Mailbag 3.0 - Pakistan series, bowling takeaways and World Cup hopes

Your questions answered after Ireland men lost 2-1 to Pakistan in a T20 series in Clontarf

📸: Sportsfile

Here we go. Your questions on Irish cricket answered.

As always with mailbags, this post is long because there were lots of questions which need plenty of teasing out. I won’t bother with much of a preamble so!

Should Hume be at risk of his place in the squad after a lacking series? - Tom Grunshaw

With the nightmare of a series experienced by Graham Hume, do you think Malan will be regretting his decision to not blood Mayes or Foster into the squad for the World Cup? - Sono Cherry

From my handful of interactions with him, and from what gets said through the grapevine, Malan doesn’t sound like the type of character to use the word regret too often. It’s probably not a bad quality to have, given his job involves people saying how wrong he is on a daily basis.

These questions were sent in before news broke that Graham Hume won’t travel to the Netherlands due to visa issues. Cricket Ireland emphasised that this was not due to his displays against Pakistan, and that the squad for the World Cup remains unchanged. If Fionn Hand gets a run and plays well in this upcoming tri-series, though, there will be a conversation to be had.

As for Hume’s form in the recent Pakistan series, ‘nightmare’ might be a bit harsh, but I can see where the question is coming from. In the second T20, Hume’s two drops of Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan were costly. It’s easy to look at dropped catches and blame loss on them but in this case, given Ireland’s lack of ability to threaten without the new ball, every chance needed to be taken. Ireland didn’t bowl particularly well after the drops, but if the catches were taken we could well be having a different conversation. Hume then dropped another simple enough chance in the third game. It wouldn’t have had an effect on the result, but he looked mentally fried after the whole fielding ordeal.

With the ball, Hume wasn’t horrendous in comparison to his teammates, but he wasn’t good either. All told, he bowled five overs with figures of 1-58, good for an economy of 11.6 runs per over.

Like most of the Irish attack, Hume’s issue is pace, or lack of it. If he no longer has a moving ball to work with, he will struggle to get top, top players out on a flat pitch. Fionn Hand, Tom Mayes and Matthew Foster, while marginally quicker than Hume, also don’t have that top end pace Ireland lacked with Josh Little still in the IPL.

But would they have fared better than Hume, whose nerves in the field may well have seeped into his performance with the ball? It’s impossible to say. At this stage so close to the World Cup, it’s not worth the risk of blooding new internationals for what would probably only be a marginal improvement to a squad place which should, injury-permitting, only be for a back-up seamer. That said, if Hume’s mental strength has gone completely after a shocker in the field, then it could well be the best thing for the team to swap him out.

Given the squad has already been submitted to the ICC, making a change that isn’t injury-enforced would send a significant message. I suspect Ireland won’t make a knee-jerk decision after one series, but if they do, it’s a tricky balance which will require exceptional man management skills.

Will semi pro or pro IP contracts ever be considered in future? Hard to see how our domestic setup progresses without bare minimum of summer deals for players in squads that aren't centrally contracted. - Donal Cozzie

Will they be considered at some point in the distant, indefinite future? Absolutely. Will that point be soon? Unlikely, given fixtures are likely to be cut from the FTP in future years, so it doesn’t seem like there will be extra money lying around.

As we get closer to 2027, the current ICC funding cycle will increase as it is backloaded towards that year. Will that be enough to contract the required number of players? Who knows.

Looking at this week’s recent interpros, there were over 20 uncontracted players playing across Leinster and Munster. That figure can be doubled when the other two provinces are factored in. That’s close to 40 additional players that will have to be awarded some sort of deal to keep the interpro system going when international players are away.

That’s a lot of cash. Especially seeing as, if you’re contracting players, it’s because there are so many interpro games that players have to be compensated for loss of earnings from the day job. That will definitely mean an increase on the current number of fixtures. More games = more expense. Cricket Ireland doesn’t make money off the interpros. At present, players make in the region of €100 per day in match fees. The 12th man gets half of that.

It’s a long winded way of saying, if the interpro schedule stays as light as it is, domestic contracts won’t come in any time soon. If CI brings in more interpros, then they will have to incentivise non-professionals to take more time away from work. But more funds will be required to do so.

Will such contracts be considered by CI? Absolutely, but I suspect they’re in the middle of the pile of desired new toys, rather than the towards top. I can’t see them being introduced before 2027, the end of the current funding cycle.

