THE strangest fixture of the season so far has to be Ireland 'A' v Croatia in Sandymount today.

The Croatians are ranked 12th of 30 nations on the ICC Europe ladder, but it is important that Ireland is seen to help minnows up the ladder in the same way as we hope to benefit. Croatian cricket is based around the island of Vis and the capital Zagreb and they are boosted by a number of southern hemisphere ex-pats.

Another who sees the game as a chance to step up the ladder is Dominic Joyce, who returns to a green shirt after two years in the wilderness. "I got in touch with Adi Birrell when I heard he was taking over the A team and told him I wanted to get back playing for Ireland. I asked him what I needed to do.

"It was never explained to me why I was dropped so I wanted to make sure I wasn't being forgotten."

Joyce's return is a fitting reward to a season in which he has scored two excellent centuries against North Down and Leinster. Is he happy with his form?

"I'm never happy", he jokes, with a tinge of truth, for he is a player always striving to better his game.

"North Down was a funny one, I struggled early on but settled down. The Leinster knock was a bit similar.

Joyce missed out on the Caribbean World Cup after a series of low scores. "I was devastated by that", he admits, "it was a killer". "I know it killed Adi to have to make that decision, but I said it to him afterwards that I understood it, it was the right decision."

Joyce returned for a handful of games in 2007 before the axe fell again. Today is the first step back, and with the experience of 79 caps and coming into his batting prime at 28, few would bet against him making a triumphant return. And maybe playing in the 2011 World Cup alongside big brother?

"The way Ed's playing at the moment, he could be playing for England." Now there's a thought - Joyce v Joyce at Stormont in August; 2005 all over again.

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The ICC has sided with associate members in their fury at Zimbabwe's lack of respect for the Intercontinental Cup. The African nation have been asked to enter the four-day competition as a step towards resuming in test cricket, but have said they will enter an 'A' selection.

"If the idea is this prepares them for Test cricket, then surely they should be made to field the players who are going to be in that Test side," one associate chairman said. "An A team means that if they lose they can shrug and say 'well, it's not our main side' and yet if they win they can boast then even their second-string squad is good enough."

The ICC chief executives committee, which includes Warren Deutrom of Cricket Ireland, have tabled their concerns and asked for Zimbabwe to be pushed into playing their best XI. However senior ICC officials have refused to force the issue and once again fudged the issue of the pariah nation, which received $10million as part of its cut from the 2007 world cup (Ireland got $15,000).

If a former proud test nation - the land that produced Proctor, Bland, Hick and Flower - is running scared of associate cricketers, then surely ICC must step in and say enough is enough.

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England are looking good in the second test at Lord's, where they haven't beaten the Australians for 75 years. There has been plenty of invoking of the name of Hedley Verity, the hero of 1934 who took 14 wickets on that final day.

Verity spent some months of his training with the Green Howards in Omagh. The arrival of the military in the area saw Strabane grant them honorary membership and a side sprinkled with majors and colonels won the double in 1941. Verity played many games in the north-west, and turned out regularly for Strabane, alongside fellow test player Norman Yardley. The Yorkshire spinner took 6-62 in their local grudge match against Sion Mills and 8-55 against a strong North West XI.

The green damp pitches of Co Tyrone and Co Derry must have been a joy to him. He was quoted as saying of them "They're grand, the wickets know what a good turn means." His training over, Verity was transported to the war in Europe with the Eighth Army and was wounded at Catania in Sicily. He died of his wounds in a POW camp on 31 July 1943.

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Frank Metchette was laid to rest on Friday. A popular member of the Leinster club, he was an active supporter of Ireland until shortly before his final illness. He captained Leinster in 1954 and 1959, when they won the senior league. Metchette scored 1,186 senior runs between 1951-60.

His children excelled at sports too, Neil with the oval ball and Carol the bat and hockey stick, and last year as umpire at the Beijing Olympics.

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Wednesday marks the centenary of the first Ireland v Scotland game to be awarded first-class status, a fixture that sustained Irish cricket through the years when the international programme was minuscule compared to today.

The sides have played 79 first-class games (15 v MCC is next most and no-one else has played more than three times), and the Scots lead 21-20, but Ireland have expectations of levelling that up in August when they meet in the Intercontinental Cup in Aberdeen.

For the record that first game, at North Inch in Perth, saw Scotland triumph by an innings and 132 runs. gsiggins@tribune.ie

Today: Twenty20 International: Ireland 'A' v Croatia, Claremont Road 2pm, European U19 Championship: Ireland v Scotland, Jersey Saturday: LHW Senior Cup Semi finals: Pembroke v North County, The Hills v Clontarf Sunday: LSL Section A: Leinster v Railway Union, Clontarf v Pembroke, The Hills v North County, Section B: Phoenix v CYM