Ireland’s back-to-back victories, including a convincing win over the West Indies in the early hours of last Monday morning, have triggered discussion as to where they stand in the hierarchy of world cricket, especially since they have a strong chance of getting out of their group.

In order to become a test-playing nation, Ireland will have to win the 2015-17 Intercontinental Cup, a competition played by the so called ‘associate’ cricketing nations (i.e. countries that play cricket but do not have rights to play Test matches).

Next, they would have to win a five match series against the lowest ranked current test side. Their route to Test status is a long and rather convoluted one, and I see very little reason why they shouldn’t currently be given the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

The quality of their performance against the West Indies has gone a long way to prove they have the ability to put up a challenge in the five day game. At the very least they will be more than strong enough for sides like Bangladesh at the weaker end of the scale.

It was not a one-off, either. Four years ago, Kevin O’Brien demolished the England bowling attack to chase down 329.

The West Indies game, though, was perhaps an even better win. In 2011 it was one man defeating England, but this was an all-round convincing team performance.

It looked early on as if Ireland would bowl the West Indies out cheaply when they held them 100 for five, but they let the opportunity slip. Their response with the bat was an excellently constructed run chase, different batsmen contributed and they hardly fell behind the run rate at any stage.

While you could view four years ago as a fluke, there is little denying that the better team won last week. So why is a team of such potential being held back by the authorities?

Not having Test status is causing Ireland to lose its best players. Imagine adding Boyd Rankin and Eoin Morgan to that team, both of whom have deserted Ireland for England in their desire to play at the highest level.

If the ICC allowed Ireland to compete in Test matches, then they would not have had to change country. This is inherently unfair, not just for Irish cricket, but for the fans as well. This will continue to happen if nothing changes. Ex-West Indies great Michael Holding expressed this view in the wake of his country’s defeat to the Irish, saying they “need to be recognised immediately.” 

“If they (Ireland) continue to linger around the lower regions of world cricket, they’ll continue to lose good cricketers,” he said.

Hopefully, the public attention that Ireland are now receiving will make cricket reconsider its position.

It’s about time that cricket looked beyond tradition and fully recognised the potential in Ireland.

In 1975, Sri Lanka were in the same position, now they are one of the best sides in all formats. We would have never seen the brilliance of Murali or of Sangakarra, had this initiative not been taken.