Any reason Ruhan Pretorius has disappeared from the selectors thoughts? He's one of the top inter-pro performers and has had success with the Wolves in the past. He outperforms Rock and Adair domestically but he never gets a look in. Same applies to Mayes compared with Hand. - Will

I think Pretorius’ main issue is a lack of ball speed when bowling. He’s not overly dissimilar to Graham Hume in terms of pace, probably not as skilled, but he is comfortably a better batter. You’re right that his interpro record is good (averages 30 in List A with both and and ball, which you’d absolutely take from a batting all-rounder) but are Ireland lacking in decent bats who can offer some medium pace bowling?

When he scored 81 last week for the Knights, Pretorius batted 5. Is anyone getting into this Irish middle order where, depending on the format, Tector, Campher, Tucker and Dockrell reign supreme?

Why is Stirling not using Delany, Dockrell and Tector in second T20 also after Hume dropped 2 easy catches he could have bowled Delany but he didn’t. Could have bowled Tector seeing a left handed Fakhar Zaman was batting ! - Sam

What is preventing Stirling going to Tector or Dockrell (or even himself!) for middle overs of spin, especially when the pace options are not working? Tector has shown he is a competent spin option in franchise cricket. - DRP303

Part of me wonders if it’s a philosophy shift under Malan. I’ve said it before, but when Graham Ford was coach, bits and pieces cricketers like Campher, Tyrone Kane, Stuart Thompson etc were the norm. They weren’t gun bats or top end bowlers, but between them they cobbled together enough runs and wickets to be competitive. Under Malan, Ireland have moved to using five frontline bowlers and not relying on Campher or Dockrell in T20, even if the former did bowl more than usual in the Pakistan series.

There clearly isn’t the required levels of trust in the part-time bowling options. This seems odd. Before the last T20 World Cup Heinrich Malan said Ireland’s analyst Scotty Irvine was banging the drum for Stirling to bowl. In some of his more recent franchise gigs, the 100 in particular, he bowled plenty. There was a bizarre situation where the Southern Brave trusted Stirling with the ball more than Ireland did.

Stirling is always nursing a bit of a sore shoulder, which might be part of the reluctance. Given he used to be an effective option for Middlesex, the Brave and even Ireland at the 2021 World Cup where he bowled out-swingers off a short run with the new ball, there will always be that nagging thought from fans that he should turn the arm over more.

Tector probably just hasn’t bowled enough in internationals to earn the trust. Against Pakistan, with the game pretty much gone in the 2nd T20 and the left-handed Fakhar whacking everyone, Tector and his tall release point was worth a punt, even if the right-handed Rizwan was at the other end.

Dockrell doesn’t have great T20 numbers in recent years, whereas he’s been excellent in 50-over cricket. That might have something to do it, although on Tuesday he bowled one over costing only five runs amidst the carnage…and didn’t bowl again.

Delany didn’t bowl on Sunday because it was a wet ball and a 48 metre straight hit. Ireland wanted to minimise spin usage.

There are all these reasons why Ireland don’t go to these different options, but I don’t think captains Stirling and Tucker had the luxury of thinking like this when the game was falling apart.

Why did Stirling rest himself for a series decider? Should we have concerns about his fitness with ~10 games to come over the next month? - Tom Grunshaw

I haven’t heard anything that suggests Stirling’s fitness is a concern. By all accounts, he’s as diligent when it comes to looking after himself now as he ever was.

The word from the Ireland camp was they don’t want to have an emergency situation where Tucker has to captain in a World Cup match having never done it before. There were some split views on the importance of blooding Tucker vs picking the strongest possible XI in a rare opportunity to win a series at home, but the rotation policy won out.

If Malan has shown a willingness to rotate, does that mean there’s a chance for younger players to force themselves into the squad post-WC? With a free August after the Zimbabwe Test, how likely are we to see Irish players in the Hundred/CPL? - Richard

I think after this World Cup, with two years until the next T20 competition and three until the 50-over version, now is absolutely the time to start blooding players. However, in 50-over cricket, the perfect time to do so was the England series last September, even further away from the last World Cup, and Ireland didn’t do that.

Ireland lack quality opening depth and a wicket-taking spinner in the middle overs in ODIs. The seam attack is in decent shape, again when Little is around, but depth remains a concern. If they didn’t pick newbies against England, like what they did with Tector and co in 2020, I can’t see what will have changed their minds this time around. Unless someone is really banging the door down, but as we will get into later, interpro form doesn’t guarantee selection.

