Ireland Cricket Season 2022

crossman47

My only comment is that, if test cricket is dead, then real cricket is dead. T50 and T20 are entertaining but its not real. England's woeful display in Australia shows that concentration on ODIs inhibits the proper development of rounded cricket players.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560405#Comment_118560405

Don’t know, I’m thinking post covid pandemic really and here is different….a football fan, well 70,000 of them pay about 32 euro for the shîttyest view at old Trafford for the guts of 95 minutes entertainment… so I’d say cricket lovers wouldn’t have a problem paying 50 for the guts of 6 hours entertainment. I wouldn’t …

of course they could incentivise it with a two day pass for 80/90 euros that sort of craic as well as child / family concessions…

Malahide has a 10,000 capacity so I’d say financially it would work, for the cricket Ireland folks and fans..

TrueDub

You're not looking at the costs of putting on a test match in Malahide though.

There is no test-match-standard infrastructure there, they have to put in, and pay for:

• Seats for those 10000 people a day
• Dressing rooms & officials area (of a very specific standard)
• TV coverage - yes, they have to pay someone to do this, and to a specific standard, for DRS etc
• Security
• Fencing
• Staff
• Incentivised catering
• INSURANCE

and lots of other things too.

All this, and there's a fair chance of 5 days rain and not a sinner in the ground - they have to refund ticket prices, but the seating contractor doesn't give them their money back.

Test cricket is the pinnacle of the game, and I love watching it in Malahide, Lords or anywhere else. But it's not a money-spinner in Ireland, or anywhere else outside of England & Australia. Even in India test matches are played in front of one man and his dog.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118560405#Comment_118560405

Certain countries yes but in others test match cricket especially in India and it’s subcontinent are thriving….. give it a chance I say.

fergiesfav

You'd be lucky to get 2000 people through the door over the entire test match.

Richard Hillman

I couldn't give a jot if Cricket Ireland lose money on a test match. They were given full member status from the ICC, meaning extra funding. They can spend the extra funding on hosting test matches.

Not having a domestic red ball competition again this year is an affront to the game.

If the ICC cared about Test Cricket (which they don't) they would be ordering countries to play Test Cricket. You get X funding, use it for Test Cricket losses.

It's as if Cricket Ireland scammed the system to get Test status/extra funding and suddenly decided Test Cricket isn't for them.

They have brought the game into disrepute.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118561169#Comment_118561169

I disagree, Malahide has sold out on a number of occasions for one dayers, I think people would buy into Irish cricket taking the next step..

fergiesfav

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118561244#Comment_118561244

One dayers are much different to tests. Even then do you think last summers ODIs against Zimbabwe sold out? The inaugural test against Pak didn't even sell out, who's going to go watch them play Zimbabwe and Afghanistan?

As for spending the extra funding on test matches, CI would much rather spend it on pointless admin staff

Strumms

I can’t comment on ‘pointless admin staff’ but the lady I’ve been dealing with and the effort she made during the course of her duties was fantastic, as was the sports marketing folks.

last summer Covid was still a thing..

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118562482#Comment_118562482

Last summer they had Zimbabwe over for a raft of fun-cricket in empty grounds and didn't even bother trying to squeeze a test match out of it.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563352#Comment_118563352

Did Zimbabwe agree or want to play a test ? Unless we are party to conversations it’s a bit tough on cricket Ireland to be critical. Loved to have seen it but…

TrueDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563352#Comment_118563352

Squeeze a test match out of it? They don't just rock up on the morning of a match and decide which format to play, you know.

There's only 1 ground in Ireland rated for mens test matches (Malahide) and 4 for ODI/T20 (Malahide, Stormont, Bready and Clontarf). There's a multi-month planning and logistics cycle needed to put on a multi-day match, and that's just for the organisers. The teams will have different requirements too, even different personnel in the squads.

Last summer was the middle of a pandemic (I'm sure you noticed), and those Zim games were played under immensely strict regulations - most games were actually sold out, it's just that they could only sell 10% of the normal ticket amount!

Test matches are not thrown together, and whether you like it or not, they're loss-making in every country in the world, except when England/India/Australia are planning, and usually only if they're playing each other.

I want to watch test cricket in Ireland too, but just because I want to watch it doesn't mean it's going to happen without a lot of ducks getting into a row behind the scenes.

