CRICKET WORLD CUP QUALIFYING:TWO YEARS on from taking the cricketing world by storm in the Caribbean, Ireland set out on the road to another World Cup in South Africa today when they open their qualifying campaign against great rivals Scotland in Benoni.

Ten of that panel are still involved this time around, with a place in the top four of the 12-team tournament required to earn a spot at the 2011 World Cup.

It is arguably Ireland’s strongest squad, with players such as Peter Connell and Alex Cusack having bedded themselves in over the last couple of years, while young players like Gary Wilson and Andrew Poynter have added a strength-in-depth vital in a very demanding qualification tournament.

A strong and settled camp then, which is a big change from the aftermath of the World Cup in 2007, when player unrest ran deep over the slow payment of money due from the tournament.

Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom looks back now on a tough time, but one he believes led to a more professional structure both on and off the pitch.

“After all the problems that happened with the squad, I’ll put my hand up and say that I simply wasn’t ready for that World Cup success,” says Deutrom.

“The first thing we did was we brought in the players, the team management, and we sat down and we brought in consultancy firm Genesis to sit down with us and say, ‘Okay, let’s get everything out on the table here, what do we need to do to try and improve and try and deliver for you the way you have delivered for us?’.

“We sat in a room in the Grand Hotel in Malahide for about three hours and we thrashed out everything they felt either had gone wrong or we needed to focus on. It was a positive meeting, a very honest meeting.”

Ireland’s prolonged stay at the last World Cup came at a price, with the minimal prize money gained far outweighed by the vast expense of an almost two-month stay in the Caribbean and a build-up that had seen the squad in full-time training from the start of the year.

Deutrom admits it would not have been possible without funding from both the Irish Sports Council and Sport Northern Ireland. “There’s absolutely no doubt whatsoever if it hadn’t been for that funding, there would have been no way those players would have been sufficiently well prepared enough to make the impact that they did,” says Deutrom.

Deutrom would oversee the change to a more streamlined structure of governance and the rebranding of the Irish Cricket Union as Cricket Ireland. A three-year team sponsorship deal with insurance group RSA was signed last September, leading for the first time to two players being offered full-time contracts.

Qualification for the World Cup would lead to further contracts being handed out, while Cricket Ireland are continuing to grow their full-time staff to keep up with an ever-increasing fixture list.

“Effectively, should we qualify for the World Cup we will get $1 million (€750,000) from the ICC in each of the next four years,” says Deutrom. “The problem was in 2007 and 2008, even though the quantity of our fixtures had quadrupled from previous years, there was no additional investment from the ICC. That investment is now coming in.”

Meanwhile, coach Phil Simmons is set to include 2008 Player of the Year Andre Botha in his side for today’s game.

The North County all-rounder has been recovering from ankle surgery, and although he has played no part in Ireland’s four warm-up games, Simmons may take the choice of playing him in a batsman-only role.

Wilson and Poynter offer Simmons options, having impressed with the bat in the run-in to the competition.

Spinner Kyle McCallan is definitely ruled out, as the record-cap holder has picked up a rib injury, so Regan West is set to lead the spin attack having impressed with four-wicket hauls in the final two warm-up games.