Ireland’s Test drought is finally coming to an end, but doubt remains over the crickets’ expensive five-day format

It’s been years in the making, four in fact, but Ireland will finally break their Test cricket drought with a tour of Bangladesh in April.

The one-off Test in Dhaka will be Ireland’s fourth Test match since becoming a full member in 2017. One-off Tests against Sri Lanka, England and Zimbabwe are also scheduled for this year. .

“Our players are keen but we have to be realistic,” former Cricket Ireland chairman and International Cricket Council board director Ross McCollum told me.

It is instructive that all of Ireland’s Test matches this year are away from home. They have hosted only one Test match which was their debut against Pakistan in 2018 and cost them around 1 million Euros.

Ireland are not due to host a Test until mid-2024 against Zimbabwe, a similarly cash-strapped smaller full member with limited opportunities in red-ball cricket.

“With the budget we have, it’s a lot easier to play overseas,” McCollum said. “Our annual turnover is around 10-12 million, so a large part of it goes to hosting the Tests.

“It’s very difficult for us to play Test cricket. T20 and ODI World Cup has been our priority,” he added with Ireland only a few months ago after defeating eventual champions England in the T20 World Cup.

“Ideally, we want to play Test cricket. But very few countries are financially capable of playing Test cricket and can put transoms on the seats.”

Those countries are, of course, the mighty India, England and Australia, who each boast billion-dollar broadcasting deals that underpin the ability to play Test cricket on a regular basis.

Ireland’s mid-term Test against England will be their only Test match against the power trio over the next four-year period. Cricket Ireland administrators had hoped that the annual one-off Test against England could become a permanent fixture in the English summer, but that still appears to be a long way off.

Their lack of opportunities is compounded by their absence from the nine-team World Cup (WTC), which was also avoided by minor full members Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

There are 12 Test nations, but Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland have been left out of the competition, which is hoped to revive five-day cricket.

“I think the WTC is important because it creates context,” McCollum said. “Ideally it would have expanded to 12 members and I would have liked to see two leagues with promotion and relegation.

“But some countries didn’t want it because they might have been relegated and 12 teams in one division is too difficult because of the tight calendar.”

With many countries such as Ireland clearly demanding more funding to play Test cricket, it places more responsibility on the ICC’s defining distribution of $3 billion in media rights over the next four years.

Under the current funding model, Ireland is allocated $37 million along with Afghanistan, while the Associates, who have 96 members but do not have Test status and are reserved just three seats on the ICC’s all-powerful board, get a relatively paltry $180 million.

India gets $371 million, well ahead of England ($127 million), while the seven full members, led by Australia, get $117 million.

“It takes more money to keep everybody competitive,” McCollum said. “We can’t be on what we’re getting right now. We need to invest in our structures, like the under-19s, and keep the fairways to a good standard, but that requires a significant amount of money.”

Discussions about the funding model will probably take place in several board meetings, which is crucial for the sustainability of Test cricket in addition to the powerhouse trio.

With the debate and politicking, Ireland finally don the whites with the red ball in hand in Bangladesh.