More matches against the associates

Surely, playing some matches, especially in the European conditions where our batsmen struggle, is better than playing no matches at all??? I agree with foreign field. The experience of playing against a full strength Ireland will be invaluable experience for the team. Don't forget nearly everyone in the Irish team plays in the 1st XI for their respective counties. So they will be as formidable, if not slightly stronger, in their home conditions.As many of our bowlers aren't currently being courted by the counties, they will gain the experience of playing in European conditions.

The only problem is finance. Both ZC & Cricket Ireland are cash strapped.

I'm sorry but most of the comments on this thread are nothing short of ridiculous. Your 'A' team playing Ireland? Ireland beat Zimbabwe the last time these teams clashed- and cricket experts in several interviews have stated that Ireland have progressed to a higher level than Zimbabwe and are on par, if not above, Bangladesh. According to statistics, Ireland have 6 times more of a chance of winning the T20 world cup than Zimbabwe. Either way i've only read one or two comments mentioning the A team playing Ireland, most of the others just mention teams like Kenya and Namibia.

Why does Zimbabwe not want to play Ireland? Is it because they've reached a higher level than Ireland and are too good for them? No, it's not. Simply put- losing badly to an associate side could damage Zimbabwe's role in the test playing ten and comprehensive losses might even make the ICC taking back their test status rights once again. Ireland poses the biggest risk to them here- when the 10 man, no qualification 2015 world cup was announced, the first thing Zimbabwe did was pull out of the scheduled series with Ireland- they claimed domestic reasons but realistically, it was probably because losing badly to Ireland would have led to a probable qualification method to be one of the world cup ten, which would have put Zimbabwe at huge risk of not qualifying. Zimbabwe are currently ranked tenth in the world, overtaking Ireland the previous tenth. Is this because they're a better team? No not in the least- it's simply because Zimbabwe gets more ODIs than Ireland- while Zimbabwe was having series against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan Ireland make do with the occaisional ODI scrap thrown at them- which is why they were surpassed in Rankings. So instead of being ignorant towards hard working teams like Ireland that have progressed so much, and classing them with your 'A' sides- show them a little respect for all they have achieved in the 6 years they've had ODI status and minimal help from the ICC.

zimfan1 wrote:

I'm sorry but most of the comments on this thread are nothing short of ridiculous. Your 'A' team playing Ireland? Ireland beat Zimbabwe the last time these teams clashed- and cricket experts in several interviews have stated that Ireland have progressed to a higher level than Zimbabwe and are on par, if not above, Bangladesh. According to statistics, Ireland have 6 times more of a chance of winning the T20 world cup than Zimbabwe. Either way i've only read one or two comments mentioning the A team playing Ireland, most of the others just mention teams like Kenya and Namibia.

errr we beat Ireland 2-1 last time we played them in a series and beat them easily in a world cup warm up match, check your facts please Sir!!

Ireland beat Zimbabwe by 4 wickets in their 2011 warm up game. They've improved considerably since the last series you played against them. You really haven't seen Paul Stirling bat have you?

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/c ... 73328.html

There's the scorecard- if you have a problem with that evidence take it up with the ICC :)

And about the ODIs- usually Ireland plays about 1/2 ODIs per series with associates as funding is also needed for the warmup games. And out of those 2/3 series they're sometimes against weak associates who's wins don't give ranking changes or significant points.