The Irish question

When Ireland booked their place in the 2007 World Cup the news was greeted with universal acclaim by the country's cricketing fraternity.

Ireland's success on their home shores at the ICC Trophy has wiped out the pain of missing out on England 1999 and South Africa 2003 and their first ever World Cup appearance could herald a glorious new dawn in Irish cricket.

But will, as cricket's administrators fervently hope and some confidently predict, the sight of Ireland's cricketers appearing on the biggest stage of all spark renewed interest in the game?

Cricket still barely registers in comparison with soccer, rugby and gaelic games in the Irish public's psyche and it is far from certain whether a likely hat-trick of defeats to the hosts West Indies, Pakistan and Zimbabwe will change all that.

While the Ireland captain Jason Molins insists the World Cup exposure will "raise awareness" of the sport and "spread it to a new audience", one of the game's most respected figures in Ireland is not as confident. Waringstown's Roy Harrison, the Irish Cricket Union president, points out that, despite the flourishing fortunes of the Irish national team, the standard of club cricket, especially north of the border, has dropped in recent years.

As Ireland gear up for the World Cup by playing at least nine matches against county opposition in the revamped C&G Trophy next summer, Harrison believes most of an expected $500,000 ICC windfall will be spent making the Irish squad "more professional".

Central contracts for a squad of up to 15 players have been mooted but would the money not be better spent at grass-roots level? "I'm not convinced that qualifying for the World Cup will make that much difference to the average recreational cricketer or to the game's popularity," Harrison says. "Ireland will be requiring more time and more commitment from the players in the national squad in the next few years as the World Cup approaches and they will have to be rewarded financially. That's where most of the money will be spent.

"Whether the game at club level actually benefits, I'm not so sure at this stage. It's also harder for people to see a way into the Irish side these days because many of the places are being taken up by former South Africans and Australians. There are still quality players in the club game here but there are fewer of them than there were years ago."

Ireland's South African coach Adrian Birrell, however, described qualification as hugely significant. "It's important because for the first time we will be seen on the world stage. We are not going to win the World Cup but, if we get there and compete, it raises awareness, raises standards and raises the profile of Irish cricket.

"It's not all about the World Cup. It's bigger than that. It gets us into the high-performance countries, it gets us into `A' side tours possibly coming to Ireland, it gets us more finances from the ICC. It enables us to have the resources to grow the game."