merrion street

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has said he is delighted for the Irish cricket team after the world governing body changed its mind on entry rules for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

"This is great news for the Irish cricket team, which had been barred from entering the next world cup in spite of its excellent performance in this year’s event. The team have worked extremely hard to reach their current standard, and I know they will be delighted with the chance to compete again in four years’ time.

"I would like to congratulate the International Cricket Council for being brave enough to change its mind on the next world cup. A world cup restricted to just ten Test Cricket nations would not have been a world cup at all. It just wasn’t cricket.

"Non-Test nations such as Ireland have been crucial to the success of the Cricket World Cup. I look forward to cheering on the Irish cricket team in future events."