CRICKET: The year 2005 will go down as an important one for Irish cricket. It will be remembered as the year Ireland qualified for the World Cup for the first time, successfully hosted the ICC Trophy across three main centres, north and south, and got in to the last four in the world of the prestigious Inter-Continental Cup.
Ironically, however, perhaps the most positive thing for the image of the sport on this island has not been going on in Dublin, Cork, Belfast or Derry this summer, but rather on the green and pleasant land of another country altogether.
Listening to a local Dublin radio station last weekend, I heard an advertisement for a Sunday newspaper. Which sporting event did they choose to highlight as a hook to entice readers to pick up their particular title at the local newsagent? Well, despite the All-Ireland football semi-final going on that day in Croke Park and the biggest Republic of Ireland soccer match since the last World Cup happening in Lansdowne Road tonight, this particular newspaper decided its readership would prefer to know they had the most comprehensive preview for the final Ashes Test.
With the best cricket writers and pundits, they argued, you would be fully informed ahead of the Oval tomorrow if you read their pages.
Whatever about the veracity of their claims - I like to think we have been serving cricket quite well of late here in D'Olier Street - it does illustrate just how much this wonderful Ashes series has done for cricket in places beyond England and Australia.
During the last match at Trent Bridge, I received a text message from a friend whose only hitherto positive influence on the game was that he didn't actively campaign against it. "Golden duck for Warney. I can't f***ing believe it!" (my asterisks).
I later found out he had taken the day off work and was stuck to his couch screaming at the telly, as if he really knew the difference between a Chinaman and a whingeing Pom.
"England really have the reverse swing going well, don't they?" came a text from another mate who before this summer would have thought "reverse swing" was something consenting adults did after they all put their car keys into a bowl.
It's not that they have all turned into Anglophiles, heading off down the street reciting Rudyard Kipling on their way to a Rejoin the Commonwealth rally at their local Orange lodge.
Just as many of those who are feting the exploits of Flintoff and Pietersen are hoping Hayden and Martin can rediscover their form this week. Who they are cheering for is not the point.
The point is they are cheering. At cricket.
And through a process of osmosis and the fact that the word "cricket" in the newspaper no longer automatically makes them turn to the crossword, they have also heard of names like Joyce, Bray, Gillespie and Mooney, who have been making their mark on the game nearer to home.
The danger is that the Irish Cricket Union will not use this opportunity to market the game on this island.
Regardless of the result of this week's match in the Oval, cricket has not been so popular or high-profile in this country for many years, and, with the Irish team on a high at present, now is the perfect opportunity for a bank, mobile phone company, clothing firm or any large business to jump on the bandwagon and cash in on a bit of that feel-good atmosphere around the game.
jfitzgerald@irish-times.ie
