Why can't...

[Howe_zat]

Out of interest, does anyone know if Ireland has much going to try and create a domestic structure, or if it's made any progress? I expect they would aim to set up regional teams, as in rugby union.

 

[Furball]

They would be a much better team if England stopped stealing all their players.

Trent Johnson and Andre Botha say hi.

 

[Furball]

If the Irish were forced to play as overseas then I doubt many if any of them would be playing as counties can only have 1 overseas player.

No they wouldn't, that would be against EU rules. You can't discriminate against other EU nationals (and since some Irish players would be from Northern Ireland and thus hold EU passports, and Irish passport holders have always had special employment and immigration status in the UK, it's a completely moot point.)

 

[honestbharani]

They bloody should after yesterday

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should be "support those who can't beat Ireland"




Kidding mate..

 

[Flem274*]

10 years ago, heck 5 years ago, they would have lost to Bangladesh regularly.

So?

And once the core of this side retires, where is new talent going to come from. As you point out, Ireland don't really have an FC structure and Ireland isn't exactly a cricket mad country.

Only Johnston is close to retirement age, and look at the ages of the highly rated Irish talents. Eoin Morgan, George Dockrell, Paul Stirling etc. They're very young.

world class players like Shakib, Tamim, Mortaza, Razzak.

Mortaza is not world class.

And for every Shakib, ten Ashrafuls have debuted.

They are on the rise. You could say Ireland are on the rise faster, to me they just look like a nuggety side hitting their peak. To argue that in the long run if Ireland receives more ICC support they would outdo BD is unfounded.

Bangladesh have a bigger budget by a long way than Ireland, and have had a much easier go of it. The 2015 WC format is threatening Ireland in a big way. I think Ireland being a better team than Bangladesh if there were a level playing field financially is a decent prediction.

Take a look at NZ. it wasn't too long ago that a full strength NZ side were more than a match for sides like SL and India. But as time as passed NZ's lack of depth domestically has been shown up. NZ aren't going to be a consistently threatening side, the team with Cairns, Fleming, Bond, Vettori, Crowe, Richardson, Tuffey, etc. was a side with a good core who hit their peak together. Much like the Ireland side. NZ lost that core, and are sturggling to find replacements and are weakened at the moment, and the same will happen to Ireland.

NZ have replacements. Our current test batting line up has the ability to surpass the old era by a long way, but their mental application is lacking.

It isn't so much a lack of ability as it is a lack of being pushed by their peers in the lower grades, and they cruised on through to FC cricket and in some cases, international cricket, without meeting an equal very often.

The bowling I will give you, but we do have bowlers coming through with the ability. Hopefully they have the mental application.

Ireland, as I said earlier, have a pretty young side. I think it's very telling that Ireland's best limited overs batsman can be stolen and they still cause big sides huge issues. Ireland have the talent (especially in the batting), and the team culture is a hard one.

Sides like Kenya and Scotland had these peaks once upon a time too, and they faded. Currently on the rise are Ireland and Afghanistan.

Scotland I have no idea about, but Kenya fell over because of administrative issues iirc.

But the fact is that cricket and long term growth isn't really sustainable in these countries. Even if the ICC invests in Ireland and they produced their own FC system, the lack of interest in the game and small population means that down the line we will see some really dire Ireland sides take the field.

The game is only getting more and more attention in Ireland, and if the ICC gives them a hand it will grow further. Ireland has produced good players, and unless every Irishman is a freakish athlete then there must be some interest there or there wouldn't be such a high amount of good Irish players.

Population means nothing. NZ have produced good teams with 4 million, West Indies dominated the world with 10 million or so, and Australia dominated with 20 million.

India and their massive population couldn't win anything outside the subcontinent in the 90s and have about 5 seam bowlers considered good in their history. Bangladesh have 150 million people and have won sod all.

This is where BD have the edge. They will always be a tier above the associates just for the simple reason that they have more cricketers playing cricket in their country than all the other associates ever will.

More does not equal better, as I say above.

Once cricket is popular enough that there is enough demand for a proper domestic setup, then by all means invest into them. But such a knee-jerk reaction isn't right.

I've been saying for ages that if Bangladesh deserve test status, then Ireland do. I've kept an eye on Ireland since the 2007 world cup.

And yes, BD seem spineless. Which sucks. But they have matchwinners, and they have the talent that, if they develop a spine, they can consistently challenge the top nations.

I agree. Shakib will be to Bangladesh what J.R. Reid was to NZ I reckon. Someone to give them a boost in belief.

 

[Athlai]

Bangladesh > Ireland tbh.

Ireland don't get the funding and don't have a first class structure so it's hard to blame them but there is a definite gap between the teams.