Skipper William Porterfield finally got to play for Ireland back in his native North West.

There were a total of six Championship fixtures played out over the weekend but despite plenty of unresolved issues still to hand, it turned out to be a relatively low-key couple of days.

Ardmore claimed the Qualifying Four Cup with a thrilling six runs win over Bready at the picturesque Ballyspallen ground.

Eglinton and Coleraine started the day joint top of the table and in a real thriller at the village venue it was the champions' experience that was to see them inch over the winning line.

The Holm side are still in the hunt too after they quickly avenged their midweek defeat at the hands of Drummond.

Saturday's final match saw this year's surprise package, Ardmore, keep their remote hopes of the title alive as they went to already relegated Strabane.

Brigade beat Bready by 37 runs.

The race for the Long's SuperValu Premiership title took another decisive turn on Sunday as Coleraine and Eglinton's league ambitions were ended in a dramatic afternoon at Beechgrove in particular.

There can rarely have been so many permutations going into the final scheduled weekend of the North West season with the Premiership title up for grabs.

The domestic cricket season reaches its scheduled close this weekend and despite a shocking amount of rain falling over the past two months there are likely to be just two Premiership games outstanding after Sunday.

Back in April, Fox Lodge captain Brian Allen vowed he wouldn't be paying any attention to the Championship league table "until at least the start of September", however the Ballymagorry side's skipper admitted to peeking a few days early as he headed to Sunday night's celebration party after the win at Ballyspallen that sealed their automatic promotion.

Fox Lodge are back at the top table of North West cricket after Brian Allen's team clinched the Championship title and automatic promotion with a 5-wicket win at Ballyspallen

Drummond wasted no time in wrapping up an impressive win at the Holm on Wednesday night as the Roe Valley side needed little more than 6 overs to take the five wickets required to record a 147-run victory over Donemana.

Donemana began a hectic schedule of league cricket on Monday night at home to Drummond as the cup holders bid to wrap up their five outstanding league matches.

Drummond have edged ahead in their ongoing three-night match at Donemana after a real run-fest on Tuesday evening.

Local cricket and Drummond have made a strong start to their Premier League match at Donemana.

Fox Lodge duly wrapped up the Championship title on Sunday and booked themselves a place in next season's Premier Division with an impressive 5-wicket win away at Ballyspallen.

Bready II's are the new O'Neill's Ulster Plate winners after Mark Olphert's side proved too strong for holders Brigade at Eglinton on Sunday.

At the other end, Strabane's relegation means that the only remaining issue is who goes into the promotion/relegation play-off and that is almost certainly now Drummond after they lost out at Bready.

Eglinton's stay on their own at the top was relatively short-lived as Stuart Thompson's men were just edged out by Brigade in a game the Beechgrove side nearly chucked away.

It seems that the top four teams in the Long's SuperValu Premier Division table are content to take turns at leading the race heading up the home straight and this week it is Coleraine who have staked their claim for another title.

An unbeaten century from Scott Macbeth ensured that St Johnston claimed the under-11 cup at Strabane Park on Friday night as the Donegal boys beat Bonds Glen by 60 runs.

There are just the three games down for decision this coming Saturday- Donemana’s home match against Strabane having already been brought forward to last weekend, albeit the cup winners will play Ardmore in another vital rearranged clash on Sunday.

Marco Marais was back in South Africa last night after finishing his second stint at Fox Lodge with the Sammy Jeffrey Shield already in the bag and the Ballymagorry side top of the Championship.

Strabane's Premier League status has been on the line for some time this summer and that time finally ran out at Drummond on Saturday as Ryan Gallagher's team were relegated for the first time in their 134-year history.

Back in the day when there was talk of Ireland International, Rankin, thoughts would turn to a 6 feet 7 bowler thundering down the pitch in his size 15 boots; however all that changed last summer when Rankin, David, was handed his Ireland debut during the T20 series against Scotland at Bready.

Finally, there was no action in the scheduled Championship games this weekend and that too proved to be good news for Fox Lodge.

Marco Marais has already left Ballymagorry this week ahead of the start of the African T20 cup, but the all-rounder had a parting gift for the club as his 107 not out helped Fox Lodge to lift the Sammy Jeffrey Shield.

