Strong team available for hectic programme

ON CRICKETPHIL Simmons's senior international team face a hectic schedule over the next month, with up to 17 days of cricket across three different competitions, including six One-Day Internationals. The World Twenty20 qualifier in Belfast at the start of August will be foremost in Simmons's thoughts, but first up is the European Championships, which get underway in Dublin on Friday.

Ireland are defending the trophy they won in Glasgow two years ago, and with William Porterfield set to play in all but the opener against Norway, and Eoin Morgan and Niall O'Brien available for the ODIs against the Netherlands and Scotland, they will start the tournament as favourites.

"It's always nice to have your senior players and it's good that they've committed to come back and play the ODIs especially," said Simmons at yesterday's press conference to announce details of the six-team tournament.

"It's good to have the full team together leading in to the Twenty20s which come just a couple of days afterwards."

Simmons and Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, have spent plenty of time talking to the counties involved in securing the release of the players, especially for the Twenty 20 qualifier.

They will have been encouraged by this week's statement from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who have both reaffirmed their support for the mandatory release of players from county cricket duty for international matches.

"The full commitment of the ECB to work with counties to support the ICC Board's mandatory release policy for associate players is great news and very welcome", said ICC president David Morgan.

"It will help to ensure that when the top associates have ODIs against full members or compete in next month's ICC World Twenty20 qualifier in Belfast they have their top players available", added Morgan.

Ireland are not alone in this predicament, with both Scotland and the Netherlands also having players involved in county cricket.

The recent ODI series in Scotland, where both Ireland and the home side shipped heavy defeats to New Zealand, may well have stirred the authorities to revisit what has proved a hot potato in the past.

The ICC seemed to be referring to the games in Aberdeen when stating: "The ICC and its members have been disappointed and concerned that the player release policy has thus far not always been able to achieve its express aim of ensuring that associates are at full strength for vital international matches. This has been unfortunate.

"The idea that an associate member is not at full strength when playing an ODI against a full member that is at full strength does not match the ICC's development objectives and is obviously not good for the development of the game."

Although the ICC has stopped short of making it compulsory to release players and the possible implementation of sanctions, they have laid down the following guidelines.

"The ICC would like to see all counties/states/provinces take a public and private position that a) players' careers would benefit greatly from representing their countries in such matches and events b) those players' developing or ongoing careers would not be adversely affected in any way by missing county/state/province matches for those internationals and c) performances in such matches - especially those against full members - would be held in even higher regard than performances in domestic cricket."

Just how seriously the counties will adhere to them remains to be seen. The ICC and the ECB are well aware that the imposition of financial sanctions will not stop counties, many of whom will pay large fines this season for the overuse of 'Kolpak' players.

Cricket, of course, is not the first sport to suffer the dilemma of club versus country issues, but this week's statement at least moved the debate back in to the spotlight. Solving it may be another day's work.