Sport Specsavers Test
By Tim Wigmore
The England and Wales Cricket
Board should use the opportunity
created by the World Cup to create
a wider legacy for the sport, Steve
Elworthy, the managing director of
the World Cup, has said.
“I want people to be talking
about this tournament in 20 years’
time,” Elworthy said. “It’s up to the
governing bodies to drive the op-
portunity that success brings. It’s
the ECB’s role to drive this.”
The ECB has extended the All
Stars cricket programme, for chil-
dren aged from five to eight, in an
attempt to capitalise on renewed
interest in cricket. All Stars will
now run for the next two months.
Half of all ticket buyers for the
World Cup supported the five Asian
teams – India, Bangladesh, Paki-
stan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan –
according to data collected.
Engaging the British Asian commu-
nity more regularly is a priority for
the ECB, with the Hundred tourna-
ment launching next year – which
Elworthy is helping organise –
identified as key in the ECB’s plans.
There were 888,000 tickets sold
for the World Cup, and another
310,000 supporters attending fan
zones, according to the organising
committee. While 43 per cent of
ticket buyers supported England,
the second-most supported team
were India (32 per cent), followed
by Pakistan (10 per cent).
The competition was the third-
most watched global sporting
event, according to International
Cricket Council data, behind only
the men’s football World Cup and
the Olympic Games.
The MCC have bowed to the crip-
pling heat forecast today and re-
laxed the rule that members must
wear a jacket to enter the Pavilion
at Lord’s.
It is the first time that the dress
code has been relaxed so far for an
international match at the home of
cricket. Male members have been
allowed to remove their jackets in
the pavilion during England
matches in the past, but they always
had to at least arrive with one.
A similar decision was at a
Twenty20 Blast fixture last sum-
mer, when members and their
guests entering the pavilion were
allowed to arrive in shirt sleeves.
Ahead of the first Test between
England and Ireland, the MCC
wrote on Twitter. “In light of the
heatwave forecast for the first two
days of the #ENGvIRE Test, MCC
has decided to dispense with the re-
quirement for members to wear
jackets to the ground and in the Pa-
vilion on days one and two.”
Temperatures are expected to
exceed 31C in the capital today.
Hallowed turf: James Shannon (left)
and Kevin O’Brien walk to the nets to
tune up for Ireland’s first Lord’s TestChampagne and cash crisis on
I
n a swanky hotel in London
two years ago, Cricket
Ireland’s executives
celebrated until the early
hours. And with good reason:
Ireland had just been
awarded full member and Test
status by the International Cricket
Council. This was vindication both
for Ireland’s successes on the field- they won five games against Test
opposition across the 2007-15
World Cups, more than England –
and their relentless politicking off
the field.
The two years since, leading up
to Ireland’s maiden Test at Lord’s,
have not been without tumult.
Several crucial players, most
notably Ed Joyce, have retired. For
the first time since 2003, Ireland
failed to qualify for the World Cup,
losing a winner-takes-all qualifying
game against Afghanistan.
A cash-flow crisis last year led
chief executive Warren Deutrom to
give the organisation an
emergency loan. Cricket Ireland
was even the victim of cyber fraud,
which it has said cost a six-figure
sum.
Acquiring full-member status
has brought unforeseen problems.
One figure who has coached a
number of Ireland’s most talented
players frets that “Test status could
be the worst thing ever to happen
to Irish cricket”.
Ostensibly, it sounds like a
bizarre concern. Full-member
status has opened up new sources
of funding from the ICC. It has also
brought a regular supply of fixtures
that Ireland lacked; they played
just nine one-day internationals
against Test teams in the four years
after beating England in the 2011
World Cup. But full-member status
has come at a cost: county cricket.
After Ed Joyce became the first
cricketer who had grown up in
Ireland to establish a long-term
professional career for 50 years at
the end of the 1990s, most of
Ireland’s most successful players
were moulded in the county game.
They benefited from a quality of
coaching, facilities and exposure to
high quality players utterly
removed from what they would
have received at home. Eight
members of the side who beat
England in 2011 had played
first-team county cricket.
But when Ireland gained Test
status, the England and Wales
Cricket Board ruled that Irish
players would no longer count as
local players, from the end of 2019.
