New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Veteran Ireland opener Paul Stirling believes the presence of marquee players like Glenn Maxwell and David Miller while playing for the Belfast Wolves in the ongoing European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is accelerating the development of local talent, as they pass on crucial top-level experience to them both on and off the field.

The six-team competition has brought two franchises each from Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands in a four-week showdown. The action kicked off in Voorburg, Netherlands, before it shifts to Dublin’s Malahide Cricket Club Ground from September 9 and inaugural champions set to be crowned in the final on September 20.

Belfast are in prime position to enter the knockouts, as they are at second spot on the points table. Apart from Stirling, Maxwell is in a captain-cum-co-owner role, alongside England’s T20 World Cup winning member Chris Jordan and New Zealand’s Devon Conway. His fellow Ireland team-mates Tim Tector, Mark Adair, Lorcan Tucker and Matthew Humphreys are also present in the setup.

“Look, I’m fortunate enough to have got to know these lads over the last few years anyway. But to catch up with them again, they’ve really been outstanding, particularly with the youngsters at the minute. But we’ve got the likes of Glenn Maxwell, who’s the captain, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Chris Jordan and some really true class players.

“David Miller came in here and joined us from the third game onwards. So really high-profile players, but it’s not just what they give on the field – it’s also that experience that they pass on to local young guys and here to improve them. I think you’ll see those differences come in quite quickly,” Stirling said in an exclusive conversation with IANS on Sunday, facilitated by ETPL.

Stirling, who has made 108 runs in four games so far, believes that the informal knowledge transfer taking place around the tournament will build much-needed strength in depth for Associate nations ahead of major international events.

“It’s massive. You’re going to have ideas from those experienced international guys passing on their knowledge, not just on the cricket field, but in and around the hotel, while having a coffee. It’s not like you’re only communicating with players on your own side as well.

“Once the matches are over, I think you’re going to see strength and depth being added to these three host nations pretty quickly and hopefully the result of that is that in the next World Cups, you’ll see more competitive cricket from the likes of ourselves, Scotland and Holland.”

He also noted that the league represents a milestone moment by offering local cricketers a viable full-time career path outside of playing international cricket. “I mean it’s a huge moment. It’s been sort of bumbling away in the background about this happening and to be here now, it means a lot.

“It certainly means a lot for the local players in particular and the youngsters as well – to try and make a living out of cricket basically. There was only one route in the past – that was playing for your national team.

“Particularly, I’m speaking on behalf of the Irish set-up, and now there’s another way to make a living. I think it’s just going to make cricket in this country better and more competitive moving forward against the better teams. So, it’s been truly exciting and hopefully it’s here to stay.”

Reflecting on his early days in Ireland when central contracts were virtually non-existent, Stirling praised the growth of his country in going from a self-sustaining system to one capable of producing world-class talent, as seen from them beating current T20 World Cup holders India 2-0 in a T20I series at home in June.

“It’s been huge. Certainly back when I started I was in 2008. We didn’t have a contract. We were sort of semi-pro at that time. I was fortunate enough to get one of the first full contracts here in Ireland and I think there were maybe only 7 or 8 at that stage. To see where it’s got to now, we always had the ability to pull off big wins back in those days against superior opposition I suppose you could say.

“But to see where the organisation has gone with fully contracting, maybe 20-23 plus contracts playing full-time cricket, I suppose taking the load off county cricket was our sort of the way that we needed to develop and become good cricketers by getting into that system. So to lose that and still be able to produce world-class cricketers is I suppose the aim and I think we’ve shown that we’re capable of doing that.”

Praising the setup at Belfast Wolves, Stirling expressed satisfaction with how quickly the franchise setup has hit the ground running. “It’s been really good, to be honest. Just thankful that we’ve got the tournament off the ropes and we’re all playing in it now. It’s been a great experience so far – lots of good cricket being played and from our point of view, a couple of wins in there as well. So, we’re pretty happy with how everything’s transpired so far.

“You’ve got to sort of gel pretty quickly and I think we have managed to do that. The Belfast Wolves so far have been a really good set-up – probably one of the best I’ve been involved with in terms of just being ready to go. I think sometimes with these competitions, they’re new, so there’s a bit of a lag in getting everything right.

“We’ve been spot-on, we’ve been very fortunate as players to have been involved in this set-up. It’s been pretty spotless so far and hopefully long may that continue. But it’s been great – we want it to be a success. There’s great overseas players here which I think make the tournament worthwhile and hopefully it’s there for the long run as I said.”

Looking ahead, Stirling, the second Ireland men’s batter to hit centuries across all international formats, felt the next generation of players have the capabilities to take Irish cricket to greater heights. “I suppose it’s just to keep improving. I think it’s your responsibility when you take a shirt on and for an opening batter like me, it is to try and make sure that you’re better than what it was before.

“I think if you can continue that on and I think there’s a responsibility with you as that senior player and batter that the next guy is ready and has sort of all the attributes that you’ve already had. Plus they are better and capable and I think the talent in the Irish system at the minute shows that it’s certainly possible.

“Really good talented players are coming through and ones that really want to learn and work hard. So there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t be passed on to them to make sure that this Irish cricket team is the best Irish cricket team that we’ve had and keep constantly doing that.”

–IANS

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