Josh Little - 'I can guarantee I will play Test cricket at some stage'
Josh Little - 'I can guarantee I will play Test cricket at some stage'
Ireland's fast bowler explains why he has yet to make his Test debut in the midst of multiple franchise commitments
Josh Little could not be clearer. “I can guarantee I will play Test cricket at some stage.”
For the first time since Ireland returned to the red ball stage in 2023, Little has explained why he has yet to feature in the game’s longest format. His absence has sparked a significant public debate.
Last June, when Ireland were preparing to play a Test at Lord’s, Cricket Ireland made the headlines when, in a bid to explain why Little wouldn’t feature against England, it was said that the Test was not a “pinnacle event.” Instead, the Pembroke bowler was resting in between an IPL campaign and the critical ODI World Cup qualifiers.
Ireland have played five Tests in the last 18 months yet, in all likelihood, Little hasn’t so much as picked up a red ball since his last First Class match for Leinster back in 2019. He will also not feature in the Test against Zimbabwe on July 25th.
The reasons seem readily apparent to most people. Now, though, after an interview Little gave to journalists prior to the recent World Cup was published on Monday, we have an answer from the man himself.
Nothing in what Little said was particularly surprising. The long and the short of it is, he plays so much franchise cricket that he doesn’t have the time to get the overs into his legs to be able to bowl in red ball cricket without risking injury.
“I think people at home forget that there’s a lot of prep that goes into a Test match,” explains Little. “Bowlers often need to get up to 30-40 overs a week, which is a build-up of over six weeks, in my opinion, to get to get to where you need to be.
“To get off the plane of a T20 tournament and then get him stuck into a Test match… I’ve played about two or three red ball games [actually six First Class games] in my whole career so I think that could be pretty dangerous for me.”
Eminently sensible, it seems. Of course, the retort to this argument would be that no one is forcing him to play in all these franchise leagues. This year, Little has played or will play in the IL20, IPL, Major League Cricket, a new competition in the Cayman Islands called Max60 and then the Caribbean Premier League. Devil’s advocate says nothing is stopping Little from sacrificing some of these opportunities to give himself that six week window to prepare for a Test match.
“I sort of blocked off this two years as pretty busy franchise-wise, and then after that I’ll be putting an eye on Test cricket,” he says.
“It’s [Test cricket] definitely something I want to do, something I’m passionate about doing, but just at the moment with my busy schedule I’m just not sure about the prep and the risk of injury. I’m 10 months away from home at the moment, so I’ve got to balance life a little bit, but it’s definitely something I am passionate about. I can guarantee I will play Test cricket at some stage.
“Even if I go in the next year or two or still be 26, [there are] still potentially 10 years in Test cricket if my body holds up.”
To be fair to Little, he’s consistent with his public comments. He doesn’t do a lot of media, but the last time he did a sit down interview with a journalist (with myself for Cricbuzz at the end of 2022), he also said red ball cricket was something he wanted to get stuck into.
The reason he isn’t doing so just yet is, quite frankly, money. As he is perfectly entitled to do, Little is maximising his franchise earning potential while he still can. At the risk of reducing sport to a cold calculation - this is after all a job for these guys - Little wants to earn as much franchise money as possible while he is still a valuable commodity.
Franchises won’t always come calling. The form which saw Little jump onto this T20 merry-go-round, a hat-trick in a World Cup against New Zealand, may well never be repeated. In terms of his market value, he could already be at his peak. Injury aside, Ireland duties, while important, will always be there for him. This volume of franchise gigs might not.
That two year window Little mentions is noteworthy. He doesn’t go into detail in the interview, but it is understood that he has signed a two year contract with the Knight Riders franchise (KKR). This was not an IPL deal - he once again played for the Gujarat Titans this year - but KKR has teams in Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles and Trinidad and Tobago. Little played for Abu Dhabi in January, he is currently on the bench in LA at Major League Cricket while he will go to Trinbago at the end of August. The precise value of this deal isn’t known, but it is believed to be a seven figure sum. He is currently six months into this contract.
For now, Little has declared that he will one day play Test cricket and this likely will happen at the end of 2025 or in 2026. We have no reason at this stage to not take him at his word. Though it will be interesting if his form ticks up between now and then and he is subsequently offered even more franchise money. Then he will have a big decision to make. Stay on the franchise circuit or play in one-off Tests against Afghanistan and New Zealand, as per Ireland’s post-2025 FTP commitments?
“Cricket Ireland have been nothing but accommodating, to be honest with you,” says Little of his employer’s policy of allowing him to miss games such as the upcoming Zimbabwe Test so he can be in a MLC squad.
“Sometimes it is a balancing act. It’s tough at times. I love playing for Ireland, but equally franchise opportunities may not come around forever. Ireland may not come around forever, so it’s a tough one.
“I spent only about 60 days in my own country last year. So there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into both playing for Ireland and doing the franchise tournaments. But my passion has always been playing for my country. That’s what I wanted to do from when I was a young kid.
“The franchise opportunities are more of a financial decision that come because of success in international cricket. So I don’t take international cricket lightly or for granted and hopefully I can have many more caps for my country.”
Little is absolutely right that doing well for Ireland is what got him into this whole discussion in the first place. There are some who think he has forgotten that truth in recent months. Critics have been vocal of the decision, whether it was made by Cricket Ireland or Little himself, to not play in the pre-World Cup tri-series. Little only played one game in two months at the IPL prior to those games in Amsterdam. There has been an acceptance within the Ireland camp that his subsequent performances in America suggested he was undercooked. That said, the last time Little had an extended break with no games, he looked refreshed when tearing through Zimbabwe’s top order in December
As Little said himself, this is all a balancing act. It’s also very new. Ireland have never had a player involved with so many other teams. He has only been on this franchise journey for the bones of two years.
Everyone involved will continually try to figure out how to allow Little to make his money while still setting him up for success with Ireland. Given his franchise contract, that process will continue until at least the end of next year.
After that, Little has laid out a timeline for his return to donning the red ball whites. Irish fans await that day impatiently.
Little is doing the right thing, making life changing money while he can. Money that his CI contract looks like change down the back of the sofa
The West Indies South African and New Zealand boards also suffer this same problem, despite being far more established, many of their best players chose to play franchise games and the paycheck, rather than play gruelling tests and also pick and choose which white games they are avaliable for
It's doesn't help that these games are effectively meaningless. Ireland are not in the WTC, and in this crowded calander why would anyone want to play against them, except as a warm up to an English tour?
With the end of the ODI Superleague these games also have less meaning
Look at the team England put out for last September, and the planned ODIi next June comes in the middle of the India test series, so again a marginal team will be sent.
So until Tests and ODIs have some meaning, and funding to support them from the ICC, this will continue
Need a 2 division Test Championship and a relaunch of the Superleagie
It's a chicken & egg environment here - we want to see Josh prosper both professionally & financially as an individual BUT we also want to see him represent and improve the Test team's output because of the class bowler that he is. Very similar to scenario to Rashid Khan for Afghanistan.
PS Josh very few quick bowlers bowl for 30-40 overs in a Test innings these days - we will get the curator to help you with a luscious green deck. Most Tests are over inside 4 days as well so its not a full 5 days that we are asking for.