"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I'm not sure if American poet Emma Lazarus had Carrickfergus in mind when she wrote these immortal words, now enscribed on a plaque on the Statue of Liberty, but early April and Middle Road resembled Ellis Island as no fewer than eight new faces adorned the Carrick team sheet.

There was a new professional  in the form of Gavin Ewing, a Zimbabwean who had played 3 Tests and 7 ODI's before falling out with Zimbabwe Cricket in a dispute over pay (he later won his case in court), and had then played in various parts of the globe.

Matt Mangan, a 19 year old Australian with an Irish passport came on board, and the overseas theme continued with South African Ross Gelderbloem, who was working locally. Rory Thompson, another South African born player, also joined the ranks from Larne.

Players joining from closer to home included the Stirling brothers, Paul and Richard,  from Cliftonville, and from Comber came Michael Turkington and Andrew Haire, both looking for a platform to show their skills.

Onto the field of play and it's not surprising really given the fact that it was nearly a completely new team that they suffered consistency problems. There was never any real danger of a relegation battle with the talent at their disposal, but a title challenge was a million miles away, and they never threatened in the cups.

Seven league wins including victories over Instonians and North Down show their undoubted potential, but these glimpses of talent were all too rare in 2009.

Onto the statistics and Gelderbloem's work didn't affect his all round cricketing capabilities, as he outshone Ewing with the bat, scoring 750 runs at 37.50. He hit one of only two centuries scored by the club, 107 against Bangor, and also made no fewer than 7 fifties - out of a club total of 15.

Ewing hit 450 runs at 32.21, scoring 3 half centuries, and with a top score of 75. Andrew Cowden impressed with the willow - his 556 runs came at 30.89 - and included no fewer than four scores of 50+.

Paul Stirling's Ireland commitments meant he didn't debut in the league until June 20th, but my word, what a debut! He proceeded to blitz the beleaguered Ballymena 'attack' to all parts, making a memorable 150. Unfortunately after that, he appeared just 6 more times in Carrick colours, and 18 was the best of his returns. His final return of 214 runs at 30.57 boosted by that wonder knock.

Matthew Mangan found the conditions at Middle Road very un-Aussie like and struggled - he managed 299 runs at 18.69 - a poor return for someone who had arrived with a big reputation. Another player who disappointed with the bat was Ryan Eagleson - 166 runs at 16.60 - he's capable of much better than that.

Michael Turkington managed just 161 runs in 16 innings, while Michael Gilmour (201 at 12.56), and Richard Stirling (181 at 10.17) were the only others to get to double figures.

Onto the bowling and former Irish international Eagleson was much more like his old self, topping the averages with 24 wickets at 13.71. Ewing captured 21 victims at 17.71, while Gelderbloem was the leading wicket taker, managing 27 wickets at 18.37.

As for the rest, it's a pretty poor story, with only left arm spinner Andrew Haire, and Andrew Cowden getting to double figures. Haire's return of 13 at 35.31 isn't what he or Carrick would have hoped for, while Cowden's 10 at 41.60 doesn't make for pretty reading either.

Behind the stumps Richard Stirling clung onto 23 catches, and effected just the one stumping - a feature of NCU stats has been the poor number of stumpings in the region these past few seasons. Too many 'stoppers' and not enough 'glove men' perhaps?

What then does 2010 hold for Carrick? I don't know what Gavin Ewing made of Northern Ireland but he's opted to return to Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe and all! It's not that bad here is it? Matt Mangan's returned to Oz, but the rumour mill has Ross Gelderbloem returning as professional.

The club has been blighted with drainage problems, not helped by the fact that it's rained non stop this past 3 summers, but they've invested in secondary drainage work, which should hopefully remedy their woes.

There will no doubt be some new faces at Carrick in 2010 - the club that gave us AB DE Villiers has that happy knack of encouraging emerging talent to the fold. It'll take something spectacular from them though if they are to emerge from mid table anonymity.