Warren Deutrom on the Slog Sweep
'Anything less than a World Cup quarter-final would be a failure' says Cricket Ireland CEO
Warren Deutrom, the Cricket Ireland Chief Executive, has revealed that he expects Phil Simmons' side to progress to the knock-out stages of the forthcoming World Cup and anything less would be rendered as a failure.
In a wide-ranging and forthright interview with
The Slog Sweep podcast, Deutrom admitted there is now an elevated level of expectancy and a need for Ireland to build on the platform of the successes of previous World Cups.
"If we don't make it out of the group stage, we would regard that as a failure which therefore means being in the quarter-final is our expectation. We would believe if we don't do that, we have failed in our task," he said.
"We've never had a better prepared team or a talented squad or a side that has more caps going to a World Cup."
Furthermore, Deutrom conceded that the next six weeks are hugely significant for the future of Irish cricket, both on and off the field.
Other topics discussed included the ICC's decision to reduce the 2019 World Cup to ten teams, Ireland's ascension to the top tier of ODI cricket and what that means, Cricket Ireland's search for a long-term sponsor as well as July's co-hosting of the ICC World T20 Qualifiers.
Also on the show, Robbo and Bails speak to journalist Tim Wigmore about his new book on Associate cricket and we catch-up with Fionn Hand, who is one of four Leinster cricketers in South Africa.