OPINION
Follow UsNot too long ago, Ireland were at rock bottom. Their performance in the T20 World Cup 2021 was underwhelming, to say the least, and from there they have been on the rise, with wins over England in the following edition, pushing India and New Zealand to the brink, winning an ODI series against West Indies, and a T20I series win over Afghanistan. Now they have it in their hands to secure an automatic qualification for the World Cup later this year.
However, one point of contention for them has been the lack of Test cricket. To a certain extent that has been addressed with Ireland playing as many as three Tests in April 2023 alone. Before this, they had played just three Tests across six years.
On a surface where Australia lost one of their three Tests in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, Ireland managed to hold their own in Galle.
Sure, in the first Test between the two sides the Irish batters showed signs of resignation as they were up against three dominant spinners on home soil.
Despite there being no demons on the pitch, the Irish batters played rash shots to seal their fate within three days. One can perhaps put it down to their rustiness, having not played the longest format in years. In fact, Ireland had as many as six debutants in the one-off Test against Bangladesh at the start of the month. That combined with the challenge that Galle possesses, it was no surprise that Ireland crumbled as they did.
They had shown signs that they could indeed hold their own when they played Bangladesh at Mirpur recently. Harry Tector scored twin fifties and Lorcan Tucker scored Ireland’s second century in the format to put up a fight.
After a swift end to the first Test against Sri Lanka, Ireland bowling coach Nathan Hauritz assured everyone of a better showing in the second Test against Sri Lanka, especially from their batters, and they indeed delivered. They put up 492 thanks to centuries from Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling, but their spinners failed to make any sort of impact.
"If we get the opportunity to bat first and put a good score on the board I’ll back our spinners to create problems and it will be interesting to see how their [Sri Lanka] batters play against us. But bowling first in these conditions is honestly the hardest thing you can ever do as a spinner," Hauritz had said ahead of the second Test.
Sri Lanka posted 704 on the board, and eventually, it was good enough to see them win by an innings despite Tector’s resurgent 85.
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"We're a Test member, or a Full Member, but at the moment it only really feels like a name. Nothing's really showing for that. We've had our days out at Lord's and Malahide but apart from that, all I can see is a name. It'll be three years in the summer that we've haven't played a Test match,” Ireland skipper Andy Balbirnie lamented in 2021.
Since then, Ireland have played just three Tests – all of them coming this year – with one more scheduled to be played against England at Lord’s in June. And that’s it! Ireland are then scheduled to play just eight more Tests, according to the FTP cycle till April 2027. That’s eight Tests in the next four years – an average of just two Tests a year.
The ICC full-membership is what teams thrive for but it has some drawbacks. For Ireland, their players were no longer allowed to play in the County Championship as a local player. They had to make a call in 2019 if they wanted to play for Ireland or play in the County Championship. It has already claimed a victim in Tim Murtagh, who chose Middlesex over Ireland, and in the coming years might claim a few more victims.
It, therefore, puts immense pressure on Ireland’s domestic set-up – their Inter-Provincial Championship – where there are currently just three teams. Not to forget, the Ireland Wolves tours too could be highly beneficial. Over the last couple of years, they have had tours of Sri Lanka and also Bangladesh and that has surely helped them gain valuable experience.
With a chance of playing in the World Cup, or for that matter even in the Qualifiers, Ireland were initially not pleased that their two-match ODI series against Sri Lanka was replaced with another Test. That would have certainly given them a good workout ahead of the vital series against Bangladesh next month. However, the two boards “mutually” agreed to add another Test to the itinerary.
However, it turned out to be a blessing, given that it gave the world a glimpse of the side’s potential in the longest format. Ireland may have lost all their six Tests so far, but a victory is certainly not far away.
While their immediate focus might very well be on white-ball cricket, with a couple of World Cups on the horizon over the next year-and-a-half, they have managed to make a match of whatever Tests that have held their own so far– be it against Pakistan, England, Bangladesh or now Sri Lanka.
