After years of waiting, nothing came. Ireland’s first day of Test cricket, against Pakistan, was a washout. It passed without even so much as a coin toss to watch. The players skulked around in the pavilion, the groundstaff scurried around the outfield, the crowd huddled in the bars, and the Super Soppers turned lazy circles around the covers.
It was a fine introduction to the Beckettian pleasure of wet Test cricket. Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes. Samuel Beckett was a cricketer himself, of course, the only Nobel literature laureate with a first-class batting average. It was just the kind of day for chatter about matters like that.
The Cricket Ireland chief executive, Warren Deutrom, was determined not to get too gloomy about it all, which must have been a challenge for him given that he has been working towards this ever since he joined the board in 2006.
Deutrom describes Test cricket as a “loss leader” for Cricket Ireland, and since it could not afford full insurance, the refunds for the 5,100 tickets sold will cost it another €75,000.
“Yes, of course it’s disappointing,” he said, “but what I don’t want to do is go around with a long face, projecting misery. Because it isn’t that. We’re still hugely proud and there are still four days to go.”
The forecast is better over the weekend. There was a hint of the warmer weather ahead when the sun actually came out for the first time all day, 20 minutes after they abandoned play.