The NW U17 tour of Sussex came to a successful end with a win v East Sussex Titans.

PAUL BROLLY rolled back the years with a fine all-round display as Ardmore beat Glendermott by ten wickets to clinch the Qualifying Two Cup.

Sunday’s poor weather didn’t miss the Holm either, however they somehow found a long enough break in the clouds to allow Donemana to close out an 8-wicket DLS win against Strabane that puts Ricky-Lee Dougherty’s men back in the title picture.

The result means that the Limavady Road men keep their record intact as well; they have now been in four Ulster finals, and won them all.

It was a day of very differing emotions on Saturday as Eglinton moved to within three wins of the title following a convincing verdict at Bready while down at Drummond a nerve-jangling victory for the home side condemned Strabane to a first relegation of their long and illustrious history.

Without a shadow of a doubt it is the most pivotal round of fixtures so far in the North West this coming Saturday with plenty riding on each of the four games down for decision.

It has been something of a hard road for Sion Mills over the past few seasons with one or two well-publicised problems accompanying their relegation into Qualifying 1 at the end of 2014.

Tomorrow sees the start of the Sammy Jeffrey Shield final at Eglinton with a couple of sides from opposite ends of the Championship table battling it out in the two-innings decider.

There are always key weekends for every club at some stage of the domestic cricket season, but it is hard to think of a bigger one for Strabane than this Saturday’s match away at Drummond.

It’s an all-North West affair in Sunday’s O’Neill’s Ulster Cup final as title-seeking Ardmore and Brigade square up at Bready for what has all the makings of a thrilling contest.

It should be quite a decent contest at Eglinton this coming Friday and Saturday as league leaders Fox Lodge take on St Johnston in the two-innings Sammy Jeffrey decider.

Fox Lodge are probably now just two wins away from a return to the Premier Division after they won one of only two Championship matches completed over the weekend.

After several long, arduous journeys, Newbuildings took their leave of this year’s National Cup on Saturday following a gut-wrenching last-over defeat in Laois.

The penultimate game of the Sussex tour saw the NW take on Norfolk at Blackstone CC, a favourite haunt of William McClintock who has a mention on the Sussex Academy honours board. Norfolk won the toss and decided to bat, on a pitch which it turned out offered good pace and bounce.

Wednesday’s game of the NW U17 tour saw a return to the surrounds of the South Down hills at Preston Nomads CC. The opposition were the Guernsey U17 side, most if not all of whom had competed at the recent WC Qualifier in The Netherlands, so a sterner test than what had come prior to this game.

Graham Kennedy's brilliant hundred helps the NW to a convincing win over Oxfordshire.

Eglinton are the U13 cup winners after beating Bready by 69 runs in front of a large crowd at Glendermott.

Eglinton won a surprisingly one-sided Friendly Financial Faughan Valley Cup final beating Brigade by seven wickets at Beechgrove.

The North West U17 side started their Sussex tour at the picturesque Preston Nomads ground with a game against the West Sussex Spartans U15’s.

Leinster u-17s fought back against the North West Development XI on day 2 of their tour as they won the first of two 50- over matches by a comfortable 5 wickets at the Rectory.

The North West Development XI posted an impressive 6-wicket win over their Leinster counterparts at Strabane Park on Monday in the first of three matches between the teams over the coming days.

It turned out to be a much quieter day than expected on Sunday with only one senior game completed in the North West.

Coleraine’s title-push has taken a real hit in the second half of the season but the mood will have been much better on the drive home from Magheramason following a 34-run win over Bready.

For Drummond of course it was a massive result and it meant that Strabane now had to beat Eglinton at the Park if they weren’t to fall back into the dreaded 8th place; and what a match that turned out to be too.

The expected twists and turns at both ends of the Long’s SuperValu Premiership table continued to unfold with all three completed games impacting in one way or another on both the title and relegation races.

The NW have named a 12 man squad for three games against a Leinster Development side next week.

The North West cricket public can look forward to a bit of a bonus this weekend with the re-arranged Faughan Valley cup game between Brigade and Eglinton now set for Beechgrove tomorrow night (Friday).

