Ireland vs. England Cricket 2013: Can Hosts Become a World Force?

Ireland hosted England on Tuesday in Malahide in the 2013 Tour of Ireland—a tour consisting of just a single one-day international.

The idea behind such events is to help ICC associate nations like Ireland build toward future Test status, having already proved themselves capable of coping with the challenges of facing elite nations in the shorter form of the game.

There is a great wave of feeling, though, that England and the ECB could be doing more to encourage cricket in Ireland. Indeed, the arrival of the Ashes winners in Malahide has been greeted with an air of discontent, according to Paul Newman of The Telegraph—the fact that England have chosen to omit the majority of the side's leading players from their touring party hasn't helped.

Ireland has invested substantially in cricket development and is clearly doing something right, with two former internationals within the England squad, as well as a third player within their own squad who has previously been included within the English setup.

There is talent within the Irish game, and a win over Pakistan earlier this year, in spite of the losses of Eoin Morgan and Boyd Rankin to England in recent years, is a positive sign for the future of the game.

More must be done to encourage their development, however, and England must take the lead on such matters.

Ireland is determined to achieve Test status and has set the appropriate wheels in motion to see that occur in the near future.

A three-day game competition has been launched in the country this year, and the hope is that the competition will achieve first-class status in three years, as reported by The Telegraph. That, in turn, would potentially open the door to Test status in 2020.

For Irish cricket to reach the upper echelons of cricketing powers, that status and the funding that it entails will be essential to their development. The ECB must do all it can to support Ireland's claims.

Part of that is surely to arrange more fixtures with their neighbours—with Ireland needing such showcases to prove that a cricketing culture exists—part of the conditions of becoming a Test nation.

In turn, they must stop the poaching of Irish players. To fully exhibit their development, they must be allowed to retain their best performers and demonstrate the best of their abilities in any opportunities they are handed.

For the moment, though, joining the English ranks offers a route to the riches of Test cricket and, as Morgan has discovered, exposure to competitions like the IPL as an aside. It is an understandable attraction for Irish players.

While, perhaps, the ECB should be forgiven for taking advantage of the opportunities that arise from Ireland's lack of status, it should return the favour in kind.

The game in Ireland is heading in the right direction, and the support of the cash-rich governing body of the English game can only help them fulfil their ambitions as planned.

With well-laid plans now in place, and the sport only growing in popularity, there is no reason as to why Irish cricket cannot perform well at Test level within the foreseeable future.