Ireland Makes Landmark Appointment Amid Challenges For The Small Cricket Nation

In what does underscore the prevailing view that cricket is a rather conservative sport at its roots, it’s taken until 2025 for a permanent female chief executive to be appointed by a Full Member – the 12 nations granted more power, funds and playing opportunities.

Ireland, the newest Full Member nation alongside Afghanistan, has appointed Sarah Keane as the successor to long-time chief Warren Deutrom, who left in August after 19 years at the helm.

Keane starts in March and has been Swim Ireland chief executive since 2004, having also served as Olympic Federation of Ireland president from 2017-24.

“Cricket is a truly global sport, and Ireland now stands on the threshold of tremendous opportunity – from the Olympic opportunity with the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympics, the accelerated development of the women’s game, and the potential of bringing different communities together, to Ireland hosting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2030,” she said.

As gleaned by the overwhelming number of male powerbrokers at the International Cricket Council meetings, cricket needs an influx of female administrators.

Indra Nooyi, the former high-profile PepsiCo chief, was the first-ever independent woman director on the ICC board when she joined in 2018.

She finished up on the board last year after three terms and has still not been replaced, but as I first reported recently she might be sounded out to take the reins of troubled USA Cricket.

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Keane will be making history as she takes the hot seat amid challenges for Ireland, unable to stage much international cricket due to financial pressures. It costs around a million Euros for Ireland to host Tests – thus they’ve only been able to stage two red-ball matches on home soil since becoming a Full Member in 2017.

With cricket being well behind soccer and Gaelic football on the Irish sports pecking order, attracting sponsorships is difficult while governing body Cricket Ireland only get a fraction of ICC funding that is primarily gobbled up by money-spinner India.

A long-lasting legacy is hoped for cricket in Ireland as co-host of the 2030 T20 World Cup. Hopes are high after the Irish government approved the development of a 4000-seat cricket ground in Dublin. It will be a permanent international cricket stadium that doubles as a high performance center at the National Sports Campus.

“Our headroom for growth, based on those enormous opportunities, is going to be fantastic,” Deutrom told me on the sidelines of July’s ICC annual meetings – his swansong as Cricket Ireland chief.

“Challenges are going to be the same that every other board has, which is how to balance franchise cricket with international cricket.

“The Retail Price Index in Ireland is among the highest on the planet, so that does stretch our ICC distribution by comparison to those in less expensive markets.”

Having only played 10 Tests since 2017, teams are not incentivized to play Ireland as they are not part of the nine-side World Test Championship. It has meant that half their Tests have been against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, who are also not part of the WTC.

But Ireland do dream of one day regularly playing on cricket’s most traditional stage, perhaps even against powers India and Australia who have been reticent playing smaller nations.

The distinct possibility of two divisions for Test cricket being implemented might unlock more opportunities for the likes of Ireland.

“I would personally be very much in favor of two divisions of Test cricket,” said Deutrum, who has moved into the chair of the European T20 Premier League.

“Where that line is drawn and how that’s done, whether it’s going to be two conferences or two divisions of promotion, I don’t know.

“I think anything with proper context, meritocratic structures, is exactly what the game means.

“I know there is a great following of Test cricket in Ireland and I know there is huge interest whenever we played.”

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A new era for Ireland will begin under the leadership of Keane, who will follow in the footsteps of such an indefatigable figure.

“We’ve managed to establish a sport that is now among one of the largest sports in the country, certainly in terms of following,” said Deutrum, who labelled Ireland’s upset over England at the 2011 World Cup and receiving Full Member status in 2017 as his greatest moments in the role.

“To have been part of the journey of Ireland becoming a proper cricket nation that it is now has been an enormous privilege.”