If you’re looking for Donemana’s successful cup formula then look no further than James and Junior McBrine.

In many ways this has been a frustrating campaign for Aaron Gillespie but the 19-year old hasn’t let that get to him and is determined to turn his career around.

The North West under-17's will head off this Sunday on what for the local Union will be a ground-breaking trip to Sussex as Andrew Fleming and his board take their development programme to the next level.

Testimony to just how open the Premier Division has been this season has been the emergence as potential title-challengers of David Scanlon’s Bready outfit.

THE rumours are rife that Andy McBrine will not be around next year when Donemana go for a record-equalling sixth successive Bank of Ireland Senior Cup, but on Saturday night the Ireland international was adamant that this young team can stay together for another year.

Four wickets apiece from skipper Harrison Carlyon and opening bowler Julius Sumerauer led Jersey to a comprehensive 9 wickets win over their NW hosts at The Rectory.

There’s no shortage of cricket action looming this weekend with the usual “weather permitting” proviso of course; as Saturday’s Long’s SuperValu Premier Division programme is followed by Sunday’s Faughan Valley and Eric Cooke T20 cup finals at Beechgrove 24-hours later.

It is symptomatic of the weather that clubs have been facing this summer that the total number of Championship matches played in the month of July will now be just three.

Madawa has a first class batting average of 37, including 17 fifties and 8 centuries and he looks a decent replacement for this stage of the season.

The NW have named their U15 squads for games against Jersey U15s on Thursday and Friday at Glendermott and Ardmore.

A look at action on and off the field in Tyrone this week.

The weekend umpiring appointments in the NW.

There were a couple of new faces in the North West on Friday evening as Scottish umpires Willie Ferguson and Ryan Milne took charge of the Faughan Valley Cup game between Brigade and Newbuildings at Beechgrove.

The North West Cricket Union have called a Special General Meeting to be held this coming Wednesday evening (13 July) at Brigade Cricket Club, starting at 8 pm.

The officials have been appointed for this weekend's fixtures.

A look at what's been happening in Tyrone this past week.

For the second successive evening there was no play possible last night in any of the three scheduled Premier Division fixtures nor the top of the table Championship clash between Fox Lodge and Glendermott.

The start of the official school holidays coincided with arguably the wettest weekend of 2016 so far and meant that all eight senior games- four in the Premiership plus the 1st round of the Sam Jeffrey Shield- were washed away without a ball bowled.

RISHI CHOPRA is the winner of the Long's Supervalu NW Player of the Month for June.

It has been a really impressive front nine from the Bleachgreen men albeit the second half of their summer looks a bit trickier, starting as it does with games against Coleraine, Waringstown and Donemana.

It was a collective effort this time- it usually is to be fair- but now the Holm men will train their sights on the title race with four weeks between now and the senior final.

Who will be officiating where this weekend.

DAVID LAPSLEY was the runaway winner in this week's Long's SuperValu NW Performance of the Week.

There was double success for Foyle College with their U14 and 15 sides winning their respective Ulster Schools Cup competitions.

The NW have named their squad for the U13 Inter-Provincial Series which they are hosting next week.

Who will be officiating where in the NW this weekend.

Ballyspallen's Alistair Spratt is the latest winner of the Long's Supervalu NW Performance of the Week award.

There’s a huge weekend of cup action on the menu over the next few days as the height of summer brings some of the most fascinating domestic cricket of the entire season.

Cricketers, like those in many other sports, occasionally hit a purple patch of form but few of late can match the efforts of Fox Lodge’s Luke Hayes.

Coleraine have acted swiftly following the temporary loss of overseas man Roshen Silva by bringing in Shershan Naidoo as cover for the next few weeks.

There are a lot of hardworking people who do their bit to ensure the North West Cricket Union remains a fully functioning unit and very high up on that list is Noel Dunn

The NW Academy squad to play Ireland U17 this Friday at Bready has been named.

Rishi Chopra's unbeaten 192 wins the Long's Supervalu NW Performance of the Week award.

Coleraine's assault on the North West league and cups has been dealt a blow with the news that overseas player, Roshen Silva, has been named in the Sri Lanka "A" team to tour the UK later this month.

