EVER since Ireland scored an astonishing victory against England in the 2011 World Cup on Bangalore soil, there have been more impassioned calls for the Boys in Green to play Test cricket.
It’s a debate that gets reignited when Ireland step onto the world stage, but one which is at risk of falling on deaf ears. Their participation in this year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, sadly, may be their last.
As three-time World Cup veteran Ed Joyce explains from Brisbane, the venue for Ireland’s second fixture against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he feels the responsibility falls on his shoulders to rally support in challenging the team’s fate awarded to them by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“As a senior member of the squad I'm duty bound to try and spread the gospel of the game,” he says. “It's very frustrating to see the next World Cup is 10 teams and that Test cricket is effectively a close shop for us,” he says.
“The only way to try and change that is by getting a bit of coverage in the media and obviously winning games. Big games against the West Indies gives us a bit of an audience as well so people tend to listen more when you're actually winning and performing. I think there is an audience and a thirst for the game at home that maybe people don't understand.”
Despite the challenge facing Ireland to fight for a place alongside the 10 Full Member nations in the future, Joyce believes that garnering support for the team will be key in driving forward change.
“I think Irish people seem to get behind any sporting team that does well, and we want to just make sure that our Irish cricket team is able to play in these tournaments in the future,” he adds. “If we can't we're going to make some noise about it and try and change people's minds.”
Ireland have the backing of West Indies great Michael Holding and former England captain Michael Atherton, who believe that Test cricket is the deserved next move for the country.
It’s a time when the sport is fast growing at home, and the ICC’s mantra is to promote the game globally. But, the Dubliner points out the irony, that the proposed changes to the 2019 World Cup format are effectively doing the reverse. He agrees that the actions by cricket’s international governing body are hypocritical.
“It’s hindering (the progression of Ireland cricket), it doesn’t make sense to me at all,” he says. “We need to highlight the fact that we feel that what is going on is very unfair and not in the best interests of the game. It’s one step forward and a couple of steps backwards.
“One of the arguments for smaller, better amount of teams is to have a shorter World Cup, but ironically the 10 team World Cup proposed is longer, it doesn’t stack up at all.”
Along with Ireland, “Associate Members” Scotland, the UAE and debutants Afghanistan will also be facing a steep battle to qualify for the next tournament.
The danger is that the Boys in Green face becoming a “feeder nation” to England, with home grown players seeking competitive games across the Irish Sea. A number of Ireland’s cricketers ply their trade in England’s county cricket teams, including Niall O’Brien (Leicestershire), Paul Stirling (Middlesex), Gary Wilson (Surrey) and Joyce himself.
The Sussex captain is one of three prominent Irish cricketers who, in recent years, have highlighted the threat the national team faces of not being able to play Test cricket. He represented England during their 2006 Ashes tour, before switching his allegiance back to Ireland to continue his career.
Irishman Eoin Morgan is the current England captain (Photo: Getty Images)“There’s no doubt that if Boyd Rankin and Eoin Morgan were playing for us that’d make a stronger side, and it’s disappointing we don’t have them,” he says. “Eoin's obviously England captain, so he's still highly thought of over there, he's world class. And Boyd, the one 90 mile an hour bowler that we've had in the last ten years, so it would be great if we had both but we don't.
“If the 2019 World Cup goes ahead as 10 teams we revert to being very unimportant and a country that doesn't get any games. The only option for our guys then is to go over and play county cricket and ultimately play for England. It'd be a feeder team basically, it would be a very sad situation but unless we do qualify for it then I can't see any other alternative.”
Ireland take on the UAE, the only team ranked below them in the group, on Wednesday, February 25 in Brisbane; a match they should win if they are to progress to the quarterfinals.
They then head to Canberra for their following match against South Africa. The game kicks off a challenging period for the squad in which they play remaining Pool B opponents, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and India.
“The toughest ones are going to be South Africa and India, we've hardly played against the sides. India are the World Cup holders so they're obviously a brilliant side and South Africa probably have pace-attack that really only Australia can match, so that's going to be a very different challenge for us than other teams. They're two of the favourites for the competition, they're just top quality sides so it's going to be tough to win those games.
“Pakistan are a team that could be brilliant on the day, but you never know really what you're up against, and obviously, Zimbabwe we'd put ourselves on a level with them. They're a similar team to us so that's going to be a tough game but I think it's a very winnable game if we play well.”
With ever-increasing eyes on Ireland’s current string of performances in light of the debate surrounding the status of the national team, Joyce believes that the younger members of the squad are handling the pressure well. George Dockrell may be one of the fresher faces at 22-years-old, but he has nothing but praise for the bowler.
“George is one of those brilliant at taking pressure,” Joyce says. “He played in the last World Cup against India. You’ve got Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni in that game, they're legends.
“For Andy McBrine, who hadn't played any World Cup games before, to come in and bowl ten overs for 28 against that batting line up (against West Indies), especially to bowl against the power players, is an amazing effort. Andrew Balbirnie's just come in the squad and looks really at home already, it bodes well for the future.”
In addition, Joyce commends the brilliant support that Irish and adopted-Irish fans have given the team during their World Cup journey thus far. But he laments the missed opportunity to play in front of bigger Irish crowds in other notable venues.
“We saw a good few Gaelic shirts and rugby shirts at the first game in Nelson, and there’s rumoured to be quite a big contingent in Brisbane as well. It’s a real pity we’re not playing in Melbourne, Sydney or Perth because there’s a huge expat community there, lots of travelling Irish. The support’s a great thing to have and we really appreciate it.”
