Ireland risk FP future

The Irish Cricket Union (ICU) are prepared to risk the wrath of the ECB by playing two ODIs in June, before the offshore bilateral series between India and South Africa in the country. The already-arranged series forms part of the BCCI’s deal with Zee TV.

“The ICU are free to sell those two matches and it is a chance for us to see how the world values Irish cricket after our success at the World Cup,” Warren Deutrom, ICU chief executive, told Cricinfo. “This is a great opportunity for us to bring vital money into the game and we just couldn’t turn it down.”

The ECB are unhappy with the games because they clash with England’s Twenty20 and One-Day Internationals against West Indies.

“I understand the concerns of the ECB, which involve the potential clashes with England matches on June 29 and July 1, but there have been many other cases where more than one international match has been staged on the same day. The main reason India and South Africa are coming over to play each other and Ireland wouldn’t have had the chance to arrange their own matches if we’d turned down the chance to host the series,” added Deutrom.

There has been no official word yet from the ECB on Ireland’s future in the Friends Provident Trophy, this season’s competition which is already underway. Ireland have lost all four of their matches so far.