As far as cricket grounds go, the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast is on the smaller side. It had an attendance cap of 1500 spectators a day for the Test between Ireland and New Zealand. Still, the grassy plains beyond the boundary looked sparsely occupied on the third day.
Ireland were seven down, following on, and a batter short. They trailed by 120. An innings defeat loomed. With the result inevitable, the crowd took it upon themselves to find entertainment. In the 56th over, Liam McCarthy leaned into a drive off Zak Foulkes. Blair Tickner gave chase and the ball thudded into the boundary cushioning. A small crowd in makeshift plastic chairs gave him some friendly chat. He smiled back.
Earlier in the morning, a local artist sat near the outfield, sketching the action, and then showed her work to a zoomed-in camera. Children revelled in the spotlight too, holding up branded balls signed by Ireland players.
These moments of happiness seemed in contrast to the mostly grim-faced suits watching from the few elevated stands. Some of them were corporate executives, others were administrators with Cricket Ireland (CI).
Cricket Ireland's finances - and consequent lack of red-ball cricket - have made for grim reading since 2018, when they ran Pakistan close in their first-ever Test in Mahalide. A year later, they were forced to cancel a home Test against Bangladesh. The cost of €1 million (US$ 1.14 million approx.) was deemed too expensive. Hosting this Test against New Zealand - their first at home in two years - will have cost them significantly too.
Ireland is the only Full Member nation that does not have a domestic red-ball tournament. They did organise a first-class match just before New Zealand arrived: a makeshift contest between potential picks for this Test called the Emerald Challenge. Let us look at batter Stephen Doheny to better understand its significance. This fixture was the 27-year-old's first red-ball game since his Test debut in Mirpur last November. He played out of position at No. 7 against Bangladesh, scored a gritty 46 off 77, then went back to the sidelines. He had made his first-class debut in 2018 - a year after Ireland became Full Members - but the Emerald Challenge was just his 15th first-class game. In the intervening years, Test cricket seemed like a dream.
Doheny is not in Ireland's white-ball plans, and he played the Test against New Zealand only because of an injury to Paul Stirling. This time, he batted in position: he came out to open near the end of day two, and was out for a duck second ball, lbw playing down the wrong line to Nathan Smith.
When Ireland were dismissed for 179 and asked to follow on, 211 runs behind, most interested viewers - the residents of Belfast and the ones on television - would have tuned out. Doheny strode out to bat again and went to stumps unbeaten, on 36.
You can see why he is suited to red-ball cricket: he is nimble on his feet, barely transferring weight as he leans into his drives. When he did so on the morning of day three, with the ball swinging under the clouds and pitched full in the channel, he did not look like he was ever reaching for these deliveries. A few pinged away to the ropes. Other runs were more hard-earned. He held his bat inside the line of out-swingers, made use of the edges that dribbled away, and brought up his maiden fifty in Test cricket.
A few overs later, he was dismissed for a hard-earned 57. A bouncer had gone off his grip, straight to gully. Soon, Ireland were dismissed for 232. Doheny had learned to read New Zealand's lines better. Ireland were more patient. They lost by an innings and 79 runs anyway.
Doheny and Ireland do not know when they will play their next Test match.
Ireland are not yet part of the World Test Championship. Between the end of this summer and March 2027, they have no fixtures on the Future Tours Programme (FTP) across formats. There is hope for their long-form cricket though. The ICC is mulling a WTC expansion that could include them, and CI has said it wants to have a first-class structure by 2027.
However, they do have the European T20 Premier League in August 2026. It is not red-ball cricket, but it is cricket: a franchise tournament, with more money and promise of game time for an extended roster of Ireland men's cricketers.
It remains to be seen if, unlike this Belfast Test, the ETPL can offer a more exciting package for fans, to make them tune in or even filter into the stands. It also remains to be seen if CI will improve their finances because of it. On the other hand, it is likely that Doheny will play more cricket in front of the cameras.
More imminently, India is touring Ireland for three T20Is in late June, a financial lifesaver for the board to keep cricket afloat for a while longer. Children will continue filtering into the stands. An artist near the ropes might sketch Ireland's men in their green jerseys too. But it will not be Test cricket they see in the middle: the prestige format made available to Cricket Ireland when the ICC made them Full Members nine years ago.
Doheny, and hundreds of others like him in the Ireland system, will have to wait to appear in whites. Test cricket's innate ability to give its participants a second chance is well and good. The money is to be made elsewhere.