Kenny Carroll's excellent form for Railway Union has put him in contention for Ireland's World Cup squad, he discusses club, country and the future of Irish cricket with Coverpoint.

By any standard, 680 runs and 24 wickets is an impressive haul. Not that Carroll is talking himself up. He says, 'Whether you get 100 or 50 not out in the end, or whatever way it works out, cricket is about winning matches. Sometimes stats do not tell the full story.'

He puts his form down to achieving greater consistency and having a 'bit of good weather' compared to the 'total wash out' of the last couple of seasons.  Getting a run of games in league and cup competitions was vital in allowing him to find and maintain form. Being able to relax and enjoy games also helped.

Despite winning the Leinster Cup and reaching the Irish Senior Cup final, Railway's season finished in relative disappointment. The main reason was their inability to win the league.

Four defeats put paid to a campaign that showed early promise. Carroll reckons that success or failure can come down to 'fine margins.'   He maintains that if a 'couple of matches had gone their way they could have had a great season.' He does not want to 'over analyse' things, preferring to concede that 'some days our bowling let us down, some days our batting let us down.' North County 'fully deserved' their victory and remain the team to beat in the senior game.

On his international aspirations Carroll is adamant that he can do little more than perform consistently at club level. He says, 'The last time I was involved with the Irish set-up I got a load of runs before hand, the weight of runs gets you in. That is what you have to do to force your way in.'

Recognition did come in the form of an Ireland A call, games in which Carroll was unable to convert promising starts. His last senior call came in 2007 against Holland, at 27 years old he feels there is 'no reason' why he cannot achieve another.

That cause must surely have been assisted by his re-emergence as a genuine top order batsman and spin bowling all-rounder.  His bowling is not a latent discovery but something he let 'slip by the wayside'.

Having 'always' viewed himself as a bowler he has certainly rediscovered the art with season's best figures of 5-28.  He says, 'I got my first senior wicket at 15, I got Jeremy Bray out. At the time he was a bit of a star, well he still is really, so that was a good wicket!'

Being a member of a fairly select group in Irish cricket terms, Carroll believes that wrist spin is 'something that needs to be worked on' here. The failure to produce quality wrist spinners he attributes to two main factors; wickets which allow anyone to 'roll it out their hand' and get turn and limited overs cricket in which spinners are 'taken off after a few bad balls.'

Carroll believes, with some justification, that a quality wrist spinner will improve Ireland's competitiveness in the sub-continent. 

The emergence of Alan Eastwood on the international scene has encouraged club cricketers to believe that they need not necessarily have taken the under age route to the senior team. One of the key failings of the system though, is the lack of inter-provincial cricket for over 19s. Carroll believes there is effectively 'nowhere to go' for club cricketers having reached that age with international aspirations.

He acknowledges the hard work that goes into nurturing young talent but believes that there should be an academy system for over 19s. Carroll says, 'Just because someone is not a super player at nineteen, they still need the chance to develop, very rarely do players get picked for Ireland from club cricket.'

A natural sportsman, Carroll made his first senior appearance for Railway at age 13 in a game against Pembroke that 'ended in a draw.' He began his cricket career as a youngster in Railway after first playing hockey there.

He was centre back for the Leinster senior hockey team last season. He says, 'Playing sport the year round helps your fitness big time. We train 2-3 times a week. Obviously the two sports are very different but they do have some similarities.'

Carroll strongly advocates that cricket be modernised to appeal to a larger audience. He also believes that the game should be more accessible and easier to 'just play' to attract people to the sport.  He would bring in shorter formats, for example, playing two games in one day.

He would scrap teas for all divisions of Leinster cricket and supports the use of coloured club kits over whites. Senior interpros could be developed into a new spectator friendly format as could international Twenty20 games, which could be played on a Friday night against other associates like Scotland.

All things being equal Carroll should be named in the Irish World Cup squad. Being named in the squad is a start and recognition that you are 'in the loop, as he puts it. Carroll however, is disarmingly honest about his chances. When asked if he expects to be in the squad, he says, 'It's Irish cricket, you never expect anything.'

By Rupert Heather