As William Porterfield launched Boyd Rankin over midwicket for six, Malahide erupted to applaud a momentous century. In front of 10,000 fans, Ireland's captain had his side dreaming of beating Eoin Morgan and company in the English skipper's hometown.
That Morgan himself later hit a century to set up a straightforward England victory does not take away from the significance of that day. The images of a packed Malahide looked to mark Irish cricket's arrival as a serious sport.
That was 2013. Momentous World Cup wins over Pakistan and England had already been secured. The push for ICC full membership was underway. Irish punters seemed keen for cricket.
Twelve years on, when Andy Balbirnie hit Ireland's most recent century, against West Indies, his own celebratory roars were more audible than those of the crowd. Across three ODIs just 2500 fans came through the gates of Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin.
Irish cricket is stagnant. Test status, a government-funded stadium and professionalism in the women's game have failed to energise the public. When England travel to Malahide once again this September, the three T20Is together are only just about expected to draw more fans than the lone 2013 ODI.
Cricket Ireland (CI) has promised a bright future, but fans are not buying what they're selling. Repeated fixture cuts, controversial purchases in a time of financial constraints, and failed franchise leagues all feed into a constant doom loop of news stories.
Warren Deutrom, once the sport's rock-star administrator and darling of a cricketing world that wishes Ireland every success, has felt the toll. His recent resignation ended a 19-year tenure as Cricket Ireland's CEO. He alone outlasted four counterparts atop English cricket's governing structure; among major members in the modern era, Deutrom's tenure as CEO is all but unmatched.
Twelve months ago, after a slew of difficult headlines for CI's governance, their board publicly backed Deutrom. This time though, they did not ask him to stay when he floated the idea of leaving. No one is happy; not Deutrom, his bosses, nor most importantly, fans of Irish cricket.
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Deutrom, an English former ICC employee who married into an Irish family, spent time in the country when Ireland hosted the 2005 ICC Trophy. He was one of the more affable and impressive suits helping the then amateur Irish Cricket Union. A year later, when they needed a new boss, Deutrom was identified as the outstanding candidate.
Since then, Irish cricket has grown. Deutrom spearheaded the campaign for full membership, aware that such status would lead to global clout and, more importantly, elevated funding for the sport. Not immediately, though. Ireland earned Test status in 2017 but, in 2018, in an unusual solution to CI's cashflow issues, Deutrom lent the board €100,000. The debt was repaid soon after. Legal advice was sought and there was no suggestion of any conflict of interest.
News reports at the time suggested the board were not informed of the loan. It only came to light after news of a high-profile Irish soccer administrator offering a similar sum to the country's football association became public.
From then, it has been a slow demise. CI's inability to control public narrative did little to help their CEO. The last two years have painted a picture of a governing body in chaos, lurching from one controversy to the next. Tours by Australia and Afghanistan were cancelled. "Home" games were moved to Chelmsford, Bristol and Abu Dhabi on account of "infrastructure constraints" in Ireland.
Last year, when Deutrom asked his former ICC boss, Dave Richardson, to apply for a vacancy on CI's board, it built an image of corporate governance lacking accountability. Four years earlier, a board memo was circulated expressing concern about the "number of [director] candidates put forward… for consideration [that] had emanated from within the business networks of the chair and CEO". The document explained how the CEO having a hand in recruiting new members of the body to which he is accountable "could give rise to a potential perception issue".
Arguably the final straw came in June of this year, when Irish cricket's worst-kept secret was confirmed. The European T20 Premier League (ETPL), the latest attempt to host an Ireland-led franchise league, was postponed after sufficient external investment failed to materialise. While working with various business partners, Deutrom has tried for a T20 competition since 2019, the days of the old Euro Slam. The latest public embarrassment, after promises that this time would be different, was one setback too many.
Even when good news came through, CI failed to trumpet their success. The Irish government confirmed last August they would build a 4000-seat cricket stadium. The announcement caught everyone off-guard; no acknowledgement of arguably Deutrom's greatest achievement appeared on CI's own channels until the next day.
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In some ways, Deutrom was hamstrung by forces beyond his control. ODI World Cup opportunities dried up, thanks largely to the ICC's decision to shrink the competition. The culling of the old Intercontinental Cup and ODI Super League also negatively impacted development. The ECB barred Irish players - even Northern Irish cricketers holding UK passports - from appearing in county cricket as locals.
Off the pitch, when an ICC funding hike arrived in 2024, Deutrom made clear where he was told to spend the money. "The board has reinforced its commitment to growing cricket at all levels of the game and has mandated that any uplift in funding be spread across the game - not just the high-performance end of our operations," he said at the time. "This has been a reset in the way we have operated over recent years as we moved through the early stages of full membership." Roughly half of the €18 million budget (which included the ICC disbursal) went to high performance. The rest was spent on facilities, grassroots initiatives, increased company costs, and the partial repayment of a €4.5 million (approximately) ICC loan.
