Ireland confident in testing times

Sunday Business Post - Business of Sport - Aug 23 2009

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Everyone involved with the Irish cricket team is looking forward to taking on England in a one-day cricket international in Belfast on Thursday, according to the chairman of cricket for Cricket Ireland.

‘‘The England fixture is a massive event for everybody connected with Cricket Ireland,” said Joe Doherty.

‘‘As a one-off fixture, it would always be the showpiece of any year, but it is not just a meaningless friendly against one of the ‘big’ nations. It is a full ranking ODI (one-day international) that carries global ranking points for both countries and also serves as a benchmark for our own progress,” he said.

The match, sponsored by RSA Insurance, was the only chance to see top-level international cricket in Ireland this year, he said. It will be England’s first game after the final Test of the current Ashes series with Australia.

‘‘Tickets are selling strongly, and we expect the Stormont ground to be packed on the day,” he said. ‘‘The fixture is also attracting strong interest from groups making block bookings for corporate, club and social entertainment in the marquees.”

The game will be the third one-day international in three years between the two nations.

Although England have won both games so far, including a meeting during the 2007World Cup in Guyana, Ireland were not outclassed on either occasion. Given the timing this time around, they will fancy their chances of an upset on Thursday.

Ireland will have a full strength team to call on, including captain William Porterfield and England-based players Niall O’Brien and Boyd Rankin.

‘‘The coach and selectors have a full complement of players available,” said Doherty. ‘‘All our players are looking forward to another joust against the English.”

The Irish team is also involved in the Intercontinental Cup - the main competition for second tier cricketing nations.

‘‘We are proud holders of the trophy won in South Africa last winter, and have now won it on three successive occasions,” said Doherty. ‘‘It is a benchmark trophy for International Cricket Council [ICC] purposes, and an indicator of the ‘best of the rest’ outside the Test cricketing family. So far this year, we have had the better of a rain-affected draw against Kenya in July and performed well again against Scotland this week.”

Barring a win against England on Thursday, the highlight of the year for Irish cricket will remain June’s world T20 tournament in London, where Ireland beat Bangladesh to make the Super 8 stage.

Doherty said a successful qualification for next year’s World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies in April, was now expected of the Irish team.

‘‘We are determined to qualify again, and we will have all our top players available,” he said. ‘‘We are in no way complacent though, as aT20match can hinge on one good performance from one player on either side. Our T20 skills are being honed all the time and we hope to have the players at peak performance level, mentally and physically, come February’s qualifying tournament in the UAE.”

Off the field, the major development at Cricket Ireland this summer has been the recruitment of Mark Garaway as the sport’s new director of cricket operations, a position funded by the ICC to improve the standard and profile of cricket in Ireland.

‘‘Although only 35,Mark is vastly experienced at playing, coaching, analysis and cricket administration,” said Doherty. ‘‘In the England camp, he was responsible for providing specialist technical support to successive coaches, including Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower.

‘‘We are confident that, as well as improving participation, development and coaching throughout Ireland, he will be a precious asset to coach Phil Simmons and the playing staff. We are excited about him coming on board.”

Garaway’s brief will include preparing Ireland for possible elevation to the ranks of full Test-playing cricket nations, said Doherty.

‘‘Test cricket is not feasible in Ireland in the short term due to logistical considerations, such as stadia, quality of pitches, core support for the game and working capital,” he said. ‘‘In the medium term, however, many of these issues could be addressed. The future structure of Test cricket is by no means set in stone.

‘‘Our medium-term goal is to be ranked in the world’s top eight by 2015,up from our position of tenth,” said Doherty. ‘‘Our strategic plans reflect the steps necessary to achieve that goal and we are undergoing a review of our domestic game to get the basics right.

‘‘Next year we will host Australia in another ODI, and we have negotiated an arrangement to alternate visits from the ‘big two’ from now on. Mark Garaway is joining us at the perfect time.”

He added that the rising profile of the Irish cricket team, especially since the World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, had led to an increase in the numbers playing the game.

‘‘Participation levels have definitely increased since 2007, and organised cricket is being played again in parts of Ireland where it had never been formally played or where it had lain dormant for more than a century,” he said.

‘‘We are currently providing development support to groups in counties Roscommon and Sligo and in the city of Derry, for example, where cricket had been in decline since the outbreak of the Troubles. We need to expand the core base of participation and active interest to give us a chance of recurring success at international level, competing, as we do, against countries with vast cricketing populations.”

Attaining test status would help to halt the steady flow of Irish-born players, such as Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan (who is in the England squad for this week’s match) to other countries, said Doherty.

‘‘In the short term, the loss of players like Ed and Eoin will continue to be a challenge, but we respect our young cricketers’ healthy ambitions. For those two, England was the only Test show in town,” he said. ‘‘Until and unless we can offer meaningful Test or ‘new Test’ status to our players, that anomaly will continue to exist and frustrate us.”