Coach Phil Simmons had set out his main objectives from the outset, and they were to retain the European Championship title and qualify for the World Twenty20 Cup in England next summer. Both goals were achieved, and only a rainy afternoon in Belfast stopped big Phil’s team from going the whole way and winning both tournaments. They deserved as much, despite a few scares en route to the final, and having beaten the Dutch twice in the last two weeks in longer games, they would certainly have fancied their chances in the abbreviated version.
When all is said and done, these are the performances on which to judge the progress of Cricket Ireland, because the matches are against similar Associate countries with similar player issues and financial constraints. It says much for the players that they have maintained their premier position in both the Associate and the European stakes, and added the bonus of competing in the World Twenty20 Cup. Not only will that propel Irish cricket back onto the world stage again, but also it brought immediate financial rewards from the ICC, with the promise of more to follow.
Ireland and Scotland have been jockeying along beside each other over the last decade with similar goals and development aspirations, so it was good to get one over the Scots in the final game of the European Championships, and then to beat them in the first Twenty20 match in Belfast. But the Scots also achieved one of their goals, as they will qualify in third place forEnglandnext year when the Zimbabwe Cricket Board accepts the inevitable, and agrees to withdraw from the tournament. They could hardly do otherwise, given the fact that they won’t get visas to enter Britain from the British government!
On reflection it was a very satisfactory two tournaments, but not all sugar and spice and all things nice. There are still some challenging issues that need to be addressed down the line. The availability and non-availability of county players raised its ugly head again when Eoin Morgan put county before country. The ECB statement on the issue was fairly straightforward, but if the player doesn’t want to travel then there’s no point banging the drum on ‘non release.’ Morgan appears to have the choice of whether he wants to play for Ireland or he doesn’t, and Phil Simmons appears to have the choice of whether he wants to include him or not on that basis.
Over to you on that one Phil!
Ireland also need to sort out the batting which is inconsistent, and although all the key players all have the ability, they have to adapt to match and tournament conditions if they are to hold their places. Even allowing for the weather in Belfast, the batting was poor, and at times well below the standard required. Fortunately the bowlers were brilliant and the fielding outstanding, otherwise marginal results would have gone the other way. It also remains a moot point whether the current Ireland squad is the best set of players for the Twenty20 game, or whether consideration should be given for specialist Twenty20 players. However, with so few 20-overs matches this may not be worth considering.
As to the captaincy, it seems the best route forward is on a match-to-match or tournament basis, and if that works best, then so be it.
Finally the staging of matches remains a challenge, although to be fair to theorganisers it’s a lot easier promoting and staging cricket in good weather, rather than bad weather.
No doubt there will be more on that subject to follow.
In the meantime let’s enjoy the euphoria of a job well done and wish the team good luck against Canada later this week.
Clarence Hiles
Editor
