WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH GET GOING!

15 December 2007

Hats off to Irish Cricket Union Chief Executive Warren Deutrom...

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH GET GOING!

Warren Deutrom - fighting talk...who certainly showed his mettle in his open statement to BBC journalist Austin O'Callaghan who tore strips off the ICU in a one-sided blatant attack on its integrity earlier this week.

On reflection, it was a cheap media shot at the union, given its challenges trying to fund a massive cricket programme , and of course, that fairytale ride in Cricket World Cup 2007. Yes there were mistakes made with pricing at matches, and yes the union 'failed' to bring on board a major sponsor, a problem exacerbated with the end of the Bank of Ireland sponsorship. But let's get real and look at all the positives and set them against the negatives and then make a balanced assessment of whether the ICU moved forward, moved back, or treaded water in 2007.

Warren 's well structured reply covered 13 points and there was merit in every one of them. He clearly set out his stall like a wounded tiger, and what an impressive list of achievements it was, albeit punctuated with a few disappointments which are obviously going to be high priorities in 2008.

The ICU's workload in 2007 was light years away from the ICU of ten years ago, and a completely different animal to that which existed 20 years ago. It can't exist on a shoestring these days and its administration needs to grow in size and structure to match the on-field achievements of all our teams.

This is a daunting task, which should not be borne alone. The International Cricket Council has been very negligent in its support for the Associate member countries. Cricket at the top is elitist and self-preserving, so it will take a lot of vision and initiative from within to fully explore the merit of developing the game wider from its core base of the test playing nations. Sadly, the ICC doesn't appear motivated enough to do this.

Promotion and relegation might be a way forward, but to bring countries like Ireland , Scotland and Holland on board requires funds and those funds have to come from the ICC as well as the countries themselves. Isn't it ridiculous that Ireland and Bangladesh got financial crumbs from the table while non achievers like Pakistan , India , England , and the West Indies took huge slices of the financial cake after the Cricket World Cup? The West Indies Cricket Board cleared its massive debt from the event, and with multi millionaire businessman Alan Stanford pumping millions into the game in the Caribbean , their financial outlook is now good. Indeed most of the top nations have strong financial resources so it is easy to see why they want to preserve their ivory tower while the developing nations struggle to establish a presence.

The Ireland teams have performed magnificently against all odds in recent years but it hasn't happened without a huge effort behind the scene from the union officers, virtually all on a voluntary basis. Contrary to what some critics would have us believe, there are not many perks working within the ICU and coaches, selectors, committee members and the senior officers all make huge personal sacrifices to promote and develop the game. They are not perfect, and some of their decision can be difficult to comprehend, but when you elect people to do a job then let them do it. Better still support them!

Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I have a lot more respect for Warren Deutrom than Austin O'Callaghan after this spat and everyone who wants to see cricket in Ireland prosper should be delighted to have such a passionate CEO at the helm.

Austin O'Callaghan - out of orderGood luck in 2008 Warren , and well done the ICU for getting us to where we are in international cricket. If we had an Irish Alan Stanford our financial future would be secure, but until then, let's back the guys that have the huge responsibility of making it all happen and balancing the books at the same time.

No easy task Mr. O'Callaghan. Show respect.

Clarence Hiles

Editor

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