Stu Daultrey attended today's Cricket Ireland press conference at Croke Park
Tuesday, 24th January, 2012. Today in the Croke Park Hotel, Dublin, Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom made a series of important announcements: the extension of the contract with National Coach Phil Simmons until the end of 2013; the awarding of central contracts to 23 players for 2012; and the launching of the Strategic Plan 2012-2015.
Cricket Ireland President Richard Johnson got proceedings under way by reflecting how far things had come since his own post-playing involvement with the Irish Cricket Union as it then was in 1992. I had been talking to people prior to the meeting about precisely that - Cricket Ireland is unrecognisable from the situation even ten years ago, and the president wishes things to be at least as substantially transformed by 2020.
CEO Warren Deutrom talked through the Strategic Plan 2012-2015, but he was as concerned with where Cricket Ireland could be by 2020, and he believes that CI should settle for nothing less than Test-playing status. The extension of the contract to national coach Phil Simmons for two more years is the first step on that journey, and the professionalisation of the game at the top level is essential to the transformation.
The main sponsors, RSA Insurance Ireland, are close to finalising the continuation of their support, and have agreed to make available some €500,000 for central contracts for 23 players in 2012. Category A contracts (home-based players) go to Trent Johnston, Alex Cusack, Kevin O'Brien and John Mooney. Category B contracts (England-based players) go to William Porterfield, Niall O'Brien, Paul Stirling, George Dockrell, Gary Wilson, Boyd Rankin, Ed Joyce and Andrew White.
Those twelve have been the core of the team for well over a year now. Category C contracts (A team players) go to Albert van der Merwe, Nigel Jones, Andrew Balbirnie, Max Sorensen, Shane Getkate, James Shannon, Stuart Thompson, Andrew Poynter, Peter Connell, Tom Fisher and Rory McCann.
The 2012-2015 Strategic Plan sees Ireland's men moving from the 10th ranked to the 8th ranked cricket-playing nation in the world, and Ireland's ladies from 10th to 6th or 7th ranked. Total playing strength will nearly double to 50,000, making the men's game the fourth most popular team sport. Assuming that Gaelic football and real football are ranked 1 and 2, CEO Deutrom didn't specify whether cricket would go above hurling or rugby football into fourth place.
There would be six initiatives to achieve these aims. First is the 'Get into Cricket Scheme', a major new programme targeting schools and clubs encouraging 6 to 12 year olds to take up the game for the first time.
Second is a new National Cup for 32 clubs not already competing in the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup, giving them a chance to compete for an All Ireland title and the opportunity to play cricket outside their local area. The first round of this competition will take place on Saturday 12th May, 2012.
Third is the 'Better Clubs Initiative', a programme supporting local clubs across the country to improve their facilities. Fourth is the Cricket Ireland National Awards, a major awards event recognising players, coaches, volunteers, groundsmen (sic), officials and clubs for the contribution they make to the game in Ireland. This will be an annual event starting in 2012.
Fifth is the establishment of Regional Academies to develop and foster the young talent from the ages of 15 to 19 and ensure a pipeline of players for our international teams. Sixth is the re-launch of the InterProvincial Series as a precursor to setting up a first class domestic playing infrastructure in Ireland.
CEO Deutrom stated that all involved with cricket, worldwide, see Test cricket as the pinnacle of the game. If Ireland doesn't aspire to play at this level, it is settling for second best, and it will continue to lose its most talented players to England. To avoid this, the game in Ireland must go professional at the top level.
In 2012, there will be North v South matches featuring many of the contracted players. After this year there will be a three team interprovincial competition based on the NCU, NWCA and LCU. By 2015 Munster (and Connacht?) will be incorporated, using centrally contracted players to supplement the locals.
Personally, Deutrom envisages a two-division test cricket structure. A top six (or seven?) would be able to play each other over two or three years, as would a second six (or seven?), with promotion and relegation adding spice. The ICC is currently having its structures reviewed by Lord Wolf(e?), and it will be interesting to see if the noble lord's findings point in such a direction.
CEO Deutrom and National Coach Simmons took questions during which international ground facilities, attendances and increased media exposure were addressed. The whole question of finance depends very much on RSA Insurance's continuing involvement, and when this is clarified in the near future, more attention can be given to the Strategic Plan aims to develop annual self-generated revenue streams of €2.5m+ and revenue reserves of €500,000+.
After the meeting I had a very interesting interview with Cricket Ireland Performance Director Richard Holdsworth, in which I asked him how he saw the development of young players over the next few years. He favoured identifying talent not too young - nowhere as young as does professional football - and gradually acclimatising teenagers to serious sport.
Those with talent should be encouraged to develop serious exercise and nutrition regimes - not pumping iron and taking supplements - and master fielding skills as well as their batting and/or bowling. If at the under 17 and under 19 level they can become accustomed to performing in pressure situations in regional competitions in front of crowds, away from home, behaving always as responsible team players, then even if they don't go on to represent Ireland, they will become much better club players.
This would be the task of the regional academies, and I would like them to be judged not on how many players they can get onto national selections, but on how frequently they send highly-skilled, highly-motivated and well-adjusted young men and women back to their clubs. After all, as Eamon Dunphy wrote back in the 1970s, "it's only a game."
Cheers,
Stu.
