No Game For Ireland Is Just Not Cricket

Ireland’s cricket team have joined its football and rugby counterparts at the highest level in the world. In order to honour all involved, this piece will be about cricket. Please don’t yawn or stop reading. You’ll find cricket has a lot going for it if you read on.

    For those new to the sport, I’ll start with some cricket basics: Someone bats and another person tries to get him out. Howzat for basic? (Cricketers shout ‘Howzat’ a lot – couldn’t resist the pun). Every player on the bowler’s team (apart from the bowler) stands around and watches. There’s not much else for these players to do except catch the ball every now and then. Nobody has the heart to tell these fellows that when they’re not being glorified spectators, they’re being glorified ball boys. Meanwhile, the batsman’s teammates are also taking it easy.

    With all the standing and sitting around, the exhausted players need breaks for lunch and tea. Yes, that’s lunch and tea – as if a game of cricket wasn’t long enough. The ‘proper’ spectators don’t seem to mind the long interruptions. They just wake up and have something to eat themselves. Rain can stop play but I doubt it stops the dining.

     Cricket is so slow that if the New York Jets played the game, they would be called the New York Propeller-driven Aircraft. It can take up to five days to complete a Test Match – it would only take one day if the players didn't eat.

     At the beginning of this piece, I stated cricket has a lot going for it so, to be fair, I will mention a few of the sport’s good points. It requires skill, can be exciting, the supporters are fantastic and what’s not to like about a game with terms like ‘silly mid-on’ (don’t ask), ‘follow through’ (definitely don’t ask) and ‘googly’ (a googly is a type of bowling delivery, not a new internet search engine).

    In 2017, Ireland gained Test status, a huge honour and a recognition of the dedication of the country’s cricket community. There’s just one problem – Ireland may have to wait to get a Test game. In other words, the world won’t let them have the ball. It appears Irish cricketers have one more thing in common with the Republic of Ireland football team.

© John E. McBride