News

The Derry Midweek League (DML), founded in 1927, presented cheques worth almost £6,000 to local charities in the North West region last week.
The league was originally founded to give those unable to play weekend cricket opportunities to play the game, and has grown over the years to now run junior leagues and until recently, women’s cricket and the Faughan Valley cup.

The DML is a non-profit organisation ran by volunteers, with any fees or monies collected over the course of the year being donated to several local charities covering he whole region. During 2014 a total of £5,950 was raised, which was divided among 23 deserving charities.

Secretary James Colhoun spoke about how nice it was to give back to charities in the region “With the large family connections within cricket there are always going to be families that have links or contact with these charities so it has always been a way that sport gives back to those less fortunate.”

The DML has always relied on hard working volunteers to run the leagues, and traditionally ran as a separate entity to the NWCU, but in recent years the two have started to interact more to support each other in developing cricket.

Running league sections across Tyrone, Derry and Roe Valley is a great achievement, and the continued success of the leagues is testament to the hard work of long time committee members such as David Caldwell, Lexie Miller, Drew Downey and the late Sam McConnell, who unfortunately passed away in March.

Lexie Miller, who has been involved for 50 years has recently retired from his role patron of the leagues, but David Caldwell, who was recently recognised for his services to cricket by the ECB, will continue to be involved as President of the DML.

Whilst the £5,950 raised, and the amount of cricket organised during 2014 is a huge achievement in itself, the leagues are still looking to expand and do more for the community. James Colhoun, having finished his first year as secretary, is keen to see the league work closer with the NWCU and promote cricket in local schools and clubs.

“In the new year I will be looking at the charitable status of the Midweek and how to improve it – as there are a lot of things which can aid making the DML effectively become a cricket development section of cricket in the NW while keeping its charitable role within the community.”

The hard work of volunteers who give up so much time in order to ensure any league is administrated and ran successfully is often overlooked, and the work of the Derry Midweek League requires special recognition in light of the huge amount of support they give back to the local community.

During 2015 the NWCU and DML will continue to work together to develop and improve cricket in the region, providing more opportunities for teams and youngsters to play the game.

The charities supported by the Derry Midweek League in 2014 were:

• Dennett Interchange
• Donemana MotorNeurone Association
• Talkback Talking Newspaper—Strabane
• Leckpatrick and Dunnalong Luncheon Club
• Multiple Sclerosis Association – Strabane
• Foyleview Special Care Association
• N.I. Childrens Hospice
• Alzhemiers Disease Society
• N.I. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
• Caw /Nelson Drive Action Group
• Multiple Sclerosis Association – L’derry

• Talkback Talking Newspaper – L’derry
• Parkinson’s Disease Society- L’derry
• Heartbeat – Children L’derry
• Northwest Association of Hearing
• Concern
• The Samaritans – L’derry
• McMillan Cancer Support
• Friends of Spruce House
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Age NI
• Cancer Research UK
• SACA

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