Mr.Spireite, on 14 May 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:
Professionals in village cricket is laughable isn't it....
I've no issue with the likes of a county contracted player or good overseas getting paid in some way and as well as playing raising the profile of the club and helping with coaching of youngsters etc and my club were one that were certainly pushed on to do better than others would expect us to do on the back of a couple, and one in particular, very good overseas. We used to help with flight and accomodation more than pay on a match basis.
That said i do agree that far to many distinctly average players are now getting paid for just rolling up on a match day. However cricket in the top few divisions of the Derbsyshire County League is now a long way from your old village cricket knockabout. Some seriously good players and very competitive cricket being played. This is shown by the amount of players now in the county side that have or are playing local cricket recently.
The side they fielded at Hampshire featured 3 lads who have grown up playing the DCCL, one more in Durston that plays for Chesterfield when allowed and there are numerous others in the wings waiting to come in that also play league cricket.