***Unofficial*** Ireland Discussion Thread

[Hurricane]

Stop U2 from performing.

 

[Umar_Akmal]

They have already beaten 3 full member sides, Pakistan , Bangladesh, and England.

What else do they have to do? What are the requirements?

Kenya also beat WI ,India. Why dont give them test status as well?? Instead of demanding test status after every fluke ODI or 20/20 win, Irleland should concentrate on winning ODI series consistently against strong teams.

 

[gvenkat]

For a start, England should stop picking their players. For that they need a better domestic structure.

 

[Umar_Akmal]

For a start, England should stop picking their players. For that they need a better domestic structure.

Why dont Irish players say no to England??

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Because they play all their first-class cricket in the English system, and there's currently (due to a lack of full membership and proper Irish domestic structure) no real career or future in playing cricket exclusively for Ireland.

 

[Hurricane]

Unless Ireland want to join forces with Scotland and the Netherlands then I would not let them in.
Honestly I think we have enough weak teams with test status. Until Bangladesh improved * (realise they took a step back against Zimbos in their test) it was a chore to play against them. When Zimbos and Bangers are competing well against the likes of New Zealand then we can admit Ireland. I think it just devalues what test cricket is all about if we have too many teams where the opening bowlers average 40 and there is only one test match standard batsman.

I do agree with Ireland being allowed to be at the world cup. And I think a player should only have to stand down for a year after playing for England before playing for Ireland.

 

[andmark]

A big thing going against Ireland is the shortage of facilities. England were playing Ireland in a ground that was little above village standards. To host test matches, Ireland realistically need more and better stadia, which would require huge amounts of funding. Funding which would be hard to come by due to the country's poor economy and the lack of demand for the sport in Ireland.

The lack of funding also means Irish cricketers would have to recieve (comparatively) small wages, which would obviously push against the thought of using Cricket as a career choice for Irish cricketers.

 

[andruid]

Let's face it. Nobody's getting test status very soon because.

1. Assocites can't muster the resources to make teams strong enough to consistently beat the heavily India subsidized Full memebers to merit Test status on the field.

2. The Full members won't come clean on what criteria they used to decide why the teams got test status when they did (granted some have swum like Sri Lanka whilst others like bangladesh look like sinking)

3. None of the factions in the ICC exec Commitee that votes on this things can garner the support necessary to bring on board any new test teams.

 

[BoyBrumby]

A big thing going against Ireland is the shortage of facilities. England were playing Ireland in a ground that was little above village standards. To host test matches, Ireland realistically need more and better stadia, which would require huge amounts of funding. Funding which would be hard to come by due to the country's poor economy and the lack of demand for the sport in Ireland.

The lack of funding also means Irish cricketers would have to recieve (comparatively) small wages, which would obviously push against the thought of using Cricket as a career choice for Irish cricketers.

If they did ever get test status Ireland could use Croke Park or (more likely given the GAA's traditional antipathy towards "English" sports) Landsdowne Road with a drop-in pitch; off the top of my head the new stadium holds about 50,000. Lots of stadia in Oz & NZ are multi-purpose, so there's no reason Ireland would need a specialist arena.

The lack of funding would be more of an issue and Ireland do seem determined to "go it alone" & set up their own first class game, but I'd still like to see an Irish FC entity in the county championship.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Yeah, just play it in people's backyards like here in NZ. Works fine.

 

[Son Of Coco]

They need to get Brian McFadden and Ronan Keating to **** off back home and stop judging ****house Aussie talent shows for a start. Until that happens there's no way Australia will support them becoming a test nation.

 

[andmark]

If they did ever get test status Ireland could use Croke Park or (more likely given the GAA's traditional antipathy towards "English" sports) Landsdowne Road with a drop-in pitch; off the top of my head the new stadium holds about 50,000. Lots of stadia in Oz & NZ are multi-purpose, so there's no reason Ireland would need a specialist arena.

The lack of funding would be more of an issue and Ireland do seem determined to "go it alone" & set up their own first class game, but I'd still like to see an Irish FC entity in the county championship.

Yeah, if they were to add Cricket as another use of stadia, then that's fine. The only problem which might occur then is possible clashes in the need to use the stadia between two sports (i.e a Cricket and Rugby match)- but you'd imagine common sense would avoid that hurdle. In a perfect scanario though, specialist stadia would be needed.

I'm not sure on Ireland being in Championship (forgive if I've misunderstood you here). I think "Ireland" playing in county cricket is damaging its reputation as a completely independent cricketing state. If Ireland were to have a presence in the Championship, it would have to be a county, rather than "Ireland", like in the one day tournaments.

 

[IrishOpener]

Tim Murtagh selected for Ireland squad...

Murtagh relishing Irish challenge What do people think?, I think he will add experience to the side, and is a very fast and tidy bowler, and a very decent lower order batsman...

 

[thierry henry]

Is there a Riggs in the squad?

 

[IrishOpener]

Riggs?, what do you mean?, ...

 

[silentstriker]

Surely not a long term solution...

 

[IrishOpener]

Surely not a long term solution...

Well he's only 30, he's not exactly old. Though I would hope we would continue to bring in more youth,

''One richly talented schoolboy, Jordan Coghlan, is on his way too, once the Leaving Certificate is put to bed. The Clontarf fast bowler has already had a successful trial with Hampshire, but Sussex are also keen to contract him.''

''The future on the field remains bright, a healthy number of the youngsters left behind have already started careers in England, with Craig Young (Sussex), Graeme McCarter (Gloucestershire), James Shannon (Worcestershire), Stuart Poynter (Middlesex) and Shane Getkate (Warwickshire) among those bidding to join the squad in the near future. Others have opted to study in English universities just to enjoy three or four games against counties each summer.''

''Graeme McCarter is an all-round sportsman who's right-arm pace has an approach reminiscent of Brett Lee.''...

 

[TT Boy]

Better bowler than Rankin for me, so he is already Ireland's best quick. Really handy player for Ireland to call upon.

 

[IrishOpener]

Also Rankin is far better in the four-day format, he's not very good at T20 or ODI's, I think Tim will be a vital part of the team, he's got 1700 or so runs at FC level, considering he bats at No.10 or so, that's pretty good. Also his best figures for T20 are 6/24, which isn't bad ...

 

[silentstriker]

he's not exactly old..

Like Riggs, you can will it not to happen.