Officials must learn to market the game

THE Scottish and Irish Cricket Unions have certain things in common. Firstly, both bodies administer a so-called minority sport, though the coverage devoted to domestic cricket in the mainline Scottish newspapers far exceeds anything seen in Ireland.

But secondly, and more importantly, neither the SCU nor the ICU is notably good at promoting cricket. That being said, the Scottish Sports Council is among the sponsors of a national conference entitled "Scottish Cricket - A Forum for the Future", at the University of Stirling on September 22nd.

But in the tidy town of Linlithgow over the past weekend, the three-day match between the two countries which ended yesterday was not exactly a burning topic of conversation. Thus, your correspondent's vivacious and industrious landlady, Mary Mitchell didn't even know that the match was taking place, and on Friday evening, in the town's most pleasant hostelry, The Three Marys (named after the queen's loyal ladies-in-waiting, who all shared her Christian name) cricket didn't seem to top the imbibers' priorities list.

Yes, the game was advertised by the occasional discreet card displayed here and there in shop windows. Very discreet, be it said.

Which is not to point the finger at the host club, which laid on musical entertainment at lunch on Saturday and Sunday, as well as a barbeque and a ceili on Saturday night, while the game was sponsored by the West Lothian Council. Still, the crowd on all three days was of modest proportions, much as it would be at a Dublin venue.

It is quite likely that the numbers of people playing cricket in Ireland north and south is about equal to the numbers playing rugby. Yes, more spectators attend rugby matches, but only the bigger games.

That cricket is not more widely promoted or generally publicised in Ireland is not the fault of the various PROs in the game, either, who can only put out the information given to them, after all. And anyway, that is merely the dissemination of information, not active promotion per se.

The undoubtedly well-intentioned and hard-working men in the Irish Cricket Union (and its constituent bodies) simply must have a look at the whole area of marketing their game. Both RTE television and radio largely ignore cricket. and it is up to the ICU to try to make Montrose see the light.

The ICU should know that there are other means of bringing cricket to a wider audience, as well. Such as using the various commercial radio stations, provincial newspapers, eye-catching posters, and sticking leaflets into letter-boxes in the locality when a big match is coming up, for instance. And admitting school kids into such games - get em young is a true and important saying.

Also, the union should research its game and then make their findings known to sports editors and other key figures within the media. The ICU should be able to say how many cricketers there are, how many people follow the game, provide interesting historical facts and figures. In short, they should try to remove the not-so-faint, though unwarranted taint of exclusiveness which tends to afflict cricket and build up a proper marketing profile.

Ireland will once again be playing in the ICC tournament in Malaysia next spring, with a reasonable chance of qualifying for the World Cup proper. Apart from sponsors, who would help cricket financially as well as promoting it, our national team deserves all the support it can get as another sport which unites both parts of this island.

We're trying to be constructive here, by the way no criticism is intended of the men who have kept cricket in Ireland alive, down all the years.

But there is no room for complacency, either. Like everything else these days, and virtually every other sport, Irish cricket simply has to be sold, and sold skillfully and aggressively, at that.