Greg Thompson still has fire in his belly, keen for more success as captain of a Waringstown side that has always been to the forefront of NCU and Irish cricket.

“This is my 25th season of senior cricket going all the way back to when I started as a 14-year-old at Lisburn,” said Thompson.

“The hunger and excitement are still very much there though. It doesn’t matter to me whether it’s cricket, hockey, chess or Mario games against the kids, I like to win.”

Thompson’s winning ethos was to the fore in his other sporting pursuit – hockey - over the close season

The former Ulster Senior and Lisnagarvey player is the current hockey coach at Royal School Armagh, who have just completed the double winning the Schools’ and Stevenson Cups. That has led Thompson and the School to be in the running at the upcoming prestigious Belfast Telegraph Sports Awards.

Capped at just 16 for Ireland – the youngest Irish men’s international breaking Eoin Morgan’s record – Thompson would go on to win 25 caps over a 15-year period in two spells.

“I reckon that will remain the record given the professional nature of things now,” said the 38-year-old. “I made my debut in 2004 playing against the MCC in the predominantly amateur era. Those types of games don’t come around often any more with the fixtures nowadays carrying more weight.

Thompson’s leg-breaks saw him offered trials at Hampshire, Northants, Middlesex and Lancashire, winning a two-year part-time deal with the latter’s Second XI. It didn’t materialise into a full-time career as his bowling prowess declined.

“I have no regrets about my Ireland career, I enjoyed it. Maybe, I’d have liked a few more telling contributions, but I was very young at the start and leg-spin was a difficult art to master. I had a good couple of years but if you’re not doing it every day then things can go wrong.”

“I had a growth spurt rather than the yips that led to a trajectory problem getting the ball to come back down. Getting the ball above the eyeline is important, so being 6 feet 2 inches rather than 5 feet 11 affected that.

“Of course, you’d love to be playing for Ireland now where there are professional contracts. I had a glimpse of that in my comeback as a specialist T20 batsman

“I never envisaged I would have gotten a second chance a decade later, but I was grateful for it. I would have maybe liked a few more caps than the 25 I got and gone to a few big tournaments, World Cups. However, I was trying to balance things then, being a teacher and also starting a family.

“Priorities change and I’ve now two young children, Jonah (six) and Olivia (four) with my wife Stephanie (née Quinn), who herself was part of a very successful Pegasus side that saw her also capped as a teenager with Ireland Hockey.”

Waringstown have strengthened over the winter, adding South African overseas professional Steve Stolk and local paceman Matthew Foster to their ranks.

“Steve has been here two weeks now and he’s certainly hit the ground running in the three friendly matches we’ve played including a 28-ball century against Armagh and 80 against Donacloney,” said a clearly impressed Thompson. “He seems like a great guy and came highly recommended. We can’t wait to see him in action in our first competitive game against Woodvale..

“Matthew Foster has also arrived from CSNI. He’s still got a bit of a side niggle he picked up while playing in Australia over the winter, so we will be cautious with him, but hopefully he should be fit to play in a couple of weeks.”

Graham Hume’s loss of an Ireland contract will also benefit Waringstown, with the all-rounder a key cog in their machine.

“It will be brilliant to have Graham Hume available all season. Ireland’s loss is our gain. The quality and experience that he brings is immense. The more matches we’ve had him in the side over the past number of years, the more successful we’ve been, so hopefully that trend will continue.

“We also have a number of very talented youngsters coming through. Josh Frogatt is going to play this weekend, while we also have Zayan Malik, who is a talented all-rounder progressing well through the ranks. He will certainly have opportunities too during the season. It’s good to have new blood at the club, keeping things fresh and competitive.”

Thompson has identified as Instonians being their main rivals for silverware.

“The standard of the league and clubs fluctuate at times, but given Instonians are the defending champions, and they will be the team to beat.

“They’ve added Matthew Humphreys as well so they’re looking strong. We fancy our chances though, and if we perform to our capabilities we’ll not be too far away in any of the competitions.”

The Irish Senior Cup is another competition very much on the radar for Waringstown and the record six-times winners face a star-studded Pembroke next week in the tie of the round.

“It couldn’t have been a much tougher draw, but it’s one of our aims to win the Irish Cup and you’re going to have beat teams of Pembroke’s quality at some stage. We are at home so that’s an advantage, but it’s a challenge facing a side with probably six internationals as well as some other quality club players.”