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Hamish Marshall has sights set on Ireland place
(Photo: Matthew Bowden)
Hamish Marshall has announced his intention to play international cricket for Ireland when he qualifies next April.
The former New Zealand batsman turned his back on the Black Caps after the 2007 World Cup and his since plied his trade in the County Championship with Gloucestershire and in the breakaway ICL.
And he intends to make the most of an Irish passport which already allows him to play as a domestic player for Gloucestershire.
It bucks a current trend whereby Ireland, the most consistent non-Test playing nation in recent years, have lost their most talent cricketers to England.
Eoin Morgan is the current darling of the English ODI and T20 teams and his compatriot Ed Joyce played against Ireland in the 2007 World Cup.
Ireland’s performance in that tournament, where they knocked out Pakistan on a memorable St Patrick’s day, alerted cricket’s mainstream and they claimed another major scalp in last year’s World T20, beating Bangladesh.
Marshall’s intentions will come as music to the ears of the ambitious Irish authorities, who are putting together an application for full ICC status.
Ireland currently play full 50 and 20 over internationals but also want the opportunity to play Test cricket; it is a romantic notion.
For all their success Test cricket represents an unparalleled rise in standard.
England have recently returned from a tour in Bangladesh, the last side admitted to the Test match cluster, and despite their clear improvement, the Tigers are still fodder for top sides.
Most pundits agree that Bangladesh’s introduction to the five day game was premature but few question the talent and passion for the game which drives Bangladesh forward.
The same cannot be said for Ireland where cricket, despite an encouraging participation surge, remains very much a minority sport.
Marshall, a man with a modest international record, will be a valuable addition to the batting order but his presence, alongside a handful of South Africans and Australians, will speak volumes.
To compete at Test level Ireland will need to prove talents such as Morgan, Joyce, Boyd Rankin and Niall O’Brien are part of a conveyor belt of talent and not a golden generation.
On the flip-side, Ireland is a first-world country and with sufficient funding and investment might be able to occupy the same niche as Marshall’s birth country.
New Zealand and Ireland share much in common demographically, geographically and ancestrally but Test cricket is not in need of another team of nuggety scrappers.
Fewer sides are capable of competing at the ‘pinnacle,’ level and with other avenues available to players, Test matches are fast becoming the concern of four or five teams.
Sadly, there seems little room for Ireland.
A bit rich to have a pop at Ireland for having overseas born players in their team. Looking at England’s T20 squad – Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, not to mention countless others in the past like Graham Thorpe, Ed Joyce and Graeme Hick.
So the author suggests Ireland should not be a Test Nation because he thinks we will not be competitive, should golfers should give up when Tiger plays ? should soccer be played by only Brazil, Italy, Argentina and Germany ?
Federer v Nadal every week ?
Rugby played by only New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and England ?
Tell me Mr Hayward, who will win this years World Cup, British Open or Wimbledon or T20 World Cup because you appear to have all the answers.
I thought the games were played to determine a result, how do bookies make money again ?
Ireland deserve Test Cricket.
In defense of the author he openly admits that England have stolen foreign talent in the past, mainly the poaching of Irish talent.
Furthermore another valid point worth consideration is the level of attraction that cricket currently holds in Ireland. Despite it’s obvious growth I feel there is a lot more work to be done, encouraging youngsters to take up the game.
The Irish team deserves credit for their achievements so far and it is nice to see that we may be able to achieve relative success in a new dimension of sport.
Hi guys, thanks for the comments. Sam, I wasn’t having a pop at Ireland for having oversees players, merely pointing out that they rely on them to have a team of international standard. England might depend a lot on the likes of Pietersen and Morgan but they are World class cricketers. The same can not be said for someone like Marshall or Trent Johnson. If KP retired tomorrow it would be a hammer blow but England would have more than able cricketers to replace him. Also, I don’t think Graham Thorpe was imported!
Robert, surely the whole point of international competition is to be competitive? The comparisons with other sports are all well and good but the nature of Test cricket is infinitely different. Competing over 90 minutes in football is one thing but five days of Test cricket is much, much tougher. That’s why less teams play Test cricket! And how did I profess to having all the answers!?
Enjoyed the article Rhys.. But for those who are unaware, most people in Ireland don’t know one thing about cricket and I cannot see the team performing any higher than they already have already. No hunger here for a genuine and consistently high investment in the sport, even if the gov had the money!!
Is this Hamish lad any good?
He’s alright. played 66 ODI’s and 13 tests with a decent record. Never held down a solid place in the Kiwi team but he’d probably be the best player in the Irish team!
RE: Tommy Crean
Cricket is a growing sport in Ireland and it’s popularity is on the increase. You clearly don’t know what you are talking about “No hunger here for a genuine and consistently high investment in the sport, even if the gov had the money”.
Well the annual report by Cricket Ireland paints a different picture entirely with increased funding for the sport built on increased success of the team.
“Sport Northern Ireland has pledged to massively increase its funding to cricket as a direct result of our success and the light it shines upon our small country. Similarly, the Irish Sports Council attempted to mitigate any small cuts in our core grant funding by giving us a net increase in the form of high performance funding – thereby becoming the very first non-Olympic Irish team sport to receive this.”
Furthermore they are encouraging youngsters to take up the game building from the age bracket of under 11′s upwards so I would suggest your ‘most people’ statement is also unfounded.
Know your facts before you start issuing statements with no research or knowledge on the matter. You epitomize the very problem which is holding Irish cricket back.
Just to mitigate on this issue, i think both points are viable. Cricket in Ireland is unquestionably on the rise in terms of youth participation, the figures are indeed there t back it up. Even anecdotally, I was in Dublin the day Ireland beat Bangladesh last summer and pretty much every Pub had it on the TV, even if interest from punters was a little mixed!
However much things are improving though, Tommy is still right that the game rarely scratches the surface of the national consciousness. Even for ODI’s against England the crowds are small and without a first-class system players will always go elsewhere young.
I think if things go well for Ireland they could become one of an increasing number of nations who can compete consistently at t20 level but that is surely their ceiling
Nearly five months have gone by since you wrote this article Rhys, I think Ireland have proven that we are capable of the jump to Test Cricket, Porterfield, Joyce, and Wilson all making big hundreds in the County Championship this month.
One of your basic points was the need for Ireland to prove that this is not ‘a golden age’ and that the conveyor belt of talent continues, the number of young Irish players under contract to English counties has never been higher, as is the number of counties scouting Irish clubs.
You suggest Hamish Marshall would be Ireland’s best player, I suggest he’ll be lucky to make the side.
Finally after the ‘joke” of a Pakistan series wouldn’t Ireland have been a more honorable, interesting and worthy Test opponent ? I think so and I believe ticket sales would have proven this.
Oh and Rhys, the primary point of International Competition is to not to be competitive but to compete. You cannot be competitive when you not allowed compete.
