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Journalism of Courage
Ireland is more famously called the Emerald Isle. And that is because incessant, unpredictable rain is ubiquitous to the country that helps greenery stay all year round and manages to keep the locals tucked under the umbrella for most of the 365 days.
If this piece of information isn’t bothering the BCCI yet, there’s more specific information on way. It is precisely in June and July that the most fickle part of the year — in reference to rainfall — begins.
The Indian board has recently announced that it will henceforth seek information from the Met department before hosting a series in India — considering that quite a few matches have been disrupted by rain. Now they need to find such information on the countries India visit.
Secretary of the Ireland Cricket Association, John Wright, said: “It (the visit) is a tremendous boost to Irish cricket. It is India’s initiative and we’re thankful.”
Wright, however, forecast on rain is cannot be guaranteed. “The weather here is as dicey as it can get. There’s absolutely no predicting,” he says. India tour Ireland to play three matches against South Africa and a game against the hosts which begins on June 21.
Ian Smyth, secretary of the country’s premier cricket ground — the Clontarf Cricket Club in the leafy suburbs of Dublin — says: “We do often have a tough time organizing matches because rainfall is quite erratic.”
And though Wright insists that the association has spent good money acquiring facilities to improve the game, “there is still no Super-Sopper and ground covers available, that can help improve conditions for an international match. We only have a cover to protect the strip (the pitch).”
In the recent past, the tri-series in Sri Lanka was affected by rain apart from the bomb blast while the DLF Cup in Malaysia involving West Indies and Australia was also hampered because of the downpour.
Indian squad for Ireland on June 12
Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India will pick the squad for the Ireland tour and the one-off match against Pakistan on June 12 and, despite rumours to the contrary, the best possible team will be doing duty for India in Ireland, ahead of the tougher tour against England later. The BCCI is also set to select a new coach before the Ireland tour. “With a gap of more than 45 days between the one-day tournament in Ireland and the one-day series against England, we will pick the best teams possible,” BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said. Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar iterated Shah’s view. A fitness camp will be held in Bangalore before the Irish sojourn in the second week of June and the squad will leave for Ireland from Mumbai on June 19. —ENS
