Ireland players explain protest

Ireland's players kept quiet despite their thrilling win over Netherlands © Getty Images

Ireland's players have explained their decision not to speak to the media following the one-run win against Netherlands at Stormont on Wednesday, saying it stemmed from delays in addressing key issues since returning from the World Cup.

Initial reports suggested the main issue was money which was owed from the World Cup campaign, but the statement said that was just one of four or five issues that needed to be dealt with.

"Despite reports to the contrary, this is not 'a misunderstanding' between ourselves and the Irish Cricket Union," said the statement. "We have tabled four or five issues over the past four months, and these have still to be resolved. This is our attempt to move things along and hopefully speed things up. We have been extremely patient with the Union, but the current delay is totally unacceptable."

"We haven't been getting the rewards for the effort we've been putting in over a long period of time. We'd like to emphasise that this isn't just about money - while that's obviously important, there are other matters which need to be resolved, and despite meetings with the ICU, little or no progress has been made."

It went onto say that it wasn't a course of action that was taken easily. "Nobody has done more during the last six months in the promotion of Irish cricket than the team. During and after the World Cup, the team has been on call to the world media at all times and have gone beyond the call of duty in our quest to put Irish cricket on the map."

Warren Deutrom, the ICU chief executive, explained his side of the situation to Cricinfo. "The cheque was due to be handed out to the players during a meeting that we were due to convene on Thursday or Friday," he said. "Unfortunately, I only got confirmation that everything [was finalised] during the second innings yesterday [Ireland's match against Netherlands at Stormont], which was a little too late to prevent the players' action. Which was a shame.

"Fundamentally, the players are our most important resource - and I know, unfortunately, the more we keep saying that it might sound as lip service, but it's not. We genuinely are trying to do our best."

Following the victory over Netherlands it was left to Phil Simmons, the coach, to answer questions and it continues a difficult time for Ireland since returning from the World Cup.

They have been stripped of leading players such as Boyd Rankin and Eoin Morgan, although Morgan is available for the quadrangular series, and Deutrom has spoken frequently about wanting to put in place central contracts.

Recently, Jeremy Bray, the opening batsman, hit out at the ICU, calling them "a joke" in the way they were going about trying to make the game more professional.