Ireland’s domestic game may become first-class
IN EARLY August, an ICC inspection team will attend a match in the Irish InterProvincial Series. They will be there to assess the merits of Ireland’s premier domestic competition, and whether it is worthy of being awarded firstclass status.
If Ireland are successful it would be another pivotal moment in the country’s cricketing development. It would send a message to sponsors and fans about the quality of cricket played within the Emerald Isle, and tell players they did not need to play for an English county to enjoy a good standard of domestic cricket.
Most importantly, it would be a symbol of Irish cricket gaining recognition: never before has a domestic competition gained first-class status in a non-Test country. Ireland, of course, will hope that this is the prelude to the country gaining full Test status in 2019.
But how are the rest of the world meant to believe in Irish domestic cricket if Ireland themselves do not? It is a question that has been posed after John Anderson was omitted from Ireland’s ODI squad to face Sri Lanka on June 16 and 18.
Anderson is an Irish batsman who has long been on the fringes of the national team – he made a century in an Intercontinental Cup game against the Netherlands in 2013 and now skippers Leinster Lightning.
Across the three formats of the Inter-Pros so far this season, he’s made 135 not out, 2, 77 and 87 across his last four innings, to go with a stack of runs in club cricket.
These runs were enough to earn a mention from Ireland’s coach, John Bracewell, but only to single Anderson out for being unlucky. “What is the point of Inter-Provincial cricket if you cannot get an international call?”asked his furious Leinster coach Ted Williamson.
He rather had a point.