There is an Emerging series against West Indies U23 coming up. Some dominant performances there might warrant a look, but that remains to be seen. If I was a betting man, Matthew Foster is the closest player to a debut in the South Africa series given they need to develop fast bowling depth. Gavin Hoey might also get a look in some T20 stuff.

On the franchise question, the 100 have their squads set so Irish players will need others to drop out to get picked up as replacements. Josh Little is obviously the prime candidate, given his history with the Manchester Originals and the fact his agent is well connected in England. That said, I strongly suspect Little will be involved in the CPL, which may impact any potential 100 availability.

Harry Tector could be a dark horse if he has a good T20 World Cup. Major League Cricket is right after that WC, so keep an eye out for players being picked up there if they perform well in New York and Florida.

McCarthy, Adair, Delany and Little are going to form the core of the bowling attack in the World Cup. Who do you think between Young, White or Hume should be the 5th bowling option? - Mohan Ra

It’s strange in that White is ahead of Delany in the bowling pecking order, but if Ireland come across conditions that call for only one spinner in the XI, it probably has to be Delany because of his batting. However, I suspect Ireland will more likely than not play both White and Delany. Based on T20 form, Young is probably the seamer to drop out when Little comes back.

Who’s the 5th best seamer in Ireland after Josh Little, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young ? - Sam

The coaches really rate Matthew Foster. He’s probably more a longer-format bowler given his natural lengths, while he hasn’t shown some of the variations required in enough games, which isn’t to say he doesn’t have them. Tom Mayes has also had some decent results recently, but Foster is certainly rated more highly.

South African-born Liam McCarthy hasn’t qualified to play for Ireland yet, but he is one of the quicker bowlers on the interpro circuit.

Given the flashes of pace shown previously, a certain cohort of fans will always back David Delany’s ability. He’s just landed back in the country after wintering in Australia and played his first interpro of the year on Wednesday. He hadn’t bowled for a few months before last weekend, so he needs a while to build back into rhythm to make a case based on form. That is, if whatever the off-field barriers to selection have been smoothed over. He recently released a statement saying he wants to play for Ireland again.

In terms of this T20 World Cup, Fionn Hand is the next cab off the rank. They will, I suspect, still trust Hume for now. Both have a tendency to be expensive so it’s much of a muchness, but Hand does have that unpredictable streak that can buy a wicket every now and then.

Will Little be the answer to the bowling weakness, he can only bowl 4? If the problems of inconsistency and being expensive persist, could Campher, Delany, Dockrell, Tector and Stirling, get through 8 overs not significantly worse than Young and White, but have room for Rock or Adair? - Barry O’Keefe

A lot of questions about the attack! Did they get whacked recently or…?

No, Little of course won’t be the only answer. Remember when they beat England in 2022, Dockrell chipped in with a wicket and had another few dropped off him, McCarthy got one while Hand had his magic ball. Ireland rarely win because of one player (even if Little did get Buttler and Hales in that game…)

That said, is he Ireland’s best chance at producing a match-winning spell? Of course.

Theoretically, you’re right, Ireland can cobble together overs and get another bat in, even if they already bat quite deep. But I can see why there has been this philosophy shift to more mainstream bowlers. Ireland are scoring a lot of runs at the minute, but the problem is defending totals, which they seem incapable of doing. Look at all the T20 leagues at the moment. Generally speaking, the teams which take the most wickets finish top of the table.

This is just how Ireland are set up right now. They have a shallow bowling attack which, when the ball is old, lacks the pace or top end spin to trouble sides. They also don’t really have any death specialists. Adair and Little are the best they have, but they wouldn’t be seen as objectively stellar death bowlers outside of Ireland.

Ireland’s philosophy is, if in doubt, pick the specialist bowler. Despite being flayed to all parts in the last two matches, they obviously think it would be worse if they relied more on part-timers.

Have Ireland made the right 'long term' call in letting Josh Little go to the IPL and does it set an awkward precedent? 

On Tuesday I watched a second string attack (unfortunately minus Barry McCarthy) disappear into the various back gardens/hedgerows of suburban Clontarf...all apart from Mark Adair. I'm not sure if Mark would get an IPL call up but surely he is on the radar of the multiple other T20 leagues globally. If he gets an approach then it will be hard for Ireland to stop him given they have already let Josh head off.

