Ireland Keen To Play More Test Cricket But Funding Will Be Key

It was a rare but welcome sight last month when Ireland donned the whites to end a four-year hiatus from Test cricket.

Even though they were heavily defeated in the tough surroundings of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Ireland doubled their total number of Tests in their return having played three matches in 2018-19.

For those fearing for Test’s future, growing daily as T20 franchise leagues gobble up star players worldwide and upend the calendar, it was reassuring to see a smaller Full Member nation back playing red-ball cricket.

There is a rising belief that Test cricket – the traditional five-day format proving expensive to organize amid languishing interest – will be played among only a handful of financially stable nations such as powerhouses India, England and Australia armed with billion dollar domestic broadcast deals.

But Ireland are keen to buck the odds. They were admitted as a Full Member – the so-called elite 12 nations granted more funds and power – in 2017 although it quickly became apparent that playing Test cricket was going to be an uphill battle financially.

“We were underfunded having initially been promised $60 million in the eight-year cycle (2015-23) to ending up getting about $37 million,” Cricket Ireland high performance director Richard Holdsworth told me, noting that it receives only around 2 per cent of the International Cricket Council’s revenue distribution share.

“For us to be able to finance three formats, it’s impossible.”

Even though they had a first-class structure, Ireland had to shift their focus to the shorter formats with World Cups on the horizon.

“We took the decision strategically and said, ‘look, we don’t have the funds to fulfil this’,” Holdsworth said. “There were World Cups that we needed to be in. And that had to be the priority and it was the right decision.”

Ireland officials are sweating the upcoming revenue distribution for the International Cricket Council’s $3 billion media rights deal for 2024-27. Discussions have started with reports surfacing that cashed-up India want a major increase of the financial pie.

With a mammoth broadcast deal worth $6 billion for its money spinner Indian Premier League, India’s governing body are already flush with cash and received $371 million – 22 per cent – from the current eight-year ICC broadcast deal, figures detailed in an ICC document I’ve seen.

A distribution model is expected to be tabled at the ICC’s Annual General Meeting in July in South Africa.

“Our hope is that we get properly remunerated…not what’s happened the last six years,” Holdsworth said. “So if that happens, which obviously we’re very hopeful it will, then being able to invest in all three formats becomes more achievable.”

It’s instructive that all of Ireland’s scheduled Test matches this year are away from home. They’ve only hosted one Test match – their debut in the format against Pakistan in 2018 costing around a million Euros.

Ireland aren’t slated to host a Test until mid-2024. Temporary infrastructure has been needed for their international grounds, but a dedicated cricket stadium is hoped to have financial backing from the government with Ireland to co-host the 2030 T20 World Cup.

“Once we have a national stadium fit for purpose, meaning we won’t need to outlay huge sums of investment to somebody else’s pockets in temporary infrastructure, then it starts to become realistic to host Test matches,” Holdsworth said.

In the meantime, Ireland will play their fourth Test match within a couple of months when they meet England at Lord’s in a four-day game starting on June 1.

It’s a fixture Ireland had hoped could annually launch the English Test summer – it’s this year being played ahead of the blockbuster Ashes series – but gaps in a crowded schedule for in-demand England are increasingly rare.

“Given that we are literally over the ditch and less than an hour flight away, it makes sense (for England) to use us in that vein to get them ready for bigger series,” Holdsworth said.

“But I think it’s unlikely to be an annual fixture just looking at their schedule and how busy it is. We would love to have a bit more red-ball cricket against their A-team as well.

“So we will keep exploring opportunities where there’s gaps in the calendar.”

Desperate for a maiden Test victory, a tough task against rejuvenated England, Ireland know they are getting important reps in this uncompromising long format that still allures despite its uncertain future.

“It was a really good few weeks in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The players have absolutely loved it,” Holdsworth said. “And they’re learning. They’re learning every game.

“The more we play, the more we believe we can be competitive in this format.”