on the move
Play cricket, will travel
In December 1990, I resigned from my job at Newby’s carpets in Alrode, Alberton. I’d wangled a contract to coach and play cricket at a club in Northern Ireland called Donaghadee CC.
Where is this Donaghadee, you may ask?
Donaghadee, or the ‘Dee, as the locals call it, is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about 18 miles (29 km) east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) southeast of Bangor.
What did I know back then about Belfast and Northern Ireland in general?
Not much. I knew George Best and Norman Whiteside (Manchester United footballers) came from there. Also, punk-rockers the Undertones and ‘Van the Man’ Morrison, were natives of the northeastern corner of the Emerald Isle.
I had heard of
of course
The Troubles: were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted almost 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an “irregular war” or “low-level war”. The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilt over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
😎
January saw me relaxing at home, hanging out with my mates, and playing as much local club cricket for Alberton CC as possible. Because of some Irish Cricket Union rule, I had to reside in Ireland for three months before being eligible to play there.
February would see me hopping on a jet plane for the second half of the northern hemisphere winter and the next adventure in my life.
Life was good.
For What It's Worth 
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