CRICKET:Sabina Park seemed a long, long way away yesterday as the money row that has been brewing since the World Cup dramatically spilled over as the Irish players imposed a ban on dealing with the media.
Trent Johnston and the rest of the Ireland team took the step of refusing all requests for interviews following the team's last-ball victory over The Netherlands at Stormont on Wednesday. At the heart of the issue is the lack of money promised to the players following their success at the World Cup.
The team's historic win against Pakistan in Jamaica, and the subsequent progress to the latter stages of the tournament, led to a hike in prize money to €41,800, although the players claim this should actually be close to €50,000. This was augmented to the tune of €50,000 by team sponsors Bank of Ireland. Until yesterday the players claim this money had yet to make it through to their bank accounts. The team issued a joint statement to explain their actions. It read: "It was with great reluctance that the squad decided to take this particular course of action. 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.
"Despite reports to the contrary, this is not 'a misunderstanding' between ourselves and the Irish Cricket Union. 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.
"The team would like these issues resolved and hopefully by taking this stand, it will speed up the process. We feel we deserve better for our efforts than we are currently getting from the union. We'd like to stress that we all love playing for our country and we will continue to represent Ireland with total pride and commitment - anybody who saw the game with the Netherlands today will bear testament to that."
The chief executive of the ICU, Warren Deutrom told The Irish Times he regretted the actions of the players but remained sympathetic to their grievances. He said the ICU had yesterday written cheques which would be distributed to the players at the first opportunity. "This was done while they were on the field playing Netherlands, unfortunately I was in a meeting when they came off the field and I didn't see them in time," he said.
By making the issue public, the players have brought to a head an issue that has rumbled under the surface for many months and highlights the plight of the ICU, in its attempts to capitalise upon the profile of cricket in the wake of the World Cup success. Deutrom referred to a conversation with Irish Sports Council chief executive John Treacy who said we were no different from "where Irish rugby was a few years ago", referencing the move from amateur to professional status. "The difference is we (ICU) do not have guaranteed television and sponsorship income and we don't have 50,000 people filling Lansdowne Road on a regular basis," said Deutrom.
This point was put into perspective by the recent visit of South Africa and India for the triangular one-day series in Belfast. What at first appeared to be a money-spinning opportunity for the ICU turned sour, leading to the ICU "breaking even at best" on the five games played at the end of last month.
"We are a cash poor organisation," says Deutrom, "as a result no one will take the risk of deferring payment for services, from hotels to coach operators."
The deal to host the Indian and South African teams incurred hotel bills alone of "between £80,000 and £90,000." The lack of time to market the games effectively, and poor weather, were blamed for the disappointing attendance at the games.
Meanwhile, the West Indies beat Scotland by four wickets in a rain-affected Quadrangular series match at Clontarf yesterday. The Scottish total of 152 for seven was revised, due to two rain interruptions, to 155 which the West Indies reached with one ball to spare.
