WARRIORS DO THE KNIGHTS A HUGE FAVOUR

23 September 2013

There was a certain irony about the outcome of the last Interprovincial One Day Trophy game at Strabane on Saturday...

WARRIORS DO THE KNIGHTS A HUGE FAVOUR

...when the underdogs North-West Warriors beat the much-fancied Leinster Lightning by 71 runs and handed the inaugural championship to the Northern Knights. After all, we have read so much about Leinster invincibility and the imbalance of playing strengths with their large squad of contracted players, and at the same time the self-publicised, almost angelic, pursuit of youth by some people backing the Warriors. However, at the end of the day, if Leinster Lightning raised the benchmark then the North-West Warriors finally rose to it in their last match and should start thinking a lot more positively about their future. It was a fine win against the odds and shows progress.
On reflection, perhaps there was not as much between the teams as some pundits would have us believe. Had North-West Warriors won the "No result" game with Northern Knights or reversed the closely contested match they lost to their northern neighbours they would have won the championship, but equally had the NCU team won both games they would have been emphatic winners. Overall justice was probably done as Kevin O'Brien stole a win for Leinster against the Knights at the start of the competition when they were dead and buried. O'Brien was brilliant throughout the series and fully justified his Man of the Series Award after Saturday's game.
Most of the best games in cricket are played off the field so despite all the rhetoric, the championship was a success and proved very competitive. The North-West win showed they can compete with Leinster and if their youth strategy is built on solid foundations they should be well placed to move onto greater things in the future. And therein lies the challenge as representative cricket is a changing dynamic and the outcome of next year's competitions won't be decided by this year's results. Both the Leinster Lightning and the Northern Knights appear to have their selection policy right as they played strong teams, and while some people made a lot of the North-West Warriors' youth policy it was virtually imposed on them as many of their current stars were ageing veterans with strong local performances, but going nowhere at representative level. Maybe it has been a blessing in disguise as the younger players got into representative cricket early and have finally showed their worth against more experienced opponents. Rome wasn't built in a day!
Finally, congratulations to the Northern Knights whose two wins and a "No result" was enough to shade Leinster Lightning by one point. They spread their selections over a wide range of players giving recognition to both youth and experience, and they fielded strong teams that protected the integrity of the tournament. Leinster will still remain the team to beat, and their success in the Interprovincial Three-Day and T20 competitions shows the two northern teams have still some work to do to get on level teams. However, Saturday's result will give both teams the incentive to build for the future.
Cricket Ireland should be well pleased with the success of the inaugural three RSA sponsored Interprovincial tournaments, which presented major logistical challenges in the evolving professional era within Irish cricket. It was the first step on the ladder to broaden the professional base beyond the National Squad and to impress the ICC that a representative structure is being developed to support Ireland's quest for test status. This is not an overnight Quick-Fix, so the organizers will look to build a stronger framework and this must involve at least one more team. And that's going to be a crusty topic. The three teams have easily identifiable provincial cricket identities, but unfortunately cricket in Munster and Connaught is not strong enough to join this elite group. If a Development Squad is introduced it will ruin the tournaments as players will have split identities and the exercise will be viewed as cosmetic rather than progressive. It failed in the 1990s and ultimately led to the abandonment of the old Interprovincial Series. The obvious solution in cricket terms is to split the strong Leinster armoury along North and South Dublin lines, but understandably this will be strongly opposed by the Leinster lobby, who are working hard to build the Leinster Lightning brand in much the same way as their rugby contemporaries.
In the old Guinness Cup days there were six representative teams that included two each from the NCU and Leinster and one each from Munster and the North-West. But times have changed and a return to this format might swell the quantity, but will seriously damage the quality. It must be seen as a non-runner.
These will be challenging times over the winter for the powers that be in Cricket Ireland. But if they can't get it right, let's hope they wait and don't get it wrong.
Going back is not an option.

Clarence Hiles
Editor

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