Cricketers face tough opener this weekend

The Eaton Park side will probably be underdogs in this game but will certainly not travel without hope.

The fine batting track at Comber seems to suit Ballymena’s experienced batting line-up and they will certainly be encouraged by the memory of their surprisingly easy 8-wicket win in last season’s corresponding fixture.

However North Down look to have strengthened their line-up during the close season, with the signings of two Australians, one of whom, Tim Ley, is reputed to be a very useful opening bowler.

Ballymena will rely on exactly the same squad as last season.

Simon McDowell had hoped to remain as captain but has had to step down, largely due to work pressures.

Almost certainly he will be replaced by former captain James Kennedy, who is soon to return from spending the winter working in Sri Lanka.

Having James available for a full season will also add to Ballymena’s already strong batting line-up. Certainly a batting line-up of Kaushik Aphale, David Kennedy, James Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Robert McKinley, Andy Kirkpatrick and William Montgomery should score enough to give the Eaton Park a fighting chance in most of their games.

In terms of bowling strength, Ballymena would not claim to have one of the more penetrative attacks in NCU cricket.

However the experienced bowlers McDowell, Aphale, Michael Glass and Steve Lazars can normally be relied upon to keep things tight and hopefully the two promising young seam bowlers McKinley and Fergus Taylor will provide a cutting edge in the early overs. McKinley seems to have benefitted from having spent the winter playing club cricket in Australia and has been selected for the NCU Inter-provincial squad.

The major target for the Eaton Park squad this season is to retain their place in the highly-competitive eight team NCU Premier League.

The four or five top teams have all been able to strengthen their line-ups by attracting players, either from the North West clubs or from overseas.

This means that clubs like Ballymena and newly-promoted Lurgan, who both rely mainly on locally-based amateur players, will need to be at their very best to remain competitive.

However Ballymena will take encouragement from several against-the-odds victories in the last few seasons and should have enough batting depth to maintain their Premier League status.

* Meanwhile, a former Ballymena player has received the highest honour in Irish cricket.

Robin Walsh, who played for the club 50 years ago under the captaincy of the legendary Ossie Bailie, has been elected President of Cricket Ireland.

Walsh was part of a Ballymena squad under Bailie in the early 1960s which won its first senior trophy - the Senior Qualifying League- and which included Wilfie Ridge, Jimmy Forsythe, Colin McVicker, Wesley and Brian Cairns, Ivor Surgenor, Billy Spence, John Caldwell and Jackie Fullerton.

He now follows in the footsteps of Ballymena’s John Caldwell, a close friend, who was president of Irish cricket in 2008.