Irish Cricket 2008

[Sheridan]

Ireland's Friends Provident schedule for 2008 is as follows:

Ireland vs Nottinghamshire - April 27th - Clontarf (live on Sky Sports)
Leicestershire vs Ireland - May 4th - Grace Road
Northamptonshire vs Ireland - May 5th - Northants
Ireland vs Warwickshire - May 16th - Stormont
Ireland vs Leicestershire - May 18th - Stormont
Warwickshire vs Ireland - May 25th - Edgbaston
Nottinghamshire vs Ireland - May 26th - Trent Bridge
Ireland vs Northamptonshire - May 28th - Clontarf

Elsewhere, it has been announced that Boyd Rankin will represent Kolkata Tigers in the forthcoming rebel Indian Cricket League. Niall O'Brien has been assigned to Delhi Jets.

[BobtheDrog]

Roger whelan has retired

from the icu site:
Ireland and Railway Union opening bowler Roger Whelan has today announced his retirement from all forms of the game.

The 27 year old won 3 caps for Ireland last season, playing against Essex, South Africa and India. He took just the 3 wickets for his country, but his victims included Ravi Bopara, AB De Villiers, and most memorably, Sachin Tendulkar.

Whelan was one of 5 reserves on stand-by for the World Cup, but wasn't required in the Caribbean.

He explained his decision to call it a day, "The main reason is commitment. I have been involved with the Irish Squad for the best part of six years and I have always given 100% throughout. I no longer feel I can give that same commitment; therefore it would be unfair to the other Squad members, Trent and Phil to continue."

"I have thoroughly enjoyed all my Cricketing experiences and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me along the way, especially all the Coaches that worked with me over the years and everyone at Railway Union. I wish Trent and the Irish lads the best of luck in the future."

Whelan has also confirmed that he won't be playing domestic cricket for Railway Union in the Leinster league this coming year, and that will be a major blow to them as they look to gain promotion back to Senior A following their relegation in 2007.

An Irish Cricket Union spokesman said, "We'd like to thank Roger for all his efforts over the past 6 years, and wish him all the best in the future."

[onceahoop]

I think amature sportsmen in many top class sports are finding it tough to make the committment nowadays.

[OwlsFan]

does anyone actually care about this sport - I find it embrassing Irishmen even talking about it!.

Posted elsewhere. I find a comment like this really strange for someone who follows a foreign sport like soccer. I am a founder member of a cricket club in Dublin and love the game and I see no reason as an Irishman why I should be embarrassed about it any more than an Indian, Pakistani, Australian etc etc should be embarrassed about it.

You obviously know very little about the sport or the people who play it in this country and have preconceived ideas about it.

[jebus]

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but the book of Ireland's experience at the world cup is being launched in Dublin this wednesday. My friend asked me along so I'll be there, I'll get the venue and times off of her tomorrow if anyone's interested

[Sheridan]

Owlsfan - there's a reason that post was deleted; I think the fact that particular specimen can't spell the word "boy" is telling enough without further need for discussion.

Jebus -Is there another one out? Ger Siggins's & Trent Johnston's Raiders of the Caribbean was launched in October.

Niall O'Brien has featured in both of Delhi Jets' opening games in the Indian Cricket League. He effected a stumping, took a catch and scored five in the opener, but only managed one run in the second game (in which he played solely as a batsman.) Boyd Rankin has yet to appear for Kolkata Tigers, although Nantie Hayward (the South African who guested ineffectually for Ireland last year) has played in both games.

Four Irish youngsters have won places on the prestigious ICC European Cricket Academy course in India, which begins at the end of February. Disappointingly, however, two are English-based and already have access to professional coaching. The four are Gary Kidd, Fintan McAllister, Gary Wilson and Andrew Poynter.

In domestic cricket, the momentous decision has been reached to allow professionals to compete in next year's Irish Senior Cup. This is largely as a result of pressure from the Northern unions, whose clubs tend to be less scrupulous in their recruitment of and reliance upon foreign pros with lucrative short-term contracts. Their previous exclusion from the ISC was probably the main contributory factor in Leinster's utter dominance of the competition over the past decade.

[onceahoop]

In domestic cricket, the momentous decision has been reached to allow professionals to compete in next year's Irish Senior Cup. This is largely as a result of pressure from the Northern unions, whose clubs tend to be less scrupulous in their recruitment of and reliance upon foreign pros with lucrative short-term contracts. Their previous exclusion from the ISC was probably the main contributory factor in Leinster's utter dominance of the competition over the past decade.

Do you think it'll make much difference now that the standard has risen somewhat. It might even the playing pitch, which in itself could be said to be beneficial to all concerned.

I'm a bit out of the loop at the moment, but any major personnell changes for the coming season.