OK - so both players would be required to turn up for the really meaningful games (World Cups, qualifiers etc) but it would mean Ireland would be up against it in any other matches. An additional problem is that McCarthy, Hume and Young are not getting any younger and have had their injury problems too... - James Butler

Was allowing Little to stay at the IPL and miss the Pakistan games right for Ireland’s prospects of winning a rare series at home? Of course not. In terms of long term implications though, I don’t share your pessimism.

As long as Little is available for World Cups, meaningful qualifying events and games which act as preparation for those, I don’t have any issue with his franchise commitments. It should be stated at this point that he does want to play for Ireland and be a part of memorable tournament runs. Yet justifiably, he also wants to maximise his earning potential; his first IPL contract was worth close to half a million USD and his Ireland contract is a fraction of that. Remember that, as a fast bowler, his youth could ensure that he is currently as valuable as he will ever be to the franchise circuit.

Will missing Little cost Ireland a few games here in there in bilaterals? There is never just one factor behind losing, but his absence certainly won’t help. That said, if it forces Ireland to play an underdeveloped seamer to try and give reps to someone with good prospects, who won’t develop all that much in the interpros and it comes good in the same way Little himself learned while on the international job, that is a very good long term outcome.

You could make the same argument with Adair. It is strange that he has the new ball record he has without having earned a franchise opportunity. The feedback I’ve heard is that teams simply want more pace. He could justifiably point to all his wickets and say he doesn’t need top end pace to be effective. But if he does get an opportunity somewhere which clashes with Ireland games, it would be a useful exercise to figure out who’s the next best option with the new ball.

Cricket Ireland has been reasonable enough with Little so far in terms of his franchise commitments, and they can continue to be if Adair jumps on the franchise bandwagon. This can been a good move, for both player and country if they use the absences wisely to find out who their next international bowlers are.

What is par for Ireland at the up-coming World Cup? - Ciaran Doyle

Given Ireland’s group, this is actually quite straightforward. Beating the USA and Canada, ensuring a one-game shootout with Pakistan for a place in the next round, is par. If Ireland beat those two but lose to India and Pakistan and their competition is over after two weeks, no one is going to throw stones at the team bus on their way home.

Given the vagaries of T20 cricket, it is eminently possible that Ireland lose to the USA but pull something special out of the bag to beat Pakistan - again. If that happens, Ireland still win two matches as in the above scenario, but it will feel like an underperformance given a defeat to the USA, rather than India or Pakistan, may well cost them progression.

Being at the ground on Friday there was a level of good vibes that I haven't felt at an Ireland game for a few years. Having lived in London, it reminded me of Surrey's evening T20s at the Oval. I know the weather makes a difference here, but having a Friday evening T20 at Clontarf in May/June could/should be a staple of the Cricket Ireland calendar. With good marketing and opposition, you could routinely pack in 3k people enjoying the cricket. The ground has so many advantages over Malahide for spectators, especially its proximity to the city centre. 

My question is do you think there is the ambition in Cricket Ireland to own a weekend in the calendar and market the event appropriately? If done well it could have a huge impact for the CI coffers and growing the game. - Ciaran Doyle

The vibes on Friday were certainly as good as I’ve seen covering the team - I started in 2021. The last time the men beat a full member other than Afghanistan or Zimbabwe at home was South Africa back in 2021! That’s a big reason why everyone was so happy.

But you are dead right that the sunshine and the fact that punters were starting off their weekend had an impact - not to mention the effect of a pint or two.

There are two parts this. The first is the international element. Ireland men only play four international matches at home this year. We just had three of them in six days. It’s virtually impossible to mass sell a product without consistency.

The other issue is tickets. Cricket Ireland sold 1,350 tickets for each of the Pakistan games at Clontarf. They were marketed as sell outs, so it was a conscious decision to only sell that many. All told, when you combine punters, those in hospitality and staff, there were no more than 1,500 people at each game. Yet Clontarf could easily hold your suggestion of 3,000, if not more.

It’s hard to think that there wasn’t a demand for more tickets, especially with a south Asian country playing. Away from the expat community, a colleague of mine who works in GAA was raging he couldn’t get a ticket because so few were on sale. Watching cricket in the sunshine is fun, no matter what your background or traditional sporting interest.

Why the cap on numbers? I suspect there are variety of reasons. More people means more costs such as temporary infrastructure, security and presumably event insurance. Perhaps CI didn’t think they could sell enough tickets to make all those costs worthwhile. If that is the case, it doesn’t scream a lot of ambition.

