Irish Cricket: The long wait on the threshold

The Irish team celebrate on the stage after their victory over Afghanistan in the ICC World T20 qualifier

News ticker on the television ran with the words ‘Ireland upset West Indies in the first T20’. The word ‘upset’ just didn’t sound right to me. Ireland is currently ranked above all non-Test playing nations in the ICC T20 rankings. In most of the 50-over games this Irish side had played, they have left a mark. Their growth in ODIs has been steeper than most of the international teams.

Why then the world is still using the proverbial ‘flash in the pan’ statements to take the sheen off their wins? Why is the ICC not taking steps to ensure the Irish team plays more bilateral ODI series with the Test-playing nations?

Back in 1993 when Ireland became an Associate member of the ICC, it was a young team of cricketers who had done well in counties. They had a cricketing history in the buildup to that feat. In the early and mid-1900s, they had defeated touring South African and Clive Lloyd-led test sides in first class matches.

However, the only side they played regularly was that of the Scots, for almost a century. They even beat Scotland in the race to ICC Associate Club by a year. The Irish team almost made it to the 1999 World Cup, when it lost to the familiar Scots in the third-place play-off match in ICC World Cup Qualifiers. They suffered a series of defeats at the hands of fellow associate nations until the ICC 2005 Trophy, which was the turning point.

It was the year for Ireland when Ed Joyce had become a figure of amazing consistency, in Ireland and Middlesex. His experience helped Ireland reach the finals of the tournament, where they lost to the arch-rivals Scots again. But they topped their group and crushed Canada in the semis. This feat was rewarded with a place in the ICC World Cup 2007.

The bad news was that Ed Joyce left to play for England and with that, the linchpin of the Irish batting was gone. In 2006, the team played their first ODI against a Test-playing nation, England at Belfast. Ironically, Ed Joyce was playing against a side he had helped reached here.

14 players debuted in that match. In reply to the mammoth 301, everyone expected Ireland to fold up like any other minnow would do. But they went on to make 263 and played the full quota of overs. England won by 38 runs, a small margin which made the people notice this side with a refreshing green jersey.

In the Caribbean World Cup, like usual, Australia were the defending champions and India, South Africa and Pakistan-looked the favorites to reach the semi-finals. Ireland knew that it was their opportunity. A thrilling tie with Zimbabwe at Kingston led by Jeremy Bray’s hundred made the Group D equation interesting. This was not all this team had.

They followed it up with a win that knocked Pakistan out of that World Cup. It turned out to be a controversial and mismanaged World Cup but for Ireland, it was a dream run. In the super-eights, they lost some matches on the trot against the powerhouses but managed to beat Bangladesh comprehensively at Barbados. Two wins in the tournament helped them enter the ICC Ranking Table, a feat none of the other associate teams has achieved till now, even after so many World Cups. The future looked good, but there were parallels drawn to the Kenya’s effort in 2003, a promise they never delivered.

It was a pity that Ireland didn’t play any Test nation in an ODI series toll a one off match against England in 2009. In these two years, they kept playing against associate nations in different tournaments. In the same year, they had won the ICC World Cup Qualifier Trophy, an edition where Afghanistan’s rise coincided with Scotland’s fall.

Ireland, meanwhile, were looking on the right path ahead. In 2010, Australia and West Indies took the one-off match trend forward against Ireland, an exposure the fledgling team required. By the time the World Cup 2011 had arrived, Ireland was still a minnow team, with the tag of giant-killers who could spoil the tournament for others. Ed Joyce had joined back the Irish camp, just in the nick of time.

But on 2^nd of March 2011 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, they did it again. Ireland created history by scripting the highest World Cup chase ever against England. In the pursuit of 327, Kevin O’ Brien smashed a memorable ton. The win once again proved that Ireland’s rise was never a flash in the pan. Their young team had the potential to bowl out quality batting oppositions and to chase down scores against formidable attacks. It was time ICC took notice of their efforts and make sure they get enough games before the 2015 World Cup. Sadly, it has not happened.

Since the 2011 World Cup, Ireland has only played one-off matches with Australia, Pakistan, West Indies and England, in addition to a 2-match series against Pakistan. With a year to go before the ICC 2015 World Cup, this lack of match practice might not let the talented Ireland team achieve what it really can.

ICC’s passiveness has added to the Irish diaspora of talent, which has seen top-class talents such as Boyd Rankin and Eoin Morgan. It is sad to see how the desire to represent your country is no more the ultimate honour for everyone, but it is understandable the way their efforts are not being recognized by the ICC.

The ICC has, so far, turned a deaf ear to the loud knocks of the Irish boys. No team, in entire history of cricket, has had such a steep graph in their infancy. Perhaps the governing body is little cautious about rushing them in into the big league, or perhaps they are not convinced if the domestic structure is robust in Ireland. Whatever be the case, unless they are made to play more matches against the top teams, Ireland will have to prove itself in limited opportunities or perish like Kenya.