Stormont or Clontarf?

Warney

Does anybody else here hate the way Stormont gets far more games than Clontarf, usually on the grounds that it can hold 8,000(?), even though it rarely fills a quarter of that capacity

dereko1969

i think stormont is a lovely ground and great when it's full as it was for the first ODI against England. however it seems that for next year Clontarf will be used more often, see fixtures here taken from ICU website. The atmosphere that was building when Ireland started the game against the Windies at Clontarf was great it's such a pity that the game never really got going due first of all to the Windies putting too much pressure on the umpires and then by the weather. Hopefully a more sensible pricing structure will be in place for next years ODIs and FP games and then both grounds will be full. It will also be vitally important that the days for the ODIs are 'game-free' in the provincial leagues.


Sunday April 27 - Nottinghamshire (Clontarf)
Sunday May 4 - Leicestershire (Grace Road)
Monday May 5 - Northamptonshire (County Ground)
Friday May 16 - Warwickshire (Stormont)
Sunday May 18 - Leicestershire (Stormont)
Sunday May 25 - Warwickshire (Edgbaston)
Monday May 26 - Nottinghamshire (Trent Bridge)
Wednesday May 28 - Northamptonshire (Clontarf)
Tuesday July 1 - New Zealand (Scotland)
Wednesday July 2 - Scotland (away)
Wednesday July 9-12 - Netherlands (away)
Thursday July 17-20 - UAE (home)
Friday July 25 - Norway (Dublin)
Saturday July 26 - Denmark (Dublin)
Monday July 28 - Netherlands (Dublin)
Tuesday July 29 - Italy (Dublin)
Thursday July 31 - Scotland (Dublin)
Sunday August 3 - Canada (home)
Wednesday August 6-9 - Canada (home)
Thursday August 21 - Kenya (prov)
Saturday August 23 - Kenya (prov)
Monday August 25 - Kenya (prov)

acc grinds

Clontarf is not going to be used that much anymore , the ICU are currently looking at different venues to hold Ireland ODIs.

TrueDub

acc grinds wrote: »

Clontarf is not going to be used that much anymore , the ICU are currently looking at different venues to hold Ireland ODIs.

Could you give us a little more detail on this please? Looking at the fixture list above, I reckon Clontarf will be used more rather than less.

randomer

http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES/articles/000060/006035.shtml

The Irish Sports Council’s grant will add volume to the southern voice and looming on the horizon are plans to develop a new venue in the Dublin area to compete with Stormont in terms of seat numbers and hospitality facilities.

Marshy

Well at least there sounds like theres some progress towards getting the 10,000 seater cricket ground Bertie promised....

TrueDub

Marshy wrote: »

Well at least there sounds like theres some progress towards getting the 10,000 seater cricket ground Bertie promised....

We'll be going to Clontarf for a while yet, though. I don't think we'll see another ODI-capable ground in Dublin until at least 2010, and possibly after.

The one place that might host internationals before then, however, is Bready, in the North-West. I haven't been there, but apparently they've put a lot of time, money & effort into upgrading the ground & facilities.

The gang from the north-west are always saying that they're the best supporters in Ireland, and that they deserve to have games held there. It may yet happen!

dereko1969

wouldn't mind a trip to bready, think they should hold one of the games next summer there.

Marshy

Just saw this on BBC, not good news.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/counties/ireland/7143026.stm

DMC

That BBC article is essentially reporting the same figures as the earlier Sunday Life report. Its clear that one jar is half empty, the other is half full, but I'm not too sure which is closer to the truth.

Stormont will host the World Twenty20 qualifiers next August too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7142974.stm

acc grinds

The ICU are looking for an alternative to Clontarf to hold ODIs in the south , they have asked clubs to submit an application if they are interested. There is a sizeable grant available to upgrade to the necessary facilities needed to host a ODI.

dereko1969

that's great news about the 20/20 qualifiers, in fairness stormont is the only place that can hold a really good sized crowd. hopefully the ICU will have a sensible ticket pricing policy in place particularly for family tickets for what could be three great days of bish, bash, bosh

DMC

DMC wrote: »

That BBC article is essentially reporting the same figures as the earlier Sunday Life report. Its clear that one jar is half empty, the other is half full, but I'm not too sure which is closer to the truth.

Indeed, Warren Deutrom felt quite strongly that he didnt like the way the ICU was portrayed.....



Deutrom responds to BBC criticism
http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES/articles/000060/006050.shtml
ICU
14 December 2007

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.

Marshy

Pretty impressive response from Deutrom there actually.

cgf

The response is fair comprehensive alright however I am concerned that in the 5th point he sees "Setanta also showed cricket on home soil for the first time by broadcasting the five matches in Stormont live ball-by-ball." as a positive.

If memory serves me correctly, Setanta managed to cover 4, possibly 5 balls per over before cutting out to that damn Lario Novo bleedin ad - shudder !!!

I wonder if they ever managed to flog any of those units ??