The key point here is cricket becoming a cultural event. In the UK, T20 nights and matches in the Hundred are an occasion, something that people look forward to with regularity. Especially in London, with The Oval and Lord’s, people know they will have a number of events to dip in and out of. It is part of their summer culture.

We can’t replicate that here. We have neither the venues, the cultural capital nor the number of interested spectators. But we can aim for something similar on a smaller scale. Even with all the limitations, three men’s white ball games on this island with a combined capacity of less than 5,000 people is nowhere near sufficient to build that cultural status.

The structure of bilateral series also makes it difficult to incorporate your suggestion of regular Friday night internationals. Teams generally play three T20s max in a series in Ireland. That’s less than a week of cricket. They aren’t going to wait around a week for another Friday night T20.

Given future FTP cuts are all but certain in this cycle, we probably can expect no more than two home series per summer, three in a good year. That’s two or three Friday nights of men’s T20. Bear in mind if you guaranteed Clontarf those games, the Northern Cricket Union and the North West would go mad that they don’t get the same opportunities for more marketable games.

In an ideal world, you might be able to guarantee Clontarf one Friday night of international men’s T20 per year. Is Cricket Ireland going to go balls to the wall with marketing costs in Dublin for that? It’s not worth the investment. I’m not sure to what extent the recent Pakistan series was advertised. If you weren’t a cricket person, would you know the games were going on? The news of the men rejecting contract offers the week prior ensured a newspaper slot and a bulletin on RTÉ news, but neither of those media outlets cut through to the same extent they used to.

Also, with the vagaries of World Cup schedules and travel requirements from other teams , you probably can’t guarantee these regular Friday nights would take place in May/June.

All of which is to say, it’s nigh on impossible to have these night games become important cultural events if they are internationals, in the current climate.

The easy - and cheaper - fix is to schedule the interpro T20s for Friday nights. Or Thursday nights for that matter, seeing as that seems to be a big office night out these days. Create a festival atmosphere that draws in a few hundred people in a reasonably central venue, Pembroke in Dublin for example, charge a fiver on the door and let people sit on the wall with a beer and watch a decent standard of cricket.

There are 18 interpros and nine Super Series T20 outings this year. That’s 27 opportunities for evening matches, plenty enough to spread across the provinces and offer regularity which can build an audience. On Wednesday, come 6pm, the players were having a beer after Munster’s victory over Leinster in Pembroke. Part of the reason it was players, rather than fans, doing so is because the game finished early in a Munster drubbing. But there is no reason that can’t be fans doing so with the cricket on.

Well, there is one reason which renders the whole conversation about Friday night T20s - be they domestic or international - moot. There are no cricket grounds in Ireland which have floodlights. For all the joy around Clontarf on Friday, the game started at 3pm. How many people do you know who will take time off work to watch a game of cricket?

There will eventually be floodlights if/when a stadium in Abbotstown is built, but that venue is in such an inaccessible location that, in all likelihood, it’s difficult to envisage any crowd of note unless India or Pakistan are playing. If Cricket Ireland could invest in floodlights in one ground on the Dart line, spend plenty on marketing and create a regular domestic product that develops a reputation for entertainment on a sunny evening, they could easily draw crowds. But it requires that initial investment and it will take at least a year to build trust in the consistency of the product.

In their current financial climate, can CI spend that long making such an investment without major returns? Probably not. As with everything, CI could well have the ambition of doing something like this eventually, but it’s low down the list of priorities given all the other areas that need funding.

Who signed off with the idea that the only significant game for the Irish Men this summer (after WC) needed to be played almost perfectly along with the Edgbaston test, when the next 3 weeks have no international cricket in England? - Barry O’Keefe

For the avoidance of doubt, the game at Edgbaston is England vs West Indies. The concern is it will be difficult to get a UK broadcaster - Irish companies aren’t interested most of the time - to pick up the rights with England in action at the same time

If no TV broadcast, it’s harder to watch for some fans - albeit the game will be streamed on YouTube as a last resort. Another issue would be that no broadcaster means no broadcast revenue for CI.

If this schedule overlap wasn’t considered, it’s certainly a bit dim. Generally speaking, CI’s chairman agrees a series in principle and then the high performance staff flesh out the details. The CEO and CFO will also be reasonably involved in the whole process.

