Irish cricket will get one of its rare exposures on TV tonight, courtesy of Sky Sports 1. The programme Pavilion End, which goes out at 7.00, will feature the recent visit to Malahide of the full Essex squad, led by Geoff Arnold and Keith Fletcher, for a three-day training week-end.

"Unfortunately, the weather on the Saturday prevented us playing the planned match in which our players and theirs would have been mixed and divided into two teams, but otherwise the visit was interesting and productive for all concerned," said Brian Gilmore, the Malahide captain.