IRELAND have another chance to pit their wits against the might of the cricketing world next June, but no-one is still quite sure who, where or when they will be playing. The ICC's ongoing stasis on the issue of Zimbabwe has ensured a spaghetti plate of permutations, none of which is of great help to Irish supporters keen to travel to the Twenty20 World Cup. If things materialise as the ICC hope, Ireland will take the place of Zimbabwe, playing on 8 and 10 June against Bangladesh and India in Nottingham.
But beware! If you log-on to the official tournament site, you find Ireland down to play England at Lord's in the opening game on 5 June, and Pakistan there four days later. These fixtures will only take place should the Zimbabweans dig their heels in and insist on taking their place. Whether ICC has the stomach to kick them out is debatable. Another factor that needs to be considered is the possibility of rapid change in the African state, which could see Zimbabwe welcomed back with open arms.
None of this is a great help to travel and hotel planners, although it is expected that Ireland will receive around 500 tickets for each game (all bar the opening tie are 'double headers' with four nations in action). When you take out an allocation for players, sponsors and CricketIreland's own needs, the amount likely to reach the market is minuscule. The last available tickets on Ticketmaster evaporated before my eyes on Thursday.
But for Cricket Ireland it's a delightful problem to have to face, and one that looked remote last Sunday night when Bermuda were chasing 46 off nine overs. That extraordinary performance must be among the greatest ever by an Ireland side.
It was a remarkable tournament for many of the players, but none more than Andre Botha who looked the better for his early season sabbatical and came roaring back to play a big part in all three victories. With the bowling attack of Botha, Connell, Cusack, O'Brien, Johnston and McCallan on song in June, our opponents will know they've been in a game. Whoever they are.
Ryan Haire did his prospects of a return to the colours no harm with his unbeaten 135 for Ireland 'A' against MCC, but the selectorial shambles over the fixture rumbles on. The fact that the captain and vice-captain for the previous 'A' game were omitted - the rained-off fixture with Bangladesh 'A' - was bad enough, but it now appears they were dropped without reference to the Irish selectors!
Two weeks before the MCC game captain Kenny Carroll rang a CI official to check if the team was picked, as he would need an official letter to ensure he got leave from his employer. He was then told that he, and vice-captain John Mooney, had been dropped. Carroll was rightly gutted, but even more so when he was contacted five days before the game to check his availability.
According to one insider, the Irish selectors had not picked the team at the time Carroll was told he was dropped, and they were surprised he was unavailable when eventually asked.
After the shambles before the Bangladesh game - the 'A' manager was unable to track down Neil Gill to tell him he was selected - perhaps it's time Phil Simmons and Cricket Ireland put a tighter rein on the side that is a vital route into the Ireland team.
So who is the only Irish cricketer to be nominated for the Booker Prize? Colm 'Whispering Death' Toibin? Or Roddy 'Sylvester Clarke Ha Ha Ha'? Samuel Beckett is famously the only Nobel prize winner to appear in Wisden, by virtue of his appearances for Trinity in some dubiously first-class games in the 1920s. But now a Cork-born Dutchman has joined him in the pantheon of literary willow-wielders.
Joseph O'Neill's Netherland has been hailed as the Great American Novel by the New York Times, and a Booker nomination has swiftly followed. O'Neill's book adopts cricket among the immigrant communities of New York post 9/11 as a central theme, and his main character is a man who played for HBS in Holland.
Former Ireland batsman Deryck Vincent had a vague recollection of the name, and checked back to the Under 19 tournament of 1983 where he was a member of the Ireland team alongside the likes of Michael Rea and Charlie McCrum. Sure enough, there was the dark and brooding O'Neill lined up as a member of the Dutch squad. He played just one game in the tournament, making seven.
Irish cricket followers may remember his younger brother, Dave, who played for Trinity in the mid 1980s and played half a dozen times for North Leinster, scoring a brilliant 61 against South Leinster at Kimmage.