Templepatrick Cricket Club is a cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

 club in Ballyclare

Ballyclare

Ballyclare is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,770 people in the 2001 Census...

, County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, playing in Section 2 of the NCU Senior League

NCU Senior League

The Northern Cricket Union Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland, which covers counties Antrim, Armagh, Down and south Tyrone of Northern Ireland. The league was formed in 1897 and is currently divided into four sections, namely the Premier League,...

.

The club was founded in 1969. The club joined the Northern Cricket Union in 1976.

On field progress

The club was founded in 1969 and played for two years in the Boys' Brigade 20 Overs Evening Cricket League before gaining admittance to the now defunct Belfast Cricket League in 1971. After using Belfast City Council owned pitches for their entire history, Templepatrick found a permanent home of its own in 1996 when they were invited to join up with Ballyclare Rugby Club at Cloughan Lane in Ballyclare.

For many years, Templepatrick played in the bottom rung of Northern Cricket Union senior cricket before finally gaining promotion in 2003.

Ground development and coaching

The club is noted for its efforts in youth cricket and coaching, achieving accreditation through the Clubmark NI programme of Sport Northern Ireland. The leader of the coaching team, Andy McCrea, was awarded the Outstanding Coaching Award at the ECB Sky Sports Coach Awards 2011. Their efforts in coaching have been matched by major ground improvements, laying a new cricket square at their Cloughan Lane ground, drainage work and developing a four-bay outdoor practice facility.

External links

• Templepatrick Cricket Club