Amid growing frustration in players, the Irish Cricket Union has asked its cricketers
to be patient until the end of three-match India-South Africa series with a promise
to accelerate the efforts to professionalise their contracts system.
Responding to Ireland's 2007 World Cup star Jeremy Bray's outburst at the ICU's
efforts to professionalise the game by calling it a "joke", ICU Chief
Executive Warren Deutrom said the Union was as keen as the players to usher
in a fully professional era but the cricketers will have to be patient.
"The fundamental issue is that we can't complete and finalise
the contracts for the players until we know we are able to satisfy what they
are requesting in terms of additional monies," Deutrom said.
"We can't do that until we know how much of a budget we
have, and we won't know that until this current series of games is completed.
It's a vicious circle," he was quoted as saying by on the ICU website.
Deutrom said he understood there was growing frustration among
players and that professionalising was the key to success. "Do we want
to be able to pay the players? Absolutely, of course we do, and it's the fundamental
route to success. I know there's a significant degree of frustration among the
players, and I completely understand that," he said.
Bray, who scored a century in Ireland's tied match against
Zimbabwe and helped his side to eliminate Pakistan from the World Cup, has since
made himself unavailable for his adopted country, saying it costs him money
to play for Ireland.
"...The reality is that it costs me money to play for
Ireland," the Australian-born Bray said adding the talks about Ireland
turning professional was "just a joke. But I'm not surprised - that's the
Irish Cricket Union for you".
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