On Cricket:There is an unwritten rule in Irish cricket - whenever three or more gather together, Jason Molins will be discussed.

Few people polarise opinion like the former Ireland captain and opening batsman.

The clamour for his return to the fold has been growing in tandem with the team's struggles since the return from the World Cup. Last week, however, an Ireland A squad was announced and his name was again conspicuous by its absence.

He has not played for the national team since the match against the Netherlands in 2005.

Since then, Ireland went on to win the Intercontinental Cup and qualify for the World Cup. And Molins looked on as they became the story of the World Cup, the names of former team-mates enshrined in cricket lore.

Talking to Molins last week, one was left in no doubt his desire to play for Ireland is undimmed. And so is his belief he was unfairly treated by the former coach Adrian Birrell.

"My face doesn't fit," he said. "I couldn't get time off to go to Nairobi (for the Intercontinental Cup final against Kenya, which Ireland won) and he (Birrell) chose to publicise that I'd been dropped for other reasons. I felt that was a slight injustice."

He said there had been no falling out, but reckons Birrell "finds it hard to communicate when he is dropping players".

Birrell declined to comment on Molins' stance, choosing to avoid raking old embers. It also should be noted that, under the South African, Ireland achieved more than ever before - he hardly needs to defend himself.

More interesting is the future.

Living in London and playing in the Middlesex championship, the 32-year-old Molins is again scoring runs, averaging over 40, including 140 in a 20-over Middlesex Cup game.

The man now standing between Molins and a recall is the Ireland coach Phil Simmons, who has never seen him play.

At least, the coach tells me, he "hasn't written anyone off". He also said, ICU funds permitting, he wants to "bring everyone in for training in the winter".

"I phoned Phil Simmons, just to explain who I was," says Molins, "and suggested I could still do a job".

Molins' supporters point to his career stats, as well as the style in which he plays. He has scored 2,138 runs for Ireland in 76 matches, an aggregate bettered by only two of the World Cup squad, Jeremy Bray and Kyle McCallan. Perhaps his finest hour was a blistering 66 in tandem with Bray against the West Indies at Stormont in 2004.

But there is more to him than figures. Molins' detractors suggest his attitude to fitness was at odds with the modern game. They point not only to the excellence of Ireland's fielding at the World Cup, but also to the camaraderie. The return of a past captain, they say, would tend to undermine that harmony.

The case of Molins is intriguing for another reason; it concerns the live issue of money. His experiences of the past three years leave an important question - is it possible to play for Ireland and still hold down a full-time day job?

Molins makes his living as a fund manager in the City of London, a role heavily demanding of time and energy and, one assumes, well rewarded.

He notes that to be a "core member of the side while also working full time has become extremely difficult".

Most of the Ireland squad, as he says, are "young guys balancing university and part-time work".

Admittedly, McCallan and Andrew White are schoolteachers, and Dom Joyce "has a proper office job".

But not many of the players are in his situation.

Whether or not he plays for Ireland again, Jason Molins will continue to offer talking points.

The Leinster Senior Cup final between Merrion and Clontarf scheduled for Saturday next at Rathmines has been postponed till Sunday, August 19th, at the same venue.