Cricket Ireland made history at Lords Cricket Ground in London yesterday when Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce became the first batsmen to represent the country at what is recognised as the spiritual home of the sport.
The game itself ended in defeat but the team gave a good account of themselves in front of a crowd of over 25,000 who packed the stands and included a significant smattering of green.
It was the culmination of a major week for the sport after further details emerged on the near certain stepping up to full test status for the sport here some 225 years after the game was first played in the Phoenix Park.
Read about Turkish Airlines new partnership with Cricket Ireland
That will likely come in June and was a central theme running through a celebration dinner on Saturday night at the Langham Hotel in Central London where current and former Presidents and leaders of the sport mingled with past players, commercial partners and friends to mark the occasion.
Turkish Airline’s were seeing their branding on an Irish shirt for the first time in competitive action and the coverage across media including full live coverage on Sky Sports throughout yesterday was an impressive start to what looks like being a powerful partnership.
Sport has a knack of being able to cross boundaries and create relationships and the buzz of friendly conversation that filled the room once used by Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill and Sir Donald Bradman was testament to the sense of occasion which had brought the group together.
Kieran Mulvey and John Treacy from Sport Ireland were there alongside legendary England Cricketer Mike Gatting, former ireland and West Indies Manager Phil Simmons and a collection of the individuals and players who have brought Irish cricket to life over the past decade.
Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom spoke of ten years ago having an ambition for Ireland to be competitive in relation to English county sides, now we have beaten Pakistan and England and are playing at Lords.
Sunday was about the players and the fans, Saturday night more about the backroom teams and the backbone that has lifted the sport to the level it is today.
The team fly back this morning to prepare for a series of games against New Zealand and Bangladesh that will take place over the coming weeks. They deserve the support of Irish sports fans. They have earned it.
