Quote:
|
Originally Posted by jeesh
You know the same could have been said about Kenya once. Even they had a very strong lineup, and after their semi final surprise in 2003 a lot of people asked for their test status.
But what happened to them after that? The same reason why Ireland wont be getting test status. Not saying Bangladesh has the most brilliant first class cricket structure, but at least we have a pipeline in place, at least we have a strong Under 19 team, academy, decent flow of talent. One big player goes, another will step in. I am not sure you will be able to say the same about Ireland, and this was even mentioned by Kevin O Brien in a recent interview. Can Ireland produce more O Brien's and Morgans or are they benefitting from a golden generation? Kenya for instance couldnt produce any more Tikolo's and Odumbes and Otienos.
|
but did kenya compete as good for as long as ireland have? ireland have probably been the #1 associate team for a decade, so though it can be argued it may be a golden era, they've kept it up for a decent period and besides that there are always a few irish players playing county cricket which is of decent standard (much better than any other associate standard or even countries like zimbabwe, NZ, BD, sri lanka).
so i hear the argument of this possibly being a golden era but being that they've been the best associate for a decade or so means they've got a decent group of players and in that period of time obviously a few new players come onto the scene as well so it's not like they had one good tournament, combine that with the fact that a lot of them are playing county cricket which is a good standard and they're doing pretty well (some very well) then it's obvious the talent is there and if they have get given the backing then they'll be able to have long term success.