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563946#Comment_118563946

Im sure those T20s at 10% capacity were all loss leaders. They shouldn't have happened. Ask Zimbabwe in advance to play a test match instead. T20 is fun-cricket. Like a spot of Astro with your mates. It's not serious. Hell and highwater should have been arranged to play a Test Match. The only form that matters.

fergiesfav

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118564546#Comment_118564546

This is the snobby outlook why cricket in Ireland is going nowhere. It's also the snobby attitude CI had when they decided the prestige of playing tests (again 3 in five years), was more important than actually building a foundation for the game here.

I'll say first I'm a bigger fan of tests than T20, but I'm also a realist!

We don't have the facilities, the first class structure, playing pool or fan base to ever be a competitive test side. I was in Malahide for the inaugural test match. Day one (really day 2 over rain), had a decent crowd, far from capacity but good numbers but the other days had far fewer spectators. That test match, Ireland's first ever lost money!! There is no interest among the general public for test cricket. Ire V Zimbabwe would have 100 people at day 1. Bangladesh have a playing pool probably X50 times Ireland's and they still 20 years later struggle in test cricket. Test cricket is not and never has been feasible for Ireland.

T20 cricket lasts 3 hours, it has a definite winner and has plenty of wickets and 6s to catch the attention of neutral fans. All this makes it much easier to sell tickets and draws in bigger TV money. Like TrueDub says, there's less criteria for ground selection, so more grounds can host games. If we had invested in T20 15 years ago, we would have a competitive side now. A competitive side would demand more fixtures against better teams. These could be played in more grounds around the country. This would drive up interest in the team, growing the sport nationally. This increase interest could then spill in test cricket, growing that fan base.

T20 is a cash cow, CI could have generated money as opposed to losing it. This money could have been invested into the grass roots system building up a talented player pool. Suddenly we have a successful T20 domestic league making money to. If test cricket was still relevant this money could have been used to fund a first class structure, which would have laid the foundations for future test status. It would have taken longer but we would've been playing test cricket with the right structures for success in place.

Instead snobbery and arrogance chased test cricket before we had a system in place and now all formats are f$$$$D.

Richard Hillman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118565520#Comment_118565520

If that is the outlook from Cricket Ireland then I would suggest to the ICC to withdraw full member status for Ireland. But as I said before, the ICC doesn't seem to care about test cricket, of which I reiterate, is the only form of cricket that matters.

I care not one jot about developing the game in Ireland unless its with a view playibg Tests Cricket. The last 15 years were supposed to lead up to Tests Cricket. I won't be attending an Ireland white ball games unless Cricket Ireland show some intent on prioritizing the Red Ball game.

Red and white ball cricket cannot live side by side anymore. The 5th England-India test was when the battleline was drawn.

TrueDub

Test cricket is the only form that matters… to you. And you’re only one person (I shouldn’t have to remind you of this but it seems from your recent posts that I do).

Rjd2

Hopefully Paul Stirling gets an IPL gig, very consistent last few years and smashed it in his brief PSL stint.

KevIRL

As a result of some ‘logistical troubles’ (ie. luggage still hasn’t arrived yet), the scheduled T20I tomorrow between Ireland Men and UAE Men has been postponed.

Details of the rescheduled match will be confirmed tomorrow.

No_Hope_Club

28/0 after 3 overs. 138 required to beat Oman

KevIRL

Openers going along nicely here. It's on YouTube btw lads

KevIRL

Good win earlier. Only losing one wicket

KevIRL

179 the target today in the rearranged game v UAE

fergiesfav

I think we've seen that game before.

Decent start with the run rate under control, then a couple of quick wickets and the middle order just settles in with no intent, letting the run rate run up, then when the need boundaries there clueless and a winning position turns into a very tame lose. Camphers 40 is one of the worst 40s you'll ever see, he took all the momentum away.

Christ you have to admire how consistently awful the batting is.

No_Hope_Club

A bad day follows a good one.

No_Hope_Club

It is worrying that we are ranked 15th in T20s behind Nepal, UAE, Scotland, Zimbabwe and are well off a top 10 ranking.

fergiesfav

Lord Almighty they're actually getting worse, didn't think that was possible!!

Fattybojangles

Bowlers dig us out won by 16 runs Simi Singh taking two wickets in 19th over wrapped it up.

No_Hope_Club

Really tight match that one.

KevIRL

First qualifier about to start v UAE. UAE won toss and will bat. Streaming live on icc.tv

KevIRL

Campher misses out McBrine started.