Irish captain gives the world cricket body a public scolding
Cricket's governing body received a public dressing-down by the Irish captain on Twitter this morning as they tried to hail the team they may be excluding from the next World Cup.
Ireland's cricket World Cup campaign may have ended in Sunday's game against Pakistan, but the team have been widely commended for their performance, especially given the lack of games against top-tier nations, thanks to the way the sport is structured.
Ireland, as an associate nation, is hamstrung by a lack of games, with just nine games against the top teams between 2011 and 2015. And with plans to reduce the next World Cup to just 10 teams, that means Ireland would have trouble qualifying.
So when the International Cricket Council tweeted about "memorable and inspiring" Ireland, linking to an article on how "it would be hard to find a more cohesive and committed squad", Ireland's captain was less than impressed.
Ireland's #cwc15 was a memorable and inspiring one, see what Captain @purdy34 had to say HERE: http://t.co/WY2fKUeafk pic.twitter.com/yKu4jxEu1d
— ICC (@ICC) March 17, 2015
Despite being tagged in the tweet and quoted in the article, captain William Porterfield shot back at the official ICC social media presence.
"So memorable and inspiring that you have decided to cut the next WC to 10 teams. What is your vision for the game of cricket?" he tweeted.
. @ICC so memorable and inspiring that you have decided to cut the next WC to 10 teams. What is your vision for the game of cricket?
— William Porterfield (@purdy34) March 17, 2015
Porterfield has been vocal about his opposition to the ten-team idea, and this is a sign that the Irish team won't be meekly accepting the consequences of the ICC's plans.
Needless to say, cricket fans were plenty amused, with sports broadcaster Geoff Lemon calling it "fracking magnificent" and tweeting: "When William Porterfield dies, heaven will be a field where porters bring him endless trays of porter, port and porterhouse steak."
The ICC social media team, however, decided not to get involved with Porterfield's question.
