Updated June 21, 2017 14:20:57

Photo: Irish cricket can start dreaming of a return to Lord's for a five-day contest against England if it gets Test status. (Reuters: Paul Childs)

The group of Test cricketing nations is one of the toughest clubs to crack in world sport, with only three countries allowed to join in six decades.

This week, however, two more could be added to the list — one is Afghanistan, the other is Ireland.

The biggest sporting moment for Ireland in recent years was the victory of the Irish rugby union side over the All Blacks in Chicago last November, a first win in 111 years of trying.

In world football, both the Republic and Northern Ireland have caused upsets at World Cup level, with the Republic making the last eight in 1990 and famously beating Italy 1-0 in 1994, just as their northern neighbours beat Spain 1-0 in 1982 on the way to the quarter-finals.

Ireland has also caused several huge upsets at Cricket World Cups, however — from beating Pakistan in 2007, to a famous win over England at Bangalore four years later, and defeating West Indies at Nelson in New Zealand in 2015.

While world cricket's fairytale story, the Afghanistan team, has recently taken some of the attention away from the Irish — last week two of the country's bowlers cracked the top 10 in the world cricket rankings — there is still a lot going on in the Emerald Isle that explains why on June 22 the Full Council of the ICC is going to decide whether or not to ratify granting Test status to both nations.

Irish bullish about Test prospects

It's a beautiful late Friday afternoon at the Bready Cricket Club, in Magheramason, north Tyrone and a couple of hundred locals are sunning themselves at a provincial Twenty20 between the North West Warriors and the Dublin-based Leinster Lightning.

Photo: Bready Cricket Club, overlooking the River Foyle, is Ireland's newest international cricket venue. (ABC News: Nance Haxton)

The club dates back to 1938, and the picturesque ground — which overlooks the River Foyle and is at the junction of three counties — has been inaugurated as a venue for ODIs and T20 internationals.

Andy McBrine — from nearby Donemana — is the captain of the Warriors. He has also played 41 times for Ireland — including three games at the 2015 ICC World Cup.

He is bullish about the impact of Test status if the decision goes the right way.

"Yes, 100 per cent, there is going to be more cricket broadcast to the whole of Ireland, so a lot more people are going to know a lot more about cricket, they're going to find an interest in it," he says.

"And for the next generation, over the next 10 years it (the game) is going to be brought into a lot more schools, so I reckon it's going to be a lot more help (for cricket here)."

Photo: Bready Cricket Club president Bob Rankin says Irish cricket "has slipped a bit" but still deserves Test status. (ABC News: Nance Haxton)

In the stands is Bready club president Bob Rankin, the father of seam bowler Boyd, who played for Ireland, then declared for England to have a crack at Test cricket. He played one Ashes Test against Australia at the SCG in 2014 before returning to play for Ireland.

"I think the team are justified to get that opportunity (Tests), and I think everybody would be very disappointed if it doesn't come about now," Rankin says.

The development of cricket in the Associate nations — those one tier below Test cricket — has been aided by the introduction in 2004 of the ICC InterContinental Cup, a first-class cricket tournament featuring round-robin and knockout four-day matches.

Ireland has won the tournament four times, although Afghanistan leads the current competition narrowly ahead of the Irish and is in far stronger form.

"In fairness I think a couple of years ago Ireland were the top of the tree in that (InterContinental Cup) whereas maybe they've slipped a wee bit in the last couple of years," Rankin says.

"But I don't think that should reflect on whether they gain Test status or not. I think over a 10-year period they've proven they are worth giving the opportunity to."

Goal in sight for Irish cricket

Meanwhile, in an office in an industrial estate in Dublin's northside, Warren Deutrom and his team are leading Ireland's charge to crack the top echelon of cricket.

Deutrom, the chief executive of Cricket Ireland, has been working on the submission to the ICC ahead of the meeting of the Full Council.

Photo: Cricket Ireland's Warren Deutrom says the game has taken a very strong foothold on the island. (Supplied: Cricket Ireland)

"Turnover was 250,000 Euros 10 years ago (and) we had maybe 10-12,000 cricketers," he says.

"Commercial revenue was practically non-existent, we were getting the majority of our money from the state.

"State funding now accounts for maybe 11, 12 per cent of our turnover, our turnover is now 6.5 million as opposed to 250,000 Euros. Participation levels have grown ... to over 52-and-a-half (thousand).

"This isn't to say we're right up there with the big boys but heavens, it's not a bad journey in 10 years."

Deutrom admits the recent struggles of the national side are not particularly helpful in making Ireland's case for Tests, but he points to other measures of success.

In May this year, Ireland played two ODIs against England — at Bristol and Lord's — and pulled an estimated crowd of at least 22,000 for game two at the traditional home of cricket.

"What did we do? We put new bums on seats, we are growing the game, we are contributing towards the game's economy," Deutrom says.

"And I think the ICC should be looking at us now, not just how is one team performing in a short-term aspect of its cycle."

Photo: Kevin O'Brien's 113 off 63 balls helped Ireland stun England at the 2011 World Cup. (Reuters: Philip Brown)

Deutrom admits that the shorter forms of the game are more lucrative, and more popular, at a time when T20 tournaments are dominating the landscape.

So why is Test status still the goal?

"I think, first and foremost, it's about status. It's about the perception that Cricket Ireland has become a major nation in the world game," Deutrom says.

"It's [also] about the best. It was that reason (Test cricket) our best players were citing as their reason they were leaving for England.

"Will Test cricket revolutionise it [here]? No. But what it will mean … is the opportunity to play the biggest teams on the biggest stages.

"And we're hoping yes, we're going to get much more people watching Test cricket, but also just simply it's going to make it much more culturally ubiquitous."

Photo: Cricket is not the first sport that comes to mind in Ireland, but the game is growing there. (ABC News: Andrew McGarry)

Topics: sport, cricket, ireland, northern-ireland

First posted June 21, 2017 08:30:21