It has been a testing start to the new season for Aaron Gillespie both with his club and also on the representative stage.

Jonny Robinson of Brigade is the winner of the Bank of Ireland NW Senior Cup 'Performance of the Round' award.

This article was first published in February 2002 and is reproduced by way of tribute to NW great Marshall Williamson who died recently.

There was some consolation for Newbuildings all-rounder Peat Salmon despite his team's loss in the quarter-finals of the Bank of Ireland NW Senior Cup against Donemana.

PEAT SALMON has won the latest Long's SuperValu player of the week accolade.

All the latest umpiring appointments for the week ahead.

NWCU Development Officer, Brian Allen and Active Clubs Co-Ordinator, Colin Manson have released details of a hugely successful week of Kwik Cricket tournaments held across the region in the past week. Just short of 500 children took part at four centres, over half of whom were engaging in the sport for the first time ever.

I was out of town for a family wedding over the past few days and it was one of those trips that there was plenty of time on the way home to contemplate the drive “back to reality”.

It’s strange to think of it now, in an era when clubs from the most passionate cricketing region of Ireland have become almost bystanders in the top club knockout competition, but the North West once dominated the rest.

Sean Hargan is the latest winner of the Longs Supervalu NW Performance of the Week Award.

Where the men in white are going starting with three games in the T20 competition.

There is very little time to draw breath on the North West cricket scene over the next week or so with action coming thick and fast in a wide range of competitions.

While it is undoubtedly a very busy time for clubs up and down the country, spare a thought for Donemana’s Andy McBrine who on Tuesday of this week began a programme of nine consecutive days’ cricket.

It's a busy double-header weekend for clubs as the NW catches up following the wash-out.

With plenty of unfinished All-Ireland business to negotiate this coming Sunday it is set to be a very busy weekend for clubs throughout the North West over the next few days.

A look at who is standing where on Saturday.

News of the death of one of Sion Mills’ all-conquering side of the 40’s and 50’s came to light at the weekend; former team captain, Packie Gallagher, passing away in Melbourne last week, aged 91.

Once again however there was a strong Tyrone flavour in the Warriors camp with seven of the nine “non-professionals” having come through the Strabane-based education system.

The North West Warriors and the Best Western White Horse Hotel confirmed the continuation of their partnership for this season at a launch held at the venue on Wednesday morning.

The MCC side, due to play Ireland A next week at Bready in a three day match starting on Tuesday, will be running a coaching workshop for all coaches on Monday the 23rd of May 6:30 to 8pm at Magheramason.

Details of the weekend umpiring appointments.

David Whitten's five wicket haul and a belligerent half century from James Hume helped RBAI to an emphatic 8 wicket win over Limavady GS.

The NW have unveiled their squads for the inter-pro series and the summer tour to Sussex.

GRAHAM BOYD has pipped Decker Curry to win the Long's SuperValu NW Performance of the week Award.

Coleraine's overseas professional, Roshen Silva, has pipped Ballyspallen's Steven McCloskey to the North West's first 'Long's SuperValu Performance of the Week' nomination.

Where the men in white will be this weekend.

The focus on youth development over the past number of seasons has hardly gone unnoticed and over the coming months the North West will certainly see the benefit of all that work as an extensive schedule of fixtures takes place both at home and away.

Ireland all-rounder Andy McBrine was believed to have had a serious offer to leave his beloved Donemana and join NCU kingpins CIYMS, but he has decided to stay with the Holm men.

The new North West cricket season gets under way this coming Saturday and although they may well have differing degrees of ambition for the summer ahead, there is no shortage of confidence in the respective camps of the Premier Division’s trio of Tyrone clubs ahead of the big kick-off.

The Bridge Park side seem to have prepared well for their first season back in the senior ranks with a solid quartet of new players added to the squad that won promotion last season.

Find out where the men in white will be this Saturday on the opening day of the Long's Supervalu Premiership and Championship.

There have been several changes at the Boathole over the close season this time although it’s unlikely that the Donegal outfit will be any stronger as a consequence.

Marlo Jardine's century helped Ardmore to a 55 run win over the NW Academy in their pre-season friendly at The Bleachgreen.

