Madam, – As an Irish-based Englishman privileged to have been in India’s Bengaluru (Bangalore) cricket stadium last month to watch my present home country deservedly beat my previous one in the thrilling World Cup series, may I spell out my protest at the arrogant move to bar Ireland’s participation at the next contest in 2015? At a time when often moribund Irish interest in cricket looks on the brink of an overdue national revival, the game has been the victim of a very questionable decision on the part of the clearly vision-impaired “umpires” of the International Cricket Council (Sport, April 5th) .
Ireland’s record in recent world cups, both this year and in 2007, together with the drama, enthusiasm, romance and sense of well-being generated both at home and overseas by the defeat of England, clearly demonstrates the value of their presence at such events, as well as that of the other apparently less-favoured cricketing states.
The initial angry reaction to the development on the part of both the Irish captain William Porterfield and Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom should be utilised with all force and urgency available to mount an official complaint at the ICC ruling and bring about a review of this outrageous plan immediately. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Surely the ICC’s decision to curtail the number of teams competing at future cricket world cups is a retrograde step? Aside from the arrogant disregard shown towards non-test nations (including Ireland), it also directly contradicts the tournament’s merit as a “world cup” for the reason that not every national team is eligible to enter or qualify. Also, the omission of teams such as our own will diminish global interest in the competition as the excitement generated by “giant-killing” matches will no longer apply. I would urge the ICC to reconsider its decision for the future benefit of cricket’s developing nations and its flagship tournament as a whole. – Yours, etc,