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Fresh hope for Irish as cricket officials recommend World Cup qualifiers

Officials hand non-associates’ hopes a boost with plans to recommend new qualifiers but Cricket Ireland chief isn’t getting carried away.

WE’RE NOT OUT yet.

Ireland’s cricket community got some good news this afternoon when it emerged that the ICC Cricket Committee voted to recommend the introduction of qualifiers for the World Cup in 2015.

Trent Johnson tweeted his approval earlier: “Unanimous decision by ICC Cricket Committee to recommend to the Chief Exec Committee there be a qualifier for CWC 2015. A great result!”

The former national skipper attended the meeting as a player representative.

Warren Duetrom, Cricket Ireland chief executive, however struck a more cautious tone. Speaking to TheScore this evening, Duetrom said that the decision ‘changes nothing on a practical level’.

“I’m intrigued to know how this plays out because its all ready at board level and I’m not quite sure that this decision changes anything. But it’s a very important decision nonetheless.

“The board is essentially the guardian of the game’s soul within the ICC as it’s  populated by players who played the game to the highest levels. They’re legends of the game really – people like Clive Lloyd.

“For them to do this is another rebuke for the decision that was made. Symbolically if nothing else it’s important. They represent the values of the game and it shows the ICC’s original decision to exclude teams had very little resonance within the game and it was made for financial or political reasons,” he added.

The committee met at Lord’s in London today and yesterday. They planned to review issues like the Decision Review System (DRS), the format of ODIs and floodlit Tests. The group is chaired by aforementioned former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd.

The ICC state that “the committee’s remit is to discuss and consult on cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations to the Chief Executives’ Committee and the ICC Board for approval.

“The next meetings of those committees are set for Hong Kong during the ICC’s annual conference week, from 26-30 June.”

Despite the wait, it’s another step back to the biggest stage for Ireland.

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