NORTH West remains the hotbed of cricket in Ireland but even the fanatical supporters in the area must have been underwhelmed by the 2015 season. It is really is a case of things can only be better this year.

No news is probably good news for the Foxies and after missing out to Drummond in the narrowest of fashion in last year’s promotion race, Brian Allen will work with pretty much the same squad again this time.

The NW Warriors Academy will play Ardmore in a pre-season match at The Bleachgreen on Sunday.

There have been quite a few additions up at the Glen this year and while it is unlikely that they will all be first team regulars there should at least be competition for places as the club looks to compete again at the business end of the Championship table.

After a really promising season in 2014 it was back to earth with a bang for ‘Clooney last time with just 2 points separating them from relegated Creevedonnell in the final reckoning.

The Magheramason men are another side on something of a recovery mission and after surviving two relegation play-offs in the past three years, skipper, David Scanlon, will be looking for a lot more from his players this time.

It has been another fairly low-key winter for the 2014 North West champions albeit there has been some movement- both in and out- as they prepare for what could well be another year of consolidation.

It's pretty much a case of "as you were" at the Holm in 2016 with the return of "Aggie" the only change to last year's line-up ahead of the new campaign.

While the rest of the North West sides were making final preparations for the start of the new season this weekend, a much longer term goal was being taken to the next level by the Union’s newest club, Newbuildings.

Brigade and Fox Lodge ushered in the new domestic North West season with a very low-key friendly on Saturday with the condition of the Limavady Road venue probably providing more of the talking points than the game itself.

It was back down to earth with a bang for Burndennett last year after narrowly missing out on promotion in 2014, but that could well have been a blessing in disguise.

It was a strange sort of season for Ardmore in 2015- having started with a narrow opening day win against reigning champions Strabane they then needed a couple of surprise victories over title-contenders Brigade and Coleraine late in the season to protect their top-flight status.

There will be several faces missing this summer- Marshall Williamson, Warren Glenn, Aubrey Finlay and Charlie Hargan among them- and another gentleman that I will miss my personal banter with, Ken Kerrigan.

It wasn’t difficult to make a note of the personnel changes at the Premiership new-boys this year with the Roe Valley side opting to tackle the top flight with exactly the same set of players that won them promotion in the first place.

After a really impressive summer last time, hopes will be high at the village club that Eglinton can push on in 2016 although things are sure to be slightly tougher now.

What a story it has been for the North West’s fledgling senior club as they earned promotion to the Championship after just 2 years in existence and then celebrated their inauguration with a thumping win in last year’s Sammy Jeffrey Shield final against Creevedonnell.

There was some much-needed good news for Donemana at the weekend after it emerged that their Ireland International, Andy McBrine, would be staying at the Holm for the coming season.

The Rectory club will once again be among the promotion challengers in 2016.

This week’s North West General Meeting at Eglinton included a number of proposed personnel and role changes within the Union, uppermost of which was the introduction of an Elite Cricket Manager to oversee all the various strands of representative cricket in the region.

The Beechgrove side will start as title favourites after their signing of overseas professional Danza Hyatt.

We start our NW club previews with a look at defending champions Coleraine.

It has been quite a week for the North West Umpires and Scorers Association Chairman, Roly Black.

Aubrey Finlay died this week. Edward Liddle looks back at the career of one of Ireland's finest cricketers.

It may have been the worst kept secret in Irish cricket however it was finally confirmed that Danza Hyatt will join Brigade this summer as the club's overseas player for 2016.

Former Strabane professional Tawanda Mupariwa will be playing in Northants in 2016.

Britton was the fourth highest wicket-taker in the NCU Premier League last summer, with 36 victims at an average of 14.89. He played a vital role as CI won the Challenge Cup for the first time in their history, along with the Twenty20 Cup.

The club are happy to announce the signing of highly recommended South African national under 17 rural coach Ralf Bogogo for the forthcoming season.

North West General Secretary, George Brolly, has confirmed that the Union's Spring General Meeting will take place at Eglinton on Tuesday 5th April 2016 at 7.30pm sharp.

26 year-old Jamaican all-rounder joins the County Tyrone Championship side.

