Yesterday was Irish cricket's equivalent of the Night of the Long Knives - the Day of the Long (and sharpened) Stumps, perhaps.
In the course of a few hours, the Irish Cricket Union announced first a ban on Stephen Smyth of Brigade which will prevent him from playing representative cricket for five years, and then issued another statement which revealed that Mike Hendrick's contract as national coach had been terminated, by mutual agreement.
The statement on the Smyth affair read:
"The Irish Cricket Union's Disciplinary Committee has suspended Stephen Smyth of Brigade CC from all representative cricket for the next five seasons and from club cricket until the end of next season. Stephen Smyth admitted a serious breach of discipline which took place in the team hotel recently, involving another player.
"Because of agreements for the reciprocal enforcement of disciplinary penalties between the Irish Cricket Union and the four provincial unions, his suspension from club cricket will automatically apply to local league and cup competitions as well as to the Irish Senior Cup.
"The suspensions come into effect immediately. He has a week to decide whether or not to exercise his right of appeal to the ICU's Executive Committee".
The salient part of the Hendrick statement said: "The contract of the National Coach, Mike Hendrick, is not to be renewed by mutual agreement. The ICU recognises the valuable contribution Mike has made to the development of the game in Ireland and places on record its gratitude to him for his work over the past four years. The ICU will now advertise the post".
If Smyth exercises his right of appeal, which seems very likely, he will almost certainly play for Brigade against Merrion in this Friday's Royal Liver Irish Senior Cup semi-final at Anglesea Road.
Smyth was first capped in 1990, and last year was Ireland's top scorer, hitting 703 runs in 21 innings, for an average of 37.00, his highest score being his unbeaten 102 against MCC at Lurgan. This season, his international form has been patchy; still, at 30 years of age, he has a great deal to offer, and a five year suspension seems harsh indeed.
All season, there has been considerable speculation about Hendrick's future with Ireland, and that "mutual agreement" bit may be taken with a substantial pinch of salt; earlier this summer, he told this writer that his aim was to remain in situ as national coach until after the 2001 ICC World Cup qualifying tournament in Canada. According to yesterday's ICU statement, Hendrick - at present away with the Irish Development squad in the British Midlands - "wishes to leave his post almost straight away", and will do just that at the end of this week.
Hendrick was Ireland's first professional coach, and achieved a great deal, instilling a steely spirit and self-belief in the members of the national team. An opening bowler with Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and England, he played in 30 Tests and took 87 wickets before retiring in 1984.
Yesterday, an ICU source said that the aim will be to appoint Hendrick's successor by the first of January next, in time to take the Ireland Under 19 squad to the World Youth Tournament in Sri Lanka. A recently retired Test player, with extensive experience of one-day cricket, would be an ideal candidate, he said.
