While the riches of the Indian Premier League are a bit out of reach for Irish cricketers, two of the World Cup stars have been invited to take part in a lucrative Twenty20competition in the US this month. Railway Union all-rounders Trent Johnston and Kevin O'Brien were asked to play for the World XI in a four-sided event, the Maq T20, which also includes Pakistan, West Indies and Canadian all star sides.
The players signed up include Mohammed Sami, Franklyn Rose and Imran Nazir, while the teams are captained by ex-test stars Javed Miandad, Richie Richardson and Mohammed Azharuddin. The Irish pair have had to turn down the trip to Florida as O'Brien is now contracted to Ireland, who play two FPT games that weekend, and Johnston is captain of Railway Union, who have a DGM semi-final against North County.
It is a disappointment to Johnston, who had exploratory talks with the rebel Indian Cricket League last summer which never came to an offer. Team mates Rankin and Niall O'Brien joined up with the ICL and banked £20,000 for one month's work.
Interestingly for one of the North West union's big spenders, Glendermott CC, their expensive signing Hasan Raza is also down to play in the event. Raza, who played tests for Pakistan aged 15, has yet to show up at the ambitious Co Derry club and phoned them from the US this weekend to say he would be delayed further. It is another blow to the Chelsea of the North West who have lost their first two league games and desperately needed Raza yesterday to boost their bid for the Irish Senior Cup, as well as today's Ulster Cup first round.
Ireland's giant fast bowler Boyd Rankin has had a disappointing start to his time at Warwickshire. Last Saturday he underwent an operation in Manchester on a shoulder injury. It is expected to rule him out for up to six months, although the club is hopeful he might play before the end of the season.
Rankin sustained the slap lesion injury on a shoulder muscle when diving to make a stop as a substitute fielder during a county championship at Edgbaston.
He is well on the way to recovery and, having been given ten days off, spent Friday evening helping coach youngsters in his home village of Bready in Co Derry.
'I can't do much though, because my arm's in a sling', he explained to Inside Edge this weekend. 'It was quite sore at first but it has eased in the last few days.' He has been conducting his own rehab, going through various exercises prescribed by the club physio. 'I'll have three weeks in the sling and another six weeks before I can start light training,' he said. 'it could take three to six months to get fully fit but hopefully I'll get a chance to bowl again this summer'.
The latest blow adds to the player's unfortunate history of injuries. The former Middlesex and Derbyshire player was just returning to fitness following a foot stress fracture suffered last winter, while his Ireland career has been similarly dogged. After winning two caps in 2003 a mixture of form and injury kept him out until the last game of 2006. He did enough to impress Adrian Birrell and a World Cup hero was born, though even then he was one of the best customers of the recently retired physio Iain Knox. Thirteen of Rankin's 16 caps were won in the Glorious Spring of 2007, and he has yet to play for Ireland on home soil.
He has never even seen Ireland play when he wasn't in the side, but will be definitely there when Ireland are at Edgbaston at the end of the month. He was down in Bready again yesterday, watching his first club take on Derriaghy in the Irish Senior Cup.
Rankin started last summer with a bang, taking eight wickets for Derbyshire against Middlesex but succumbed to a stress fracture which kept him out for most of the season. After moving to Warwickshire over the winter, he was again among the wickets in early season games before this latest injury struck.
Rankin is highly rated at Edgbaston, with bowling coach Allan Donald, the former South African legend, telling Spin magazine last week: 'Boyd Rankin is very exciting. I wouldn't like to face him, I can tell you. He reminds me of Freddie Flintoff. He can be that sort of bowler. He's also had a couple of the same technical issues. We've been working on opening Boyd up a bit, changing the direction his foot faces when he bowls. It will make him quicker and help him avoid injury. Freddie will have to do the same thing.'
There is a rare chance for Dublin supporters to see Ed Joyce in action this week, when he turns out alongside many of his old teammates for the Trinity president's XI against the current DUCC side at College Park. The game starts at 1pm on Tuesday and admission is free.
Don't forget the ‘Winning Women' documentary, featured here last week, which goes out on Setanta Ireland on Monday at 9.30pm. The show, which follows the Irish women's team, is repeated on Thursday at 10pm, and Friday at 9.30pm.