[OwlsFan]

Here's hoping for a better Summer this year weather wise. Really was despressing cricket wise. Rain, rain, go to Spain and never come back again.

[Sheridan]

Ireland's international schedule for 2008 (not including FP Trophy games) is as follows:

March/April: Three-match ODI series in Bangladesh, with further four-day and three-day games (TBC.)

March/April: UAE vs. Ireland, Intercontinental Cup (TBC)

2 July: Scotland vs. Ireland (Triangular ODI series, Scotland)
3 July: New Zealand vs. Ireland (Triangular ODI series, Scotland.)

9-12 July: Netherlands vs. Ireland (Intercontinental Cup)

Late July: European Championship Division One (Dublin)
Participating teams: Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy.
Ireland vs. Netherlands on the 28th and Ireland vs. Scotland on the 31st are full ODIs.

2-4 August: World Twenty20 Qualifier (Belfast)
Participating teams: Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Bermuda, Canada, Kenya.
Both finalists qualify for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 Championships in England.

6-9 August: Ireland vs. Canada (Intercontinental Cup)

11 August: Ireland vs. Canada (ODI)

24, 25, 27 August: Ireland vs. Kenya (Three-match ODI series, Belfast.)

5-8 October: Namibia vs. Ireland (Intercontinental Cup, Windhoek.)

12-15 October: Kenya vs. Ireland (Intercontinental Cup.)

18, 19, 21, 23 and 25 October: Kenya vs. Ireland (Five-match ODI series.)

12-16 November: Intercontinental Cup final, Dubai (?)

[OwlsFan]

I see Irish cricket is up to its neck in debt and is looking for €250k due to the losses made at the World Cup.

[BobtheDrog]

reply to the bbc article on the icu's website

ICU Chief Executive Warren Deutrom responds to criticism made by BBC journalist Austin O' Callaghan in a Newsline report.

Following your report on Irish Cricket last night, I feel compelled to respond on behalf of the sport.

I regret to say that we were extremely disappointed in what those in the game that I have spoken to about the piece regarded as an entirely unbalanced and unfair picture of Irish Cricket.

You focused purely on one point of view to drive home an editorial angle that portrayed Irish Cricket as poor administrators ('blazers' as one of our former players disparagingly described us) who have singularly failed to capitalise upon the World Cup either due to incompetence or indolence. That was the clear implication, and it was unfair. We certainly do not claim to be perfect or infallible, but there is nothing but hard-work and passion for the sport in the ICU, whether it is the handful of employees or the army of enthusiastic volunteers who have put the sport where it is today.

First, it is important to say that you are correct that it has been a difficult financial year for Irish Cricket - that is a recognised fact and no-one disputes that. In that regard, we are probably no different to many other small National Governing Bodies that struggle to make ends meet. The World Cup was certainly not a 'cash bonanza' as you described it, and we have experienced tough times this year. What was extremely dispiriting was that you focused entirely on this fact (the headline was 'Cricket in Crisis') and completely ignored the majority of the positives from 2007 that I attempted to get across during my interview, and then during our subsequent conversation, which did not go to air. Specifically:

* you ignored the fact that Irish Cricket had to manage something in the region of four times the quantity of fixtures in 2007 with precisely no additional human or financial resources - you will recall I informed you that the permanent employees numbered myself, the national coach and a part-time administrator.
* you ignored the positive story that some of those fixtures included home matches against India, South Africa and West Indies - the first time that Irish Cricket had managed to negotiate matches against three Full Member countries in the same season - a real coup after the World Cup.
* you ignored the fact that as a result of the concern over ticket prices for this series, ICU dramatically dropped the prices for the West Indies quadrangular series just afterwards.
* you ignored the fact that cricket is a sport that is almost uniquely weather-dependent and that we managed to get nearly 10,000 people over 5 matches in Stormont in the face of some of the worst summer weather in decades.
* On top of that, tens of millions around the world (especially in Asia) would have tuned in to the matches in Stormont, creating one of the largest global TV audiences for an event held on Irish soil - Setanta also showed cricket on home soil for the first time by broadcasting the five matches in Stormont live ball-by-ball.
* you ignored the fact that we are making some sweeping changes to our governance structures in order to ensure that we are 'fit for purpose' and gearing ourselves as professionally as possible, as the players have done this year.
* you ignored the fact that I told you we were working with Ireland's foremost sports consultancy Genesis and have just launched our new commercial strategy to reverse our dependency upon public funding.
* I told you about finding a sponsor as work in progress - it was portrayed as the 'cupboard is bare' and we are hopeful rather than proactive. You will also be aware that Bank of Ireland only withdrew in September, and sponsorship negotiations take time to come to fruition. In fact, we are in the middle of talks with a major brand but I am hardly likely to describe these details at a sensitive stage of discussions.
* you ignored the fact that I told you about our deal with kit manufacturer Kukri over the next four years and our first ever equipment deal with Stuart Surridge.
* you portrayed our negotiations with the Sports Council and ICC resulting in major funding injections in 2007 as a charitable dig-out as opposed to applauding Irish Cricket for developing these relationships to the extent whereby they are prepared to have confidence in us to manage this properly.
* you portrayed the fact that players were paid late as further evidence of poor administration, as opposed to the fact that the ICU ensured the players continued to be paid during the World Cup (by compensating their employers), by paying match fees, by negotiating with Bank of Ireland to get the players a 50k Euro bonus and, paying the players the majority of the prize-money from ICC.
* you may not be aware that ICU has just been selected to host the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 qualification event in Belfast in 2008 - ICC does not award such prestigious events to poorly-managed, inefficient administrations.
* you may even ask yourself why those dedicated journalists that follow the sport on a regular basis have not taken your angle - if you want a true picture of Irish Cricket, you should read those such as Richard Gillis in the Irish Times last Friday, or Robin Walsh in the Sunday Life last Sunday - they were the facts. As I said , we have nothing to hide.

