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| Boyd Rankin bowling at the recent T20 qualifiers in March |
Both ideas seem preposterous and in truth its very difficult to find an accurate comparison to the fast bowlers recent retirement from Irish duties in order to concentrate on his test ambitions with England. The only other team sport to my mind where it is possible to swap one nation for another mid career is rugby league a sport which truthfully puts more effort into its club competitions than its international competitions.
The suspicion and that is all that it is is that Warwickshire County Cricket Club Rankin's club have flexed their muscles here is not without substance and has been on the cards since Rankin returned from International duty in April injured. Ashley Giles Warwickshire's director of cricket and also a selector with the England team was quoted as saying at the time "It's extremely frustrating that we've lost Boyd to this kind of injury, but he has had an extremely large workload over recent months''. Rankin who had played with the England Lions (A reserve England team) as well as Ireland was clearly being advised to curtail his commitments outside of Warwickshire. Upon signing a new three year contract with Warwickshire several months later Rankin was quoted as saying “Hopefully sometime in the future I’ll be able to play for Ireland again'' as well as referring to the debacle he might face had he sought a contract elsewhere "But the first question that kept cropping up was, 'Are you still going to play for Ireland?' I think I would have been in the same situation wherever I went. I would have had to retire from Ireland to give England a good shot'' both suggesting an understandable reluctance to leave the Irish team even if it made financial sense to do so. Essentially Rankin was told that he could only be supported in pursuing International cricket with one team outside of county cricket if he was to sign a new contract and given Giles position with England and the fact that over 20% of Warwickshire's income comes directly from the ECB only one team was ever likely to come out on top.
Focusing solely on the cricket element of the decision Rankin is definitely a player naturally suited to the longest form of the game given his county championship form and the fact that he is not selected for either of his county's one day teams. He is also a player who could be described as injury prone something which is often the case for fast bowlers in the longest form of the game. However given the fact that playing for Ireland offers Rankin exposure to differing conditions and world class batters it is far from certain that leaving behind his Irish team mates will aid his hope of becoming an England regular something he will need to become in order for the decision to be seen as a wise one give the implications one England cap would have. Were he to be selected for a test against New Zealand in February and no other afterwards Rankin would be ineligible for Ireland for four years under current ICC rules potentially stranding the player in county cricket for the foreseeable future. One suspects taking account of Boyd's decision and Giles role in contract negotiations that at least one cap is on offer . Whether Rankin can do enough to convince England selectors that he is a better medium term prospect than younger players like Steven Finn, Stuart Meaker and James Vince in one to two games is open to debate. That it would be in Warwickshire's interest for the player to be ineligible for Ireland is unquestionable.
The tragedy of this episode for Ireland is the fact that Rankin has yet to be selected for England as was the case with previous retiree's Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce. The fear is that Ireland's best players are being paid indirectly by the ECB and that hamstringing Ireland once a player has developed sufficiently in international cricket through emotional and financial blackmail is no longer off limits. Extra international fixtures and a stronger domestic setup can't come quick enough for the Irish.
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