The Bangladeshi taxi driver in Dubai finds out I'm from Ireland and asks me if I know Kevin O'Brien. I don't. Who is he? "The cricket player!" says he, amazed that I don't know this. I tell him we don't like English sports. Apart from soccer. And rugby. And tennis.
"Cricket has got a long history in Ireland. There were playing in Phoenix Park back in 1730, and by 1860 it had become one of the most popular sports in the country. There were around 300 clubs in Ireland at that point and the national team was strong enough to beat MCC by an innings at Lord’s in 1858. Everything started to change when the Gaelic Athletic Association was formed in 1884, and then, at the turn of the 20th century, banned GAA members from playing or attending foreign sports."
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/10/ireland-pakistan-first-test-match
