Proud history, bright future, uncertain present

Coin tossing was once a skill seldom required of Ireland’s captain. The occasional matches between Ireland and Test nations, stopping off for a quick game during their tour of England, followed a familiar ritual: the tourists would always bat – for that is what the spectators had come to see – and would make plenty before Ireland were bundled out in the afternoon, often at the hands of cricketers rarely spotted bowling. When Australia thrashed Ireland in 1997, novelty acts Mark Taylor, Michael Slater and Justin Langer all took wickets. That was part of the fun.

Last Thursday, Malahide was briefly transported back to this age. Ireland subsided to a 255-run defeat, the ninth highest in ODI history. “I would expect the players to be embarrassed,” former captain Trent Johnston says. “If teams get 340 against us and we’re bowled out for 80, they’re not going to come around and play those games anymore. They’re going to go somewhere else or stay at home.”

A few months ago Cricket Ireland unveiled its new strategic plan, emblazoned with the aim: Making Cricket Mainstream. This summer loomed as Ireland’s busiest ever in one-day international cricket, and a perfect opportunity to show how far the sport has come in the country. But as the rain lashed down at Malahide, forcing the second ODI against Pakistan to be abandoned without a ball bowled, it encapsulated a dispiriting summer. Seven completed ODIs have brought three thumping defeats in the games against Test opposition, an underwhelming 2-2 draw with Afghanistan and, with it, something worse: the sense that Ireland’s burgeoning fixture list has only arrived with the team in decline.

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“We were a stronger unit a few years ago for sure, I think everyone would agree with that,” admits Ed Joyce, the only current player with memories of Australia’s visit 19 years ago.

This is an obvious irony here: Ireland’s greater opportunities, which the team has fought so long for, have only arrived when they are less-equipped to take them. That is unfortunate, but hardly unusual in the history of international sport, where conservative administration has often reigned: Italy’s rugby union side were stronger in the years before their elevation to the Six Nations, in 2000, than after; the same was true of Argentina’s inclusion in the Rugby Championship, from 2012, although the side has since risen again.

No country in cricket history has tried to do as much with so little as Ireland. They aspire to match established Test opposition in all three formats of the game, even with funding from the ICC that is about one third of Zimbabwe’s. (Afghanistan are attempting to do the same but also receive significant financial support from foreign governments). The fear is that Ireland’s romantic dream is imperilling their form in the very format for which the country is renowned. “Test cricket is a massive thing on Cricket Ireland’s radar,” Johnston says. “I don’t begrudge them that but they’ve still got to be conscious of the 50-over and 20-over games because it’s given them so much in the past through World Cups.”

Ireland consider first-class cricket their strongest format – Joyce reckons they would be more competitive in multi-day matches than they were against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this summer – but they know it is on ODI cricket that they will be judged. And while their recent T20 form has been dire, Ireland’s recent ODI record is scarcely any better.

That Ireland have so little time together before playing Full Members – players have arrived the day before ODIs this summer – provides some mitigation. Yet their struggles, and a disappointing 2-1 defeat in Zimbabwe last October, also hint at more systematic issues. “We’ve been calling for more ODIs and we need to play better,” Joyce says. “We haven’t played very well since the World Cup. That’s a combination of some poor form and needing new blood in the team.

“What we lack is pretty obvious. We lack a wicket-taking threat with spin bowling – Andy McBrine and Paul Stirling do a good job, but it’s more a holding role than real wicket threat. We could do with another seam-bowling allrounder in there. It’d be nice to have some more youth – our fielding possibly hasn’t been as good recently. We certainly can beat teams in 50-over cricket; whether we can do it regularly at the moment might be asking too much but with experience and time hopefully it will happen.”

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In the 2011 World Cup, Ireland had a top six of William Porterfield, …

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