Next season will arguably be the busiest for Irish cricket. As well as the annual forays in the Benson & Hedges Cup and the NatWest Trophy, there will also be the new Emerald Cup, the European Cup, the Triple Crown campaign and incoming tours by Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia A.

Surprisingly, Scotland has pulled out of the Emerald Cup, which also involves Ireland, Bangladesh and the MCC.

The Irish Cricket Union has decided to approach a number of PR/sports marketing consultancies to plan and implement a drive to attract more sponsors to the game in Ireland.

Irish cricket, by and large, has long suffered from a lack of sponsorship and the level of publicity and promotional expertise which comes with it. Royal Liver, who back the Irish Senior Cup, and Wiggins Teape, long associated with Leinster cricket, are notable exceptions to the general rule. The Union is likely to approach more consultancies. The ICU's decision, if somewhat belated, is nevertheless to be applauded. Despite the fact that more people than ever before, north and south of the Border, play cricket in Ireland, the game has a poor profile, almost entirely because of a lack of promotional expertise.