Irish cricket thought itself '19th English county'

Outgoing Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom says a "sense of belief" has been key to the changing status of the sport in the country.

The Englishman, who will leave the organisation this month, has been in the position since September 2006 with the period including elevation to full member status of the ICC, historic World Cup victories over Pakistan, England and West Indies, and the advent of professional contracts in the men's and women's game.

"When I arrived, I think I was one of the very few people who did believe," he told BBC Sport NI's Gavin Andrews.

"I think our players got it, I think they definitely saw the talent that was here and they believed and you saw that from their performances on the pitch.

"My job was probably to try and get Irish cricket not to think of itself as the 19th English county, but to think of itself, as it became soon after the end of the World Cup in 2007, as the 10th best country in the world."

While there have been more recent budgetary concerns and fixture cancellations, Deutrom believes there is an exciting future for his unnamed successor with attempts to host India next year, the joint staging of the 2030 T20 World Cup and, most importantly, approved plans for a 4,000-capacity permanent stadium.

"The next five years - [In] 2026 we hope we can have India turning up. I'm going to be working on that over the next few weeks," he said.

"Also 2027 is the first year of our new media rights deal and, 2028, cricket is returned to the Olympics after a long, long time. [In] 2029, the first ball bowled in our brand new international stadium in Dublin and, 2030, co-hosting the ICC T20 World Cup.

"There's lots of skyscrapers on an annual basis to look forward to and genuinely to build in terms of opportunity. So if I was looking at that job anew, I'd say that is a job I'd love to do."

Ireland cancelled visits from Australia in 2024 and Afghanistan this year with Deutrom citing at the time that the prohibitive cost of temporary stadium infrastructure was a key factor in the decisions.

As such, the plans for a permanent and dedicated home are crucial.

The National Cricket Stadium and High Performance Centre, which will be located in the National Sports Campus in Dublin, is to include a main cricket oval with permanent seating for 4,000 spectators with the ability to accommodate additional temporary seating when required.

There are also ambitions to upgrade the existing facilities at Stormont in Belfast too.

"Operationally, suddenly it means hundreds of thousands [of euros] that we would otherwise spend on developing or building temporary infrastructure goes," added Deutrom.

"So that is number one and number two, you have an asset you can [use] commercially.

"Number three, I've always felt the lack of a stadium somehow marked out Irish cricket as a minnow sport. When we have a stadium, you suddenly are bringing people to your home."