Today sees Ireland take on England in Cricket in front of the largest crowd ever assembled for a cricket match in Ireland.
Malahide Cricket Club has been transformed over the past three weeks into a 10,000 seat international arena with sold out corporate hospitality and the presence of Sky Sports cameras to broadcast events to the world.
“There was a real surge in ticket sales over the last 10 days as the RSA Challenge drew ever closer. The imagery coming from the stadium has given a real sense of just how great a day it will be and we’re pretty much sold out,” said Cricket Ireland Marketing Manager Andrew Leonard.
The game itself has generated some adverse comment with England choosing to rest the stars that won the Ashes Series against Australia over the summer and naming former Irish stars Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin to line out against their former colleagues.
It will be the final outing of the famed Johnston, Mooney and O’Briens that have been central to Ireland’s rise in prominence over recent years. Trent Johnston will be retiring at the end of the year and this is his likely last appearance in an Irish shirt in Dublin. John Mooney, Kevin and Niall O’Brien are among the players hoping to write another chapter in a great recent story.
Earlier in the summer Sport for Business caught up with Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom and looked at how Ireland has built capacity on and off the pitch with a view to becoming a full test playing nation by 2020 and joining the elite of an international sport that generates billions in revenues around the world.
As a Sport for Business Member you can read the interview by clicking here.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
