Fergus Cassidy

There was an announcement on the wires late last night (Sunday) that would have been inconceivable ten years ago and incendiary ten years before that.

Such is the remarkable shift in the political and social landscape in Ireland over that time, that another “it’ll never happen in my lifetime” is actually happening.

On Sunday evening, the England cricket selectors announced that Ed Joyce, from Bray in County Wicklow, would be in the team to play New Zealand tomorrow (Tuesday) in a series of One Day Internationals taking place in the wake of the Ashes series. He’ll replace Kevin Pietersen, who is injured.

Cricket’s rules determining who can play for which country are not as strict as other sports. Ed has been playing professionally for Middlesex Cricket Club since 1999 (when he was 21) and domicile qualified him to play for England.

Before he was asked to join the England team, Ed played for Ireland and contributed to getting the team to its first ever World Cup finals in Jamaica, taking place later this year.

In 1988 I was privileged to be at the three matches Ireland played in the European soccer championship finals in Germany, the first time Ireland ever qualified for a major tournament.

But in the build-up to the competition (and afterwards) there were many who questioned whether some of the players were “really Irish”.

Ten years later, I was in Dalymount Park when Ireland A played England B in a friendly soccer match. At half-time two brothers made their debuts, one for each team. They were both qualified to play for either country but one accepted an invite to play for England. The next 45 mins were filled with vehement and persistent abuse. “Judas!”, they screeched every time the ball came near him.

So it was with some anxiety that I headed to Belfast last June to watch a cricket friendly between Ireland and England in the grounds of Stormont Castle. I hadn’t been to Belfast in over ten years.

But my nervousness was caused by the memory of that game in Dalymount. Ed Joyce was making his first appearance for the senior England team and Ireland’s line-up included his younger brother, Dominick.

I’d never witnessed anything like the atmosphere at that match, my first cricket international. The sun shone, the grub was good and the beer flowed. The game wasn’t bad either. When Ireland batted, Ed was within five yards of the stand where I was sitting. The only shouting I heard were kids asking for his autograph.

In November 2006, Ed was named in the England Ashes squad for Australia. If he had played, he would have been the first Irish-born and raised cricketer to play a test match for more than a century.

His family are steeped in cricket and sport. Along with Dominick, another brother Gus won Ireland caps, while his twin sisters, Isobel and Cecelia, were in the Irish women’s team at the 2005 World Cup. The children first played together in their back garden in Bray, mentored by their parents Jim and Maureen.

Ed told Ger Siggins of the Sunday Tribune, that “summer was for cricket and if you wanted to do anything else, you did it during the winter. We like all sports though. I would say that it is more of a sport-obsessed household rather than a cricket-obsessed one. I love the fact that I’ve got so many brothers and sisters. Always someone to bowl at you”.

In the same interview, Ed confirmed the calming of the fault lines where politics meets sport: “I’ve never heard anyone complaining about my declaring for England. I made my mind up on this years ago and the way I see it, I’m an Irishman trying to play cricket for England because Ireland doesn’t play test cricket.

“I’ve no problem adding allegiances. Playing English county cricket has enabled me to make a career for myself and the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Geraint Jones – though born in different countries – have gone on to play for England. I’ve no problem with that.”

His former Irish teammates were delighted at his success. “It’s brilliant for him and for Irish cricket,” said captain Trent Johnston. “Everybody should be very proud of him – I hope now he gets a chance to play.”

He gets another of those chances tomorrow against New Zealand. And good luck to him. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll get to see him play in another England v Ireland match.

In Croke Park. In my lifetime.