David Barr has confirmed that he will play his domestic cricket at Beechgrove in 2016 after agreeing to join Andy Britton's side ahead of the new campaign.

There was more good news for the North West Cricket Union after Long's Supervalu agreed to remain senior league sponsor for another season at least.

Former Irish international takes over the helm at The Bleachgreen.

Following recent retirements, Cricket Ireland requires Governing Body Welfare Officers (GBWOs) in both Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.

The Derry Midweek League have made all their cup draws.

It’s an irony that has never been lost on me that my chosen means of re-charging the batteries after a long season covering summer cricket usually entails hours of watching winter cricket on TV.

North West Warriors Head Coach, Ian McGregor has announced that he will be sitting out the 2016 season as a player following a meeting with his club, Brigade, during the past week.

Edward Liddle looks at the career of Bready, NW and Ireland player Mark Olphert.

Warren Deutrom and Ross McCollum were in Bready on Wednesday afternoon to deliver the first presentation outlining Cricket Ireland's strategic plan covering the period from 2016-2020.

Ian McGregor is the new Head Coach of the North West Warriors having emerged successful from last week's interview process as the Union looked for a successor to Bobby Rao.

STRABANE sign exciting batting prodigy Kevin Pretorius for their NWCU Premier campaign this summer.

The past week was as busy a time for following cricket as any of the summer months with Ireland playing Papua New Guinea, Australia playing India, New Zealand entertaining Pakistan and of course the under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.

The former Pakistan Under-19 and 'A' skipper boasts impressive domestic figures since his first-class debut as a 16-year-old in 2007. To date, he has scored 3,589 runs at 31.76 including a highest score of 199.

The North West Cricket Union are delighted to announce an ongoing partnership with local cricket equipment supplier Omega Cricket.

North West Cricket Union Chairman, Andrew Fleming, has extended an invitation to all clubs to attend a road show presentation at Bready next month detailing the Cricket Ireland strategy for the period from 2016 to 2020.

The NW Indoor League gets under way tonight with the first set of fixture in the inaugural competition which will help NW clubs prepare for the coming season and shake off those winter blues.

Seeding has been introduced in the Ulster Bank Schools Cricket Cup for the first time with six teams receiving automatic entry into the second round.

If any club is looking to purchase cricket balls for the forthcoming season, the NWCU have once again struck a very competitive deal with Readers and offer this to any club throughout Ireland.

The latest details of coaching courses taking place in the NW region.

Cricket Ireland is seeking a consultant Head Coach for the North West Warriors Inter-Provincial senior men’s team, with suitable experience in coaching players and teams.

TEENAGE Coleraine cricketer Varun Chopra has spoken of his excitement after being named in the Ireland squad for the ICC Under-19 World Cup tournament which begins in Bangladesh at the end of this month.

Cricket Ireland are delighted to be able to announce the dates, times and venues for the 2016 UKCC Level 2 Certificate course.

Preparations are now well under way for the Ireland under-19 squad’s departure to the World Cup this weekend with five North West-based teenagers joining up with the rest of the party heading for Bangladesh.

The NWCU has released it's draft fixture list for the 2016 Premiership and Championship campaigns and has invited clubs to peruse the schedule before the forthcoming deadline for changes to be considered.

Ardmore have set their stall out to try to avoid any issues at the wrong end of the Premiership table in 2016 as the Bleachgreen side has unveiled three new signings who will join the squad for the forthcoming campaign.

The draws for the 2016 O’Neill’s Ulster Cups were made in Strabane and as always there are some mouth-watering contests for clubs and supporters to look forward to when the season gets under way.

Bready Cricket Club have announced that they have signed former West Indies "A" all-rounder Gavin Wallace aa Player/ Coach for the 2016 season.

Teams who want to enter must fill in the attached registration form and return it to brian.allen@cricketireland.ie
Registration forms must be received by noon Friday 15th January

There are two free places for each NW club at a seminar on generating income being held at Bready on Tuesday January 19th.

Seven of the North West's most talented young cricketers have been accepted onto the prestigious North West Talent Project.

The festive season brought some very bad news for the North West cricket community after it emerged that former Eglinton player and Union umpire, Warren Glenn, had passed away after a long illness.