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Where do Ireland go from here?

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Roar Rookie
26th July, 2019
36

So, in the end, there wasn’t much hope. If Ireland had not played so well on the first two days, it would not hurt so much to see it end this way.

Better sides than Ireland have found it difficult chasing smallish targets against canny bowlers under a cloudy sky. It is easy to look back on how it could have been different. The first innings was crucial – Ireland’s collapse from 2/133 to 207 all-out let England back in the game. Sam Curran’s quick runs in England’s second innings also made an enormous difference, hauling his side from 8/248-8 to 9/293.

At the same time, William Porterfield and coach Graham Ford will surely be doing a lot of soul-searching after such a disastrous capitulation. As proud as Irish fans will be of their team’s overall performance here, it is important that we don’t let such collapses go unlamented and unexamined.

That said, it is worth remembering just how long it took other countries to record their first Test match victories.

India took 21 years and 24 matches. New Zealand took 26 years and 45 matches, despite having legendary talents like Bert Sutcliffe and Martin Donnelly in that period. South Africa lost all but one of their first eleven Tests, before recording their first victory in 1906.

It will not take Ireland so long, both on the evidence of their fine performance here, and because there are plenty of beatable teams around in modern cricket. But consistently competitive Test teams have a long gestation period.

It is vitally important to take action to safeguard Ireland’s international future. Of course, we need to ‘water’ the grassroots – more players, more clubs, more kids, more fans. But there are also three vital steps that need to be taken at the elite level.

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Firstly, we need a dedicated international-calibre cricket stadium on the island. Presently, marquee fixtures are played in front of literal marquees at Malahide, an hour north of Dublin.

Cricket Ireland has been putting up temporary stands for high profile fixtures, at no little expense. Other matches are played at what are essentially club grounds, at Stormont near Belfast and Bready near Londonderry. A permanent stadium in Dublin or Belfast will make it far easier and more profitable to host home Tests.

Secondly, Ireland need to play more Tests. Presently, we have ten matches pencilled in between now and October 2022. Three of these, however, are against Zimbabwe, who are currently suspended by the ICC for political interference. We need more opportunities against top sides like England, as well as longer series against mid-ranking sides.

Thirdly, we need to expand the Interprovincial first-class competition. At the moment, there are three teams, who play just four matches each per season. Simply playing more matches would be a start.

Building a new stadium is a matter of investment, government support, and time. However, there is a simple partial solution to the other two problems.

Fast-track Scotland to full membership.

Scotland have had excellent results in limited overs matches recently, beating England last year and proving themselves virtually equal with Ireland and Afghanistan. They have a strong, mostly home-grown side; realistically they are in the same place Ireland was four or five years ago.

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Having both Ireland and Scotland playing Tests would be mutually beneficial. They would be able to play each other frequently, potentially every year. These matches would be well-contested, and could be played at relatively low cost.

Ireland and Scotland could also share a first-class structure. Six teams – based in Belfast, Dublin, Londonderry, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen – playing ten matches per season, along with one-dayers and T20s. There is no reason why this cannot be put in motion even before Scotland are given full membership.

The upcoming Euro T20 franchise series, featuring teams from Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, will hopefully prove that such international cooperation can work. After all, it has worked in the rugby for years: Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Italian and even South African teams all play in the Pro 14.

This Hiberno-Scottish competition may never reach the standard of the County Championship or Sheffield Shield. It doesn’t need to. New Zealand’s Plunkett Shield, with all due respect, has never aspired to such heights, but has produced consistently competitive international teams for years.

Ireland’s first-innings demolition of England shows how much potential there is for cricket on the island. Their fourth-innings capitulation shows how much work remains to be done. It will require hard graft from the team, vision from Cricket Ireland, support from the ICC, and most likely investment from the British and Irish governments.

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