England Lions have called Boyd Rankin...

Cremated

And so it begins, Rankin is now part of the English Lions squad,


http://tinyurl.com/3nc9ooe ...

Dozen Wicked Words

Was only a matter of time unfortunately.

Cremated

If Boyd plays for the Lions can he come back to the Irish squad?, it would be an absolute farce if he has to wait four years...

Royale with Cheese

Forgive my ignorance but I've never been particularly impressed with him when I've seen him bowl for Ireland. Kind of reminded me of Steve Harminson on an off day.

Cremated

Well it's more the fact he's another player lost to the English sides...

Dozen Wicked Words

Cremated wrote: »

If Boyd plays for the Lions can he come back to the Irish squad?, it would be an absolute farce if he has to wait four years...

I think he can still come back to Ireland, its not full representative level playing for the Lions. He doesn't get a cap for it.

TheDrog

Think he can still play, it's only if he gets called up for full team we lose him. I have a feeling that Eoin played for us after being in lions sides

Corsendonk

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance but I've never been particularly impressed with him when I've seen him bowl for Ireland. Kind of reminded me of Steve Harminson on an off day.

I agree, gives way too many extras under pressure, injury prone too. He might do a job for the Lions but can't see him making the full England team.

Cremated

It's just a position that they have too much cover for, I'd be shocked to see him in the full squad...

TheDrog

To be fair to Boyd he's taken 43 wickets in the county championship so far this year and of the players who have taken more wickets only 3 are under 30

SSK

Surprised to see it for a one day game. He did well all the same 6-0-19-2

I think the reason he's never looked great for Ireland is that the longer form of the game clearly suits his talents better and we don't get enough of them. His county championship figures are generally excellent.

And he is vital to Ireland's progression over the next few years, our pace bowling stocks are thin to say the least and Trent can't go on forever.

Nation 98

As sickening and predatory as it is, I wouldnt worry about Boyd Rankin playing for the English senior team. He's at least 10th in their fast bowling ranking order.

d'Oracle

Who hadn't seen this coming.

If he is that far down the pecking order, (and even with Anderson and Broad being so breakable I reckon he is) then this is a blessing in disguise.

kryogen

I dont think he will get the opportunity to play for the England team in a way that will stop him playing for Ireland so I am actually quite pleased with the news, he will hopefully benefit from the coaching and experience and bring it back with him

riffmongous

But it only takes one game and he's ineligible right? A meaningless 20/20 and a bouncy pitch with a few first choice seamers out and he could be gone for 4 years

TheDrog

piece up on the cricketeurope site on the back of this, some of the articles that go up on that page are embarrassing at times and this is one of the worst

Why are some Irish fans so happy?
Andrew Nixon
18 August 2011
Boyd Rankin played for the England Lions against Sri Lanka A earlier this week, taking 2-19 in a 135 run win that secured the three-match series for the home side. And today he has stated that he would happily switch to England, even just for ODI cricket.

There are a few things about this that annoy me. Firstly, the ICC rules that allow this to happen and secondly the players who switch themselves.

Those things are understandable though – the full members themselves are the ones who set the rules, and they have shown in recent years just how little they care for the associates and affiliates. And one can certainly understand the players desire to further their career, and given the current structure of international cricket, this is their only option if they wish to play Test cricket.

However there is something else that annoys me that I find really hard to understand. A significant number of Ireland supporters seem to be happy that the players are wanting to switch.

It doesn't happen often in sport that the supporters of a team are happy to lose one of their best players, but with Irish cricket it sometimes seems to me, as an outsider, that supporters are more than happy to lose their best players to another team.

They even go so far as to say that it's good for Irish cricket – quite how consistently losing your best players to another team can be good is a concept that puzzles me.

The reason given is often that it helps promote Irish cricket. But all it does is promote Irish cricket as inferior – as a stepping stone to “proper” international cricket. And that's even when promotion happens – the observant will have noticed that the ECB press release on Rankin's selection made no mention that he had played for Ireland, and when Eoin Morgan is quoted on Irish cricket, he is usually giving a negative impression.

What would really promote Irish cricket is for a player to answer the call from England with a resounding no. To say that if they want to play Test cricket, they want to do it for Ireland.

Some say that it's unlikely Rankin will get a game for England, such is England's current surplus of decent seam bowlers. But remember that it only takes one game to make him ineligible for Ireland – England may be resting some key players for those meaningless Twenty20 Internationals against the West Indies at the end of the season after all. And even if he never plays for England again, he has four years to wait to re-qualify for Ireland, missing the prime years for a fast bowler.

As an England supporter, I don't want to see Rankin in the England side and I'm already disappointed to see Eoin Morgan in the side. Not because they aren't good players, but because I don't want England gain at the expense of other countries. Of course playing in England has put a final polish on their game, but as the saying goes, you can't polish a turd.

Ireland supporters should be angry that Ireland could be about to lose another player, not happy. Because if you're happy for the team to remain a glorified England development side, then the ICC will be delighted to keep them in that role.


the phrase about polishing a turd should be removed immediately it seems to indicate that irish cricket is nothing but a turd in the international game. The article as a whole is a mess and just comes across as being bitter and resentful rather than logical. I don't want to see Irish players playing for England but it does raise the profile of irish cricket. As for the fact that he claims every time Eoin talks about irish cricket it's in a derogatory way it's another example of people's selective hearing, they take only the bits out of any interview they want to and ignore the rest.

TrueDub

I thought the same when I read the article - it's possible to be glad for the individual player without being happy with the situation itself. He wouldn't be my favourite writer on Irish cricket.

d'Oracle

The more I think about this the more I think he will play for England.
At some stage.

As for the "polish a turd" metaphor......I don't think Mr. Nixon understands what it means. Which is more of a reflection on his writing than anything else.

TrueDub

d'Oracle wrote: »

The more I think about this the more I think he will play for England.
At some stage.

As for the "polish a turd" metaphor......I don't think Mr. Nixon understands what it means. Which is more of a reflection on his writing than anything else.

He means that the England setup wouldn't be interested in polishing someone that wasn't up to the job - it's not a reflection on the Irish side or setup.

That we're having this conversation indicates his lack of skill with the phrase!

d'Oracle

TrueDub wrote: »

He means that the England setup wouldn't be interested in polishing someone that wasn't up to the job - it's not a reflection on the Irish side or setup.

That we're having this conversation indicates his lack of skill with the phrase!

That may well be.
I still don't think he understands the metaphor.





When in Rome.