Watching Ireland’s cricketers earn World Cup qualification with a win and a tie against the Netherlands at the beautiful VRA ground in Amstelveen showed a team working in harmony towards a joint goal.

Kevin O’Brien predicted yesterday that Ireland could find themselves playing in front of sold-out, Irish-heavy crowds of up to 30,000 at the 2015 World Cup.

In a dramatic finish Ireland tied with the Netherlands and thus ensured qualification for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 with two games to spare.

Without the World Cup, Irish cricket would still be rudderless and, increasingly, the World Cup would be poorer for the absence of Ireland.

Ireland can start preparing for a third successive ICC World Cup but they must still wait eight weeks before their next match. It remains a case of the haves and the have-nots, even for the first qualifier for Australia and New Zealand in 18 months time.

Ireland’s cricketers guaranteed another million euro payday after a thrilling tie with the Netherlands in Amsterdam.