It was a tough year financially for us, but we will get through it to the point whereby our new commercial structures will bear fruit, we will have an agreement for media rights in place, and significant monies from the ICC will flow down in 2009. These things take time, but we will get there through the hard work, passion and dedication that you seemed to infer was distinctly lacking.

At the end of the day, amateur and underfunded sports like cricket struggle to get airplay in the media, and especially on terrestrial TV. You will recall that we discussed that we don't have the natural advantages of the likes of GAA, rugby and football that have major stadia, major followings and scheduled money-making fixtures. My aim is to get us there, but you do not build these things overnight, as you appeared to suggest should have been the case.

Publicity provides us with the oxygen to demonstrate to public funding bodies, the private sector and the public at large that the game has a future and can generate media interest. By contrast, negative media, and especially such one-eyed negativity as the BBC demonstrated last night does nothing other than cast sport in a poor light, and make it even more difficult to get the private sector on board. I'm afraid that last night's piece did nothing more than damage cricket, although I am confident the damage is superficial.

I am not in the habit of responding to every bit of negative media - in fact, this is my first time doing so - but I'm afraid we just cannot let this attack on the sport pass by. All of those that work so hard at every level, from recreational to the international level, deserve much better.

[Sheridan]

Phil Simmons has named his winter training squad from which next year's Asian touring party will be selected. John Mooney, Dom Joyce and Kenny Carroll are omitted. David Langford-Smith is unavailable for work reasons. Four members of the Irish squad for the forthcoming Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh are selected - Paul Stirling, Gavin McKenna, James Hall and U-19 captain Greg Thompson. Jeremy Bray is given something of a surprise recall.

Squad is as follows:

Trent Johnston (Railway Union)
André Botha (North County)
Jeremy Bray (The Hills)
Peter Connell (North Down)
Alex Cusack (Clontarf)
Phil Eaglestone (Strabane)
Thinus Fourie (Merrion)
James Hall (Waringstown)
Gary Kidd (Waringstown)
Kyle McCallan (Waringstown)
Gavin McKenna (North Down)
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex)
Kevin O'Brien (Railway Union)
Niall O'Brien (Northamptonshire)
William Porterfield (Gloucestershire)
Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)
Paul Stirling (Cliftonville)
Reinhard Strydom (North County)
Greg Thompson (Lisburn)
Andrew White (Instonians)
Gary Wilson (Surrey)

[Jerry The Saint]

The situation is worse than I thought

* you ignored the fact that I told you we were working with Ireland's foremost sports consultancy Genesis and have just launched our new commercial strategy to reverse our dependency upon public funding

How do these guys keep getting work The Alan Hunter of management consultants.

[Sheridan]

Because they're rubberstamp merchants and that's all anyone wants when they commission a report.

[Stuttgart88]

Nothing to do with Irish, but cricket related: anyone see the pasting England is taking in Sri Lanka? Currently 72-9 in response to 499-8 dec.

Jayawardene is some player.

[OwlsFan]

Yes, noticed that. Might be coming home for Christmas with their tails between their legs.

[stickyjoe]

Any of you lads in the know heard anything on any of the test playing nations coming over for any one day internationals next summer.

[Sheridan]

There are no home ODIs against Test nations scheduled for next summer. Ireland will play New Zealand in Scotland on July 3rd.

Let's keep it Irish on this thread, eh?

[OwlsFan]

I see Ireland are lining up some one day internationals against England which should be good:

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/irela...ry/332798.html

[OwlsFan]

And for those of you who wonder why cricket has never really taken off in Ireland, here's a picture I took at one of our games in Marlay Park a few years ago

http://www.angelfire.com/sc/sandyfor...ges/s_snow.gif