What I would say is, CI often reaches out to broadcasters well in advance to gauge interest. A big reason why the Australia series was canned was broadcasters down under didn’t bite on the rights when offered to them a few months ago. A big reason why SA in the UAE survived is because broadcasters did express an interest. It is possible CI went to a broadcaster before announcing the Zimbabwe Test and got a commitment. This is pure speculation, but perhaps TNT said yes so they will have some cricket to show, given Sky have the England game.

Although if cynically minded, one could argue that Ireland vs Zimbabwe would never interest a UK broadcaster, regardless of England’s schedule.

Since the Interpros were re-established, do you think the standard of play has improved year on year as an observation? - Sport Ireland Strategy

The standard of individual matches and competitions can vary greatly year on year depending on international availability, the quality of club players to fill the gaps (including overseas pros) and the ability of younger players within the CI system.

That’s almost by the by, though. The more important question is, has the interpro structure become a quality development pathway that consistently produces internationals? Not really.

Can you name a single player in recent years who became an international cricketer because they honed their craft in the interpro system? Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, George Dockrell*, Barry McCarthy, Mark Adair and Craig Young are the last players of the county generation. Harry Tector, Josh Little, Lorcan Tucker, Gareth Delany and Curtis Campher all were thrown into international cricket in a sink or swim situation.

Those players swam. Others haven’t settled as well. Neil Rock was dropped in 2022. Similarly, Ben White struggled in the first few years of his international career before having a good last 12 months, predominantly because he has simply bowled a lot of international overs.

Ross Adair is one player from the interpro system but he, alongside Rock who went away and worked on his power game with his province, are the exceptions that prove the rule. When both played against Pakistan on Tuesday, they looked what they are: players shy of international reps. Playing interpros did not adequately prepare them to perform against Shaheen Afridi. Poor old Rock has played two international games of late and faced up to Shaheen and Rashid Khan. With no regular cricket of a remotely similar standard, he didn’t have a hope.

There is a drop off when Ireland have to go away from their first choice XI. Adair and Rock have been mentioned, but, as has been well documented at this stage, Graham Hume - another who doesn’t play regular internationals - also struggled against Pakistan. His cricket development came playing First Class in South Africa but the interpros did not subsequently equip him to succeed when called upon on this occasion.

Fionn Hand, another interpro player who was called into the squad without playing, has a mixed international record apart from his Ben Stokes wonderball. Gavin Hoey was called up and while he remains a good prospect, it might not be long before he hits the stage where he will only get better by bowling international overs.

Quantity and quality are both issues. When international players are away, the standard isn’t good enough for guys on the fringes of the national squad to properly improve. There are also no interpros for the entirety of July and most of June this year. Any rhythm built up by the current block will have dissipated. The games in August could well be rusty as players build back up to the required again.

Then there is the issue of player buy-in. It depends on the individual, but there are absolutely players who care more about lining out for their club on a Saturday than their province during the week. Given the irregularity of fixtures, it’s easy to see why. Players buy in more easily to the team that’s giving them regular games. The movement of players around the provinces has also been listed as a diluting factor for “passion”. I don’t overly buy it, but that does matter to some people.

The other, more important factor, is the bearing of interpros on Irish selection. Ahead of the first T20 festival of the year at Pembroke, the World Cup squad was already selected, if not announced. There is absolutely a sense among players that current leadership has their idea of the best 15 players and interpro form won't change that.

Whether that’s true or not is almost irrelevant. If even only a handful of players don’t think that interpro runs or wickets will earn them international honours, they will switch off.

Not all. Some will still go at it hammer and tongs, but it’s not an environment conducive to a high standard of hard, competitive cricket across the board.

* If you wanted to, you could say Dockrell’s rejuvenation as a batter came in the interpros. But it’s also important to acknowledge that he has spoken before about how that journey started towards the back end of his time at Somerset, while a winter in Australia was where a good bit of technical work on his batting took place.

How far away were we from winning this series [Pakistan]? Was the first game a fluke in a series that ought to have been 3-0; or could this have been a winning series if one or two things had gone our way in games 2 or 3? - Séin Mac Loinsigh

That depends on how confident you would be in Ireland’s death bowling to limit Azam Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed had the Hume drops off Fakhar and Rizwan been held. My gut tells me that, given how difficult it was to defend totals at Clontarf, Pakistan probably would have shaded that second T20 even with the catches.

But it really is a case of if my granny had balls she’d be my grandad. Ireland are remotely competitive in these games which, given the long list of struggles Irish cricketers face and the country’s history in T20, is some achievement.