New stadium hopefully on way but Irish game needs boost after postponed T20 league and run of cancelled series
F
or England this is the end of another unrelenting summer. Three Twenty20 internationals over the coming days will make it eight white-ball matches inside three weeks, excluding a rain-abandoned game against South Africa. Jacob Bethell is captain because Harry Brook merits a lie down in a dark room. For Ireland, their opponents in Malahide, north Dublin, it is a radically different story.
“It feels like the start of our winter programme,” says Paul Stirling, the Ireland white-ball captain. “We haven’t played a home international series since the West Indies in June. It feels like we’ve closed the summer.” Those three T20s in Bready three months ago included two washouts, adding to an already shrinking itinerary.
A lack of cricket at home is an ongoing problem. Last year Cricket Ireland called off a tour by Australia, and Afghanistan’s visit this summer was also cancelled, the governing body citing “financial reasons”. With no permanent stadium infrastructure, the costs of transforming club grounds into international venues has been a major stumbling block.
