Ireland Look To The Future

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The Ireland team after their exit.

Ireland emerged from Wednesday's World Cup humbling by Sri Lanka, hatching an audacious plan to safeguard their cricket future by arranging all international fixtures in the British close season.

The Irish, like Scotland, must overcome a significant hurdle to keep their best players at home rather than see them fly the nest to county cricket in search of professional contracts and the possibility of Test caps.

After concluding a largely admirable Caribbean campaign with a disappointing eight-wicket defeat in a final Super Eight match at Queen's Park, captain Trent Johnston explained where Irish cricket may go next.

Coach Adrian Birrell, who took charge of the team for the last time today, enlarged on the option of playing Ireland's major fixtures overseas between September and April.

That way, they would hope to avoid the drain imposed by the English county season - which currently claims a clutch of Ireland's best players when their native country needs them most.

"The English county season is April to September - so to get use of our players who are involved in county cricket, we'd play September to April," said Johnston, after his team had been bowled out for the 2007 Cup's lowest score of 77 and then seen the runs knocked off in 10 overs.

Asked where those fixtures could take place, he suggested: "UAE, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe."

Ireland, who will play in the Friends Provident Trophy limited-overs competition against English counties this summer and also have an Intercontinental Cup final against Canada at Leicester in May, have just been accorded a place in the International Cricket Council's one-day rankings.

They can therefore look forward to some full one-day international fixtures, outside Champions Trophy and World Cup assignments.

Birrell said: "I think Irish cricket should play out of season - where there's no clash.

"There's the Friends Provident - which is only nine games - and we're never at full strength, because three or four of best players are playing for counties."

Birrell, set to return to his native South Africa to be replaced as coach by former West Indies Test batsman Phil Simmons, acknowledges the way forward is problematic.

"It's a tricky one. On the one hand, you want to 'piggy-back' on to the counties with the professional game; on the other you want to have all your players available for every match," he added.

"I don't see a solution other than playing out of season."

Ireland have already lost Ed Joyce to England, via Middlesex. Of the current squad, Eoin Morgan is also playing his first-class cricket at Lord's, Niall O'Brien has signed for Northamptonshire after being released by Kent - and Boyd Rankin is set to join Derbyshire.

"Obviously players who are ambitious want to play cricket at the highest level, as in Test cricket," Birrell reasoned.

"It'll be hard to stop those players. But I think there's got to be a strategic decision by Irish cricket to hold on to their players - how they are going to do that I don't know."

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene reflected, meanwhile, on a short-lived last match for his team before they face a semi-final in Jamaica next Tuesday - almost certainly against New Zealand.

They trounced Ireland on the back of four-wicket hauls from Farveez Maharoof and Muttiah Muralitharan, the former seeing off the opposition's top three in the space of four balls in his first over.

"We've played enough competitive games. We've been playing some really good cricket," said Jayawardene.

"It was a really good performance today, because we made sure that we put our foot down."

Jayawardene believes his team deserve great credit for finishing off Ireland so emphatically in a match which lasted less than 40 of the scheduled 100 overs. "Ireland have been a really good side," he said.

"They performed really well against some of the sides. They had a brilliant World Cup - and we had to make sure we played some good cricket.

"We really put them down today. I'm not taking anything away from my boys. Before the semi-finals, it was a very good effort."

Jayawardene, criticised for Sri Lanka's decision to rest key bowlers Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas in the defeat against tournament favourites Australia two days ago, had both back this time.

Instead, he gave Dilhara Fernando a break - while Sri Lanka are hoping strike bowler Lasith Malinga will be back next week, having missed the last three matches with sore ankle ligaments.

"Dilhara played against Australia with an ankle problem," the captain explained.

"He had two injections in it and he needs to prove his fitness before the semi-finals."