CRICKET IRELAND’S strategic plan is an admirable document, packed with the ambition and vision which are necessary to grow the game at home and be successful abroad. It’s a remarkable document too, one that just was not imaginable ten years ago.

It has its critics, of course, and there is plenty of dissent around the country for the main ambition of achieving Test status, and some unfair scorn for its aim to “make cricket mainstream”.

I’ll return to these and other themes in future Friday Columns, but here I’d like to look at an objective that as far as I can see doesn’t make the Strategic Plan. It is certainly implied, however and has been stressed previously and is included in the Cricket Ireland press release announcing the new National Academy Manager, Chris Adams.

That mentions that “The appointment of the experienced Adams is another important step for Irish cricket towards its long stated objective of gaining ICC Full Membership … and towards retaining the best young talent in Ireland.”

I suspect we’ll have a five-match test tour of Australia, a ten-wicket win over Pakistan in the World T20 final and the appointment of Niall O’Brien as Irish Ambassador to India before the last part of that sentence.

The best young talent in Ireland have been voting with their feet for more than 20 years now. The likes of Mark Patterson, Ryan Eagleson and Ed Joyce left these shores to try to make a career in the game and with very few exceptions all the best young talent in Ireland has fetched up in England desperate for those things that can’t be had back home – a decent living, decent practice facilities and decent pitches.

Some, such as Joyce, Eoin Morgan, and Boyd Rankin, had wilder ambitions, and it was their pursuit of the three lions that sparked Cricket Ireland to act with its first Strategic Plan.

An attempt to introduce a first-class competition within three years has failed to hit its target and a hopelessly imbalanced provincial structure means it has failed to catch on with spectators and followers. Leinster are so strong that one of its brightest upcoming talents, Barry McCarthy, can’t get into the three-day team – with the result has now played more first-class games in the County Championship than in the Hanley Energy interpros.

So enticing a young man to come from England to play for the Lightning or Warriors just isn’t going to happen, and shouldn’t. There will be players who return from counties for various reasons, such as Craig Young, Graeme McCarter and George Dockrell, but don’t be fooled that they are making a choice.

It’s interesting to look at the Irish players that have played 1st or 2nd XI county cricket England over the last 20 years – there have been 38 in all, 31 of whom learnt the game in Ireland.

It hasn’t been an easy ride for many and the 38 players average more than two clubs each. Kevin O’Brien tried a few counties out at the start of his career and later returned as a big-hitting T20 specialist. He has played for an astonishing seven different ones – add in brother Niall and the O’Briens have played for half the counties in England.

Other players had several attempts before they made it: full marks if you remember that the current Ireland captain had trials with Kent, Durham, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire before he started his professional career at Gloucestershire. Stuart Thompson has been around the houses too, at Surrey, Sussex, Somerset and Kent.

No marks for guessing that Middlesex has been the prime employer of Irishmen: they’ve had ten on the books since the turn of the century, half of whom had a good run on their firsts in one format or another.

The full table is below, and only has one blank entry. Yorkshire famously refused to hire anyone born outside its boundaries for many years, until Sachin Tendulkar turned up as their pro.

There was an Irishman who played a first-class game for the white rose county though: John Usher, a slow left-armer from Templemore, Co Tipperary, played against MCC at Lord’s in 1888. His only two wickets were England test players William Scotton and George Hearne.

Hopefully someone soon will get a game and complete the set.

MIDDLESEX (10): Rankin, E Joyce, D Joyce, Balbirnie, Stirling, Murtagh, Morgan, A Poynter, S Poynter, K O’Brien

SURREY (8): Wilson, K O’Brien, S Thompson, Murtagh, M Patterson, McCallan, Ackland, Eaglestone

SUSSEX (7): E Joyce, S Thompson, Mooney, Young, A Patterson, Dockrell, Kidd

WARWICKSHIRE (6): Rankin, Porterfield, S Poynter, Adair, Hall, Kidd

SOMERSET (6): Dockrell, Gamble, K O’Brien, S Thompson, D Joyce, Ackland

DURHAM (5): S Poynter, Chase, McCarthy, K O’Brien, Porterfield

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE (5): N O’Brien, Terry, Porterfield, White, Ackland

HAMPSHIRE (4): Gorvin, Terry, Young, G Thompson

DERBYSHIRE (4): Rankin, Eagleson, Porterfield, McCallan

KENT (4): N O’Brien, S Thompson, Porterfield, Eaglestone

GLOUCESTERSHIRE (4): K O’Brien, Porterfield, Kidd, McCarter

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE (3): K O’Brien, Doheny, Gamble

LEICESTERSHIRE (3): N O’Brien, K O’Brien, Ackland

GLAMORGAN (2): Tector, Eagleson

ESSEX (2): A McCoubrey, Eagleson

WORCESTERSHIRE (2): Shannon, Ackland

LANCASHIRE (1): G Thompson

YORKSHIRE (0): NONE