This has spawned two great
concerns. The first is that the best
young Irish players will not be able
to improve at such a rate. Cricket
Ireland still lacks an indoor school - though one is being built – and
finding grass nets that are free can
be a struggle. The first-class
structure comprises just three
teams playing four three-day
games each a season.
“The biggest thing is getting
Ireland’s Test status was
initially celebrated but it
has had its downsides,
writes Tim Wigmore
Player by player Guide to
probable Ireland team
William Porterfield (Age: 34)
Captain spent over a decade on
county scene. Now with Ulster
side North West Warriors and
one of 19 Irish players on a
central contract.
James McCollum (23)
Son of Cricket Ireland chairman
Ross McCollum. Made his
international debut this year
after impressing in Ireland’s
inter-provincial championship.
Andrew Balbirnie (28)
Leading run-scorer in last year’s
provincial championship.
Graduate of Middlesex academy
now plays for Leinster Lightning.
Paul Stirling (28)
A clubmate of Eoin Morgan’s at
Middlesex, Stirling’s big hitting
has earned him contracts on the
international Twenty20 scene.
Kevin O’Brien (35)
All-rounder spent seven years in
county game and is now with
Leinster. Scored a century in
Ireland’s inaugural Test against
Pakistan last year.
Gary Wilson (33)
Wicketkeeper spent eight years
at Surrey and two at Derbyshire
before joining Ulster provincial
side Northern Knights last year.
Mark Adair (23)
Seamer made first-class debut
for Warwickshire while a
teenager, but released in 2017.
Now with Northern Knights.
Stuart Thompson (27)
All-rounder scored 50 in the
Pakistan Test. Seam bowler
reclaimed Ireland place after a
break from game to treat anxiety.
Andy McBrine (26)
Considered an all-rounder,
though initially nailed a place in
the team through his off-spin.
Boyd Rankin (35)
Fast bowler left Warwickshire
last year after a decade with the
county. Played one disastrous
Test for England in Sydney on
2013-14 Ashes tour.
Tim Murtagh (37)
London-born bowler played for
England Under-19s before
switching allegiance, qualifying
through his grandfather. At
Middlesex since 2007.ECB urged to
drive World
Cup legacy
MCC drop
jacket rule
as heat rises
volume and standard of cricket
into all our domestic cricketers,
especially having lost out on
county cricket,” said William
Porterfield, Ireland’s captain.
The second fear is that being
denied access to county cricket as
local players will deprive Ireland of
their best players. There is a strong
possibility that Tim Murtagh will
retire from international duty to
extend his county career with
Middlesex.
Even more worryingly, it is still
unclear whether Paul Stirling, who
is 28 and one of Ireland’s two best
batsmen, will choose a county
contract with Middlesex as a local
player or to continue his
international career while playing
domestic cricket in Northern
Ireland after this season.
Full-member status has led to
Ireland’s funding from the ICCdoubling to £4 million a year, but
this remains under one-third of
what the bulk of Test nations
receive. The costs of hosting extra
fixtures, and paying central
contracts of players who previously
earned most their cash from
counties has absorbed much of this
cash. “We’ve had to be very
careful, one with our money and
two with our priorities,” says
Richard Holdsworth, Ireland’s
performance director.
Yet there is also excitement
about the possibilities that lie
ahead. A 3-0 ODI series victory
over Zimbabwe this summer,
following on from impressive
victories by the second-string
Wolves team over the full sidesfrom Bangladesh and Zimbabwe,
augurs well. Ireland now have
their own franchise T20
competition, with a cross-nation
venture with Scotland and Holland
launching next month.
Most importantly, the image of
cricket in Ireland as a game for
“West Brits” is being eroded. Joyce
used to hide his bat on the train in
Dublin. Now, cricket has a more
inclusive image.
Cricket Ireland has consciously
tried to imitate New Zealand’s
model, informing its heightened
investment in its A-team
programme. Holdsworth visited
his equivalent in New Zealand last
year. “We’ve gained a huge amount
from them,” he says.
Developing Irish cricket remains
an unfinished project, but just
playing a Test at Lord’s will be a
celebration of Ireland’s journey.4 *** Wednesday 24 July 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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