But before that context was explained, word got out that a home series against Australia was under threat, creating an uproar. Rinse and repeat when a Test against Afghanistan, and six white-ball games, suffered a similar fate this summer.
Despite the promised life-changing money, all the news was about the senior men's team fixture cuts. Dissatisfaction with the state of cricket at the top level played a significant role in Deutrom's departure. In 2021 and 2022, before the ICC funding hike, Ireland hosted more international cricket than the period following the rise in funding.
Long leadership tenures don't lend themselves to public sympathy. In this case, especially when money was still being spent on the board itself. From early in his tenure, Deutrom met resistance to increasing staffing levels.
A similar concern was raised last year when CI hired Graeme West to head their high-performance department. Not as a direct replacement for long-time employee Richard Holdsworth, but as another name among the company's top earners. Other hires added to a sense of corporate, rather than cricketing, priorities.
It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when negative public opinion filtered up the board, but the Tesla incident was a turning point. In May 2024, three weeks after the Australia cancellation leaked, CI acknowledged purchase of two company Teslas for Deutrom and his chief financial officer. A statement was released attempting to explain the financial benefits of the move. But all the public could see was a hatchet being taken to the Future Tours Programme as upmarket cars rolled into the car park.
That contrasted sharply with the performance of comparable cricket boards. Scotland, still an Associate nation, stepped in to host Australia when Ireland gave up - the announcement made on the same day as Ireland's exit from last year's T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe will host eight Test matches this year; Ireland play zero at home. That Ireland actually have home women's internationals, and have beaten Zimbabwe in back-to-back Tests, has resonated little with a tired Irish fan base.
Officials from rival cricketing nations have privately expressed exasperation at the state of CI given their ICC funding. It's a perpetual subject of public discourse within Ireland too. In 2023, the ICC sent €4 million to Dublin (not including the €4.5m loan). In 2024, that figure rose to €12.6m. If not on internationals, where is the money going?
With all aspects of the sport seeking their share, Deutrom never provided a satisfactory answer.
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CI is adamant this had no impact on Deutrom's departure, but the board announced a review into CI's entire operating model. While board directors themselves dictated a "rebalancing" of priorities with the new ICC money, they have come to the belief that more senior cricket can be afforded even while sticking to the new, grassroots-dominated focus. What is the point of a cricket board that doesn't host sufficient international cricket?
CI's long-term future actually looks solid. A €35 million tender for a stadium at Abbotstown has just been announced by the Irish government. A redevelopment of facilities in Belfast is also in the offing. Depending on Malahide's planning permission fortunes, there could be three international cricket grounds in the country within the next five to ten years, eliminating the crippling cost of temporary infrastructure. All of which comes as Ireland prepares to host matches at the 2030 T20 World Cup.
Abbotstown and the World Cup were initiatives over which Deutrom had significant influence. Yet a third pet project of his, the much-maligned ETPL, threatens the short-term health of the sport. CI budgeted for revenue from the sale of franchises. When that didn't happen, a hole in the accounts had to be filled. Such is the dash to recover costs, Deutrom sent an email asking staff to make calls over WhatsApp while travelling, to save on the company phone bill. CI acknowledged the cuts, saying they were necessary to maintain a "small surplus", which is not "at the detriment of cricket content".
All of which renders Deutrom's legacy a complicated one. Irish cricket is undoubtedly in a better position than on his first day on the job back in 2006. Test status, women's professionalism, and the prospects of a government-funded stadium are all significant achievements.
Yet the sport hasn't improved sufficiently since full membership. CI finds itself scraping for pennies despite record funding. The number of full-time central contracts has been reduced. There is still no domestic first-class competition.
Before Deutrom took the leap, former player Ed Joyce stepped down as head coach of the Irish women's team. In his resignation statement, he pointed to the cyclical nature of elite sport. "There comes a time when a system benefits from fresh perspectives and new voices, allowing players to explore and develop their skills in diverse ways." This after a six-year tenure. Plenty pointed to the incongruence of his boss failing to abide by the same logic after 19 years at the top.
Such a lengthy period in charge inevitably leads to criticism. The botched handling of important issues only added more to that list, both external, and more significantly internal, to CI. Deutrom's time had come.
It was a marker of his impact that when he publicly resigned, many rushed to thank him. There is near universal agreement on the record he himself pointed to when stepping down: "The attainment of ICC full membership and Test status is the most significant achievement I'll look back on with pride," he said. "If the first decade of my role was about trying to achieve ICC full membership/Test status, the next decade has been about trying to live up to that privilege."
Yet while in plentiful supply, few of the outpourings of gratitude were paired with sadness at seeing him go. A fresh voice is now required. His or her in-tray will be hefty: first-class cricket, home Tests and addressing a bloated company, all while securing regular qualification for World Cups.
Top of the list, though? Bring back the crowds. It's time to re-energise the Irish cricketing public.