclear. Having started the season with the highest of hopes, Saturday’s loss to Killymallaght will have surely set alarm bells ringing at the club, and worse still the home team looked substantially short in both disciplines.

Glendermott is a wonderful club and one of the best places in the country to play cricket, but yet again it isn’t happening for them. They seem ill at ease without Raza and if truth be told, Marty Dalzell is struggling badly to make an impression with the new ball.  They too need their man and quickly and whilst both Brigade and Killymallaght expect their overseas men to arrive this week, Glendermott’s plans are unclear.

Another issue worthy of mention after last week’s first round of matches was confirmation from the North West fixture secretary Robin Glen that half of the games played in senior 1 and 2 were subject to one or other team being penalised for slow over rates. That’s a staggering statistic particularly given that during the winter an all- region panel was set up to discuss the rules for this year’s Bob Kerr Irish senior cup, and the North West rep suggested highlighting the time available to bowl the allotted overs.

Both the NCU and Leinster reps advised that this was rarely an issue in their regions and were somewhat taken aback at the suggestion that it should be here, Nevertheless an issue it is, and indeed has been for some time. Just to clarify, the rule states that teams have 3 hours and 10 minutes to bowl their 50 overs. A drinks break is built into that, but occasionally, very occasionally we get a hot day meaning teams may opt for more than one break. The umpires can factor that in, and may also decide to take account of other enforced stoppages like injuries, a lost ball etc, but by and large that is the exception rather than the rule.  In such circumstances the umpires will advise the fielding captain of how long they have and will take subsequent action if the time is exceeded. Hopefully last week’s positive steps by the officials will have the desired effect and teams will be fully aware of what is required from them and the message appears to have hit home as there were few if any sanctions imposed this week.

The first of the season’s trophies was due to be handed out yesterday as Brigade and Limavady clashed in the Faughan Valley Charity cup at Bready. This is their start of season game between the Faughan Valley cup winners and the senior cup winners and the Derry Midweek League have asked us to acknowledge their thanks to Ivan Lapsley who has this year stepped in to sponsor the League, including fixture books and cards.  David Caldwell told us that “Ivan Lapsley was more than happy to get involved with the Derry Midweek League and his contribution will go a long way towards covering our early season costs and allow us to donate as much as possible to this year’s charities. We’re very grateful to have him on board and we would also like to thank Eamon McLaughlin at Ardmore Concretes who has sponsored our books and cards for the past 20-odd years.”  With Billy Henderson putting his stamp on the North West leagues it’s obviously a massive boost to have these men involved in our sport and we will obviously take an in-depth look at the Derry Midweek scene as the season progresses towards their big finals day later in the year.

Finally tonight as promised a quick update on proceedings in Division 2 of the local league and it’s Bonds Glen  setting the pace after recording three wins from three, including a superb win over favourites St Johnston on Sunday.  The Donegal outfit went into the game with maximum points themselves, but for once their batting let them down, managing only 125 runs. After a middle order wobble, the Bee Gees got home with 4 wickets to spare. There were cracking games all over the place on Sunday, The Nedd continuing their impressive start to the campaign beating Killyclooney in a thriller, successfully chasing down 193 to win with the last pair at the crease, and things were even tighter at Burndennett were the hosts tied, 97 apiece with Sion Mills. Creevedonnell’s woes continued as they were beaten by 3 wickets at Kesh to give North Fermanagh their first league win in 2 years whilst Brian Dougherty’s side are still searching for their first points of this season. Killyclooney, St Johnston, The Nedd, Drummond and Sion Mills are forming quite a queue even this early in the campaign and it is quite clear even after a fortnight that this is shaping up to be a real cracker with plenty of sides seeming to harbour ambitions of promotion.