Gaining Test status worst that has happened to Ireland cricket: Simon Doull

Cricketer-turned-commentator Simon Doull did not mince his words while speaking of the state of Ireland cricket. Ireland got their much-awaited Test status in 2017 and have since gone on to play seven games and have not tasted victory even once. Ireland recently missed out on a chance to make it through to the 2023 World Cup after losing their first three games in the Qualifiers to Scotland, Oman and Sri Lanka.

Doull believes that the Irish getting Test status is the worst thing to happen to them.

"I’m probably going to lose a few fans, but the worst thing that’s happened in Ireland cricket was they got Test status. It’s going to sound silly because you want to test yourselves against the best. Playing Test cricket is still the ultimate for some players; it won’t be the ultimate in the future in 15-20 years," Doull said.

With Ireland now a full-member of the ICC, they can no longer play in County Cricket as a local player but, in fact, have to participate as an overseas player, which has seen many not playing in the competition. The former New Zealand quick believes that the fact that the Irish players are missing out by not being able to play in such a high-standard tournament.

"But Ireland cricket was at its best when their players were playing county cricket. And when they were at their best, they had most of their players playing a very high standard of cricket in the UK."

"Then they could transfer that to an Ireland team that could play with passion, and there were plenty of players in and around that side that had a lot of experience and had been through situations where they knew how to win. That’s not what Ireland have got at the moment."

Ireland played their first game against Pakistan at Malahide in May 2018, which they lost by seven wickets, despite a maiden century for Kevin O'Brien. Since then, they have played England and Sri Lanka twice, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, losing all the games.