Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

That's surely got nothing to do with ECB largesse though. Irish players get in county sides because the counties want them and they are eligible. Ireland benefitting is an unintended costless secondary outcome.

I think it is the ECB's role to develop the game in their region, and India's in Asia. Ideally SA, WI, and Australia would be the hubs of development in their area, though WI have enough problems keeping themselves going.

In my view, the English counties cut Ireland, Scotland and Holland out of domestic competitions way too early, because they became concerned these teams would prevent them from reaching the later stages of the limited overs cups.

At international level, the least England could have done was to involve Ireland in tri-national competitions.

Lots of people accept that India should play a prominent part in the growth and health of the game, as I do, but maybe don't offer the same scrutiny to England.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:That's surely got nothing to do with ECB largesse though. Irish players get in county sides because the counties want them and they are eligible. Ireland benefitting is an unintended costless secondary outcome.

I think it is the ECB's role to develop the game in their region, and India's in Asia. Ideally SA, WI, and Australia would be the hubs of development in their area, though WI have enough problems keeping themselves going.

In my view, the English counties cut Ireland, Scotland and Holland out of domestic competitions way too early, because they became concerned these teams would prevent them from reaching the later stages of the limited overs cups.

At international level, the least England could have done was to involve Ireland in tri-national competitions.

Lots of people accept that India should play a prominent part in the growth and health of the game, as I do, but maybe don't offer the same scrutiny to England.

of course it has something to do with the ECB, counties would like to have players from any country in their teams but are prevented from doing so because of the overseas status and quotas, those do not apply to irish players

i accepted the ECB could do more but Irish Cricket would never have achieved anything close to what it has if their players had not had unrestricted access to the english game and instead needed to rely on playing in their own domestic system

Ireland bat. Hard to see anything other than a sound hiding on the cards for them...

Mo misses out from the side I speculated on.

Ireland 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 Niall O'Brien (wk), 5 Gary Wilson, 6 Andrew Balbirnie, 7 Kevin O'Brien, 8 Stuart Thompson, 9 George Dockrell, 10 Tim Murtagh, 11 Peter Chase

suggestions that Moeen not playing today is to allow a sort of bowl-off between the pace men when you have 4 guys competing for what will probably be 2 spots in the first choice team

Bat off then between JB2 and Billings as first reserve?

Decent start by the openers.

Willey getting a bit of a clatter this over

Wood's pace gets Stirling

good signs for him up close to the 90mph mark

Much needed wicket for Willey after being a bit expensive

good run rate for Ireland to start but at a cost

Willey tends to be expensive up top, but takes wickets. Wood is portrayed as more of a strike bowler, but Willey has a much better wicket taking record as well as being a touch more economical.

I know it's childish but I did have a chuckle that our opening bowlers are called Willey & wood.

Aidan11 wrote:I know it's childish but I did have a chuckle that our opening bowlers are called Willey & wood.

lots of possible innuendos if that partnership continues

england really tightened things up after those 2 early wickets and now get the 3rd

Ireland under a bit of pressure now at 81-3