Lisburn captain and coach connection central to club progress on multiple fronts

Both have progressed in major cup competitions and both finished in the league’s top six - but, perhaps most importantly, both brought in a new coach ahead of the campaign.

Former Ireland international Uel Graham is now in charge at Wallace Park and has played a key role in helping set Lisburn up to compete on all fronts in what has been a dream season to date.

Graham is no stranger to the Challenge Cup, having played in three finals for his home club which included a three-wicket win over North in 1985 and battling through with a broken thumb in the famous tie of 1995 against North Down.

After conversations with new captain Callum Atkinson during the winter – and only a couple of months after a hip replacement – the 55-year-old attended a few practice sessions to get a feel for a potential coaching role but quickly caught the bug and knew he was all in.

Lisburn finished last season bottom of the table with three wins from 14 matches, but flash forward 10 months or so later and they’ve opened up an eight-point gap at the top and have sealed progression to the latter stages of both the Challenge and Irish Senior cups.

They are on the verge of a truly historic season – the last time they won a league title was in 1993 and last outright win in the Challenge Cup was that 1985 success – and although not many on the outside had them down as a team that would be going deep in competitions, Graham felt the opposite.

An emphasis has been placed on individuals – taking responsibility for their performances, stepping up when the team requires – which ultimately has helped the collective.

“When you look at some of our stats, we have 10 guys who have made a contribution of 30-plus and it has been those vital contributions late on setting a score or chasing that has got us over the line in tight games,” said Graham. “We’ve seen greater contributions with the bat and lots of different players have come to the fore on different occasions.

“With the ball, we have seven or eight options and seven have bowled more than 50 overs and have double-digit wicket contributions.

“It has been that which has got us to the position we’re in now.”

It’s crucial that the captain-coach relationship thrives for a team to be pushing in the same direction in a successful environment and Graham has known Atkinson for well over 10 years through working as colleagues at the Northern Cricket Union and a young Atkinson even played in Graham’s final club game for Lisburn in May 2008!

There has been a sense of learning together as they go with both in new roles and along the way they’ve developed a winning formula.

“In our roles at the NCU we had been talking a lot about cricket generally and specifically around Lisburn, highlighting the good areas and some things that could be done to take it to the next level,” he added. “Those chats we had during the winter were about putting a plan in place for pre-season and trying to get outside as quickly as possible.

“We chatted about what we could do well and focused on our skills heading into each game, and to be fair to him, his captaincy has flourished taking soundbites from the likes of Faiz (Fazal) and myself, but very much making his decisions on the field.

“We’ve known each other a long time and the way I looked at it was to chat through, let him come up with his own suggestions, listen to what his thinking was and add anything where I felt it could be of benefit.”

Familiarity has been a theme running through the squad for Graham, whether it’s going back to his playing days or development roles within the NCU, he has worked with most of the players previously in some capacity which has helped with a seamless transition.

Despite their success though (they’ve only lost one 50-over match all season), he’s looking to keep their feet on the ground while also trying to strike a balance of enjoying the journey they’ve been on.

“I probably set the bar pretty high for myself and those around me which can be a detriment at times, but when we look at the start of the season our hopes were to break into the top-six and go on a cup run,” he added. “To be involved in three competitions in early July is great.

“But my job is to keep the guys firmly on the ground in conjunction with Callum but to enjoy where we’ve got to.

“It’s a cup semi-final on Saturday.

“But we’ve been very good at staying in the moment and not getting carried away with external noise.”