Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom has expressed delight that the sport will soon have a permanent home in Dublin. On Friday, Minister for Sport Catherine Martin authorised the governing body to proceed with plans to build a cricket oval with permanent seating at the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin 15.
Ireland joined the 12 Test countries in 2017, but has since played just three full-form matches, one of which it hosted against Pakistan in 2018.
Cricket Ireland has spent a substantial amount of money building temporary facilities at Malahide Cricket Club to accommodate audiences of 11,500 for international games.
“What distinguishes the facilities envisioned by the government is that they are permanent facilities,” Deutrom told RTÉ Sport of the proposed new stadium.
“It is incredibly costly to put in place all of the permanent infrastructure that is necessary to meet the International Cricket Council’s rigorous standards to be able to stage international cricket against the finest teams in the world. “It costs us several hundred thousand euros every year.” That is plainly unsustainable financially and has been for many years. We would much rather spend that money on the game itself. “It’s also extremely environmentally unsustainable to have trucks and all of this infrastructure going in and out on a yearly basis, as well as being constructed and demolished.”
“Having a home in Dublin is exactly what we require for a sport of our size and importance in Irish sport.”
According to Deutrom, the stadium’s capacity and ownership have yet to be determined.
Deutrom anticipates that pitch construction will begin in 2023.
“By 2028, we think there’s a reasonable chance that we’ll be invited to host an ICC qualifying tournament, which implies that the year before, in 2027, we really need to be playing international cricket.” As a result, we must play domestic cricket in 2026. “Pitching takes three years to form and settle in Irish conditions, so we need to start building the green stuff this year.”
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