Ireland deserve World Cup slot

IT WAS brilliant to see Ireland playing England in a one-day international at Lord’s, even if it was probably a decade overdue. The day after Andrew Strauss hosted Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s performance director, in the ECB’s offices at Lord’s, discussing what Ireland need to do to ready themselves for Test cricket.

Both of these are welcome signs that, after too many years of acting as the bullying big brother, England now actually want to help grow cricket in Ireland – and Scotland and the Netherlands too. That is not only the right thing to do, but is also in England’s interests: greater attention on cricket in the rest of the continent will ultimately mean more cash for the English game.

But there is one glaring area where England’s newly enlightened attitude has a blindspot: The World Cup.While the ICC are pushing ahead with some vital reforms for the betterment of the global game, the 2019 World Cup remains a tenteam affair. As hosts, England are uniquely well-placed to do something about that; shamefully, they were among the biggest advocates of contracting the World Cup under the previous regime. And the sight of almost 25,000 at Lord’s, perhaps half cheering Ireland, shows the potential of the 2019 World Cup to galvanise not merely English cricket but the entire European game; a 14-team event, along the lines of the last two tournaments, would probably include not just Ireland but also Scotland and the Netherlands too.

If England really are serious about embracing their wider responsibilities to the sport, there is nowhere better to start than stopping the ludicrous restriction of the World Cup.