No doubt the biggest talking point of the week was the first rounds of both the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup and the Club Turf competitions, and whilst those contests generated plenty of debate among the cricket fraternity locally, another item high on the agenda has been the non-appearance of Glendermott’s professional, Hasan Raza and his Killymallaght counterpart Danza Hyatt.

With three weeks of the season now gone, and the Rectory club without a point in the league there is still no sign of the Pakistan International and they must surely now be at a stage where they bring someone or no-one. The latest update is that the Bad Boy (a description which those on Bonds Street must now be fully agreed upon) is listed in a Pakistan XI to play an International 20/20 tournament in Florida which is due to run from 22-25 May. Granted some of the other names listed in the various teams have intimated that they won’t be playing but faced with the dilemma of having to choose between Waterside and Florida would hardly lead to much beard stroking you would imagine. If he’s not here by now it must be increasingly unlikely that Raza will be here at all and whilst the neutrals will be disappointed, the club themselves must be livid. That said, you can hardly fault individuals for the fact that their man appears to have been unable to give them a straight answer,

Hyatt’s whereabouts is a little less clear but both clubs will surely have made their way home on Saturday night thinking of what could have been. Once again it’s another learning curve for clubs who hire professionals but given the amount of money they are forking out it is bewildering that clubs aren’t insisting that their overseas men are here well in time for their first match.

And talking about the North West professionals, Saturday will have been their first taste of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup and several of those who have turned up certainly made a good impression. Azhar Shaffique, Donemana’s exemplary pro scored a wonderful unbeaten century as his side maintained their perfect start to the season, and Strabane’s Jonathan Beuckes hit a match-winning 67 as they overcame the challenge of Carrickfergus. Limavady’s Aghar Sabir looks worth a watch if you happen to be in the area, he and the inimitable Decker Curry responsible for the early exit of one of the tournament favourites Railway Union. The Leinster side didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory on this particular trip to the North West, some of their appealing and the overall attitude in the field not what you might expect from such a star-studded side. At one stage it appeared that the umpires had called Railway skipper Trent Johnston to have a word with his bowlers but that seemed to have little effect. However it’s a minor complaint and in all, five of the ten North West sides made it through to the second round and you would have to say that only the non-appearance of the two gentlemen referred to earlier prevented that becoming seven. Considering that the obituaries for North West cricket have been flying around plenty long enough now it is perhaps time for the worm to turn.

It was a case of honours even between the NCU and the North West on Sunday, Brigade, Limavady, Glendermott and Strabane all making it through to the next stage of the Club Turf with Donemana, Eglinton, Killymallaght and Bready bowing out. That too probably constitutes an improvement and even at this early stage it looks as though both Brigade and Limavady have their sights set beyond the domestic trophies this year. In truth the North West’s record in this tournament has been very disappointing given that professionals are permitted to play and there are no Leinster sides to worry about therefore it’s difficult to make excuses. This looks more like it though and there seems every likelihood that the competition could have a more balanced look about it this year, and not before time.

Away from the action and during the past week as well we had the retirement of Lexie Miller as President of the Derry Midweek League. Lexie has been on the League’s executive for the past 44 years, and he handed over the reins to Davy Caldwell after last week’s charity cup final. “I’ve made so many great friends during that time and I consider myself a very fortunate man to have worked with so many great people. The Derry Midweek League couldn’t be in better hands and I’m more than happy to be handing over to such an excellent committee” Lexie told the gathered crowd.

The incoming President, a much respected former player and current umpire, Davy Caldwell, was in upbeat mood as he accepted his new role. “Lexie has done a tremendous amount of work and his shoes will be very difficult to fill. Mind you, if I have to serve the same length of time as Lexie, that will mean I will be 108 before I can retire too.”

Finally for this week and it wasn’t just the Bob Kerr and Club Turf cups that were the focus of attention as the preliminary round of the Northern Bank senior cup also got under way on Saturday. Mark Roulston turned in the performance of the day for his new club North Fermanagh as they beat The Nedd by 75 runs. The former Burndennett all rounder scored an unbeaten 86 and then picked up 6 wickets as the Kesh side, who hadn’t won for two years before last week, have now won two in a row.

Things aren’t getting any easier for Creevedonnell, Don Dougherty’s team have now lost their first 4 games after bowing out of the cup at Drummond. Stevie Moore hit 48 for the home team as they posted 183, but Creevedonnell would need to bat more than once at the minute to get that sort of runs. Ellis McGarrigle showed a glimpse of last year’s form as he top scored with 29, but Creevedonnell are struggling for now and they need to somehow get their confidence back.

Not much shortage on confidence on show at St Johnston mind you and the Donegal side made their way through to a first round proper tie after they trounced Coleraine by 150 runs. David MacBeth did most of the damage, 73 runs and then a bowling spell of 5-16 helping the Saints back on track after last week’s surprise defeat to Bonds Glen.

The final tie of the round saw the aforementioned Bee Gees keep their unbeaten run intact with another excellent win this time at home to Burndennett. Philip Kelly will be devastated as he hit 56 not out for the visitors, and then claimed 5 wickets for 27 runs yet still finished on the losing side. David Robinson with 5 for 17 and Colin Hall with 4-16 set up the win and Willie Jackson killed it off with an unbeaten 39. All that means that there will be at least one Division 2 side in the quarter finals as St Johnston will play North Fermanagh in the next round.

The big guns enter the competition at this stage and the first round proper is set to take place in the coming fortnight. We will take a more in-depth look at the full draw before then.