As a summer of Test cricket draws to a close in England, attention turns to the one-day internationals. After an extraordinarily one-sided Pataudi Trophy series with India, the least we want is some competitive tension from a 50-over match in Ireland, an extended NatWest series against India, and two Stanford-fiasco-compensating T20Is with the West Indies.
Morgan - a provocative pick as captain.
The stock English lament on India's Test preparation and performance is that the BCCI have let us down - and we'd better get used to it, because it simply reflects their priorities and power at the top of the food chain. How lucky for England, then, that they at least are not at the bottom, and so are able to kick downwards with their own statement of disrespect and neglect in the Irish fixture.
When it was announced last week that Andy Flower was to be rested for the one-off ODI this Thursday, that was an unambiguously good thing. The head coach had until this point only taken time off for life-saving skin cancer treatment and clearly needs some rest. But after seeing the team that England will take to Dublin, it is doubtful if Flower would even know them all.
Effectively the selectors are putting out a Lions XI at Clontarf, captained somewhat provocatively by Eoin Morgan (a Paaschendaele-style team-bonding trip to the GPO is not thought to be on the itinerary). It will be a strong side with a sprinkling of ODI regulars as well as rising stars, of whom James Taylor and Ben Stokes will be of particular interest. The visitors will start as favourites but do little to excite the home crowd who mostly support England against other opposition and would have been delighted to see a strong visiting team.
Irish cricket will feel short changed - and rightly so. After nearly beating Australia last year, this summer's glamour international was always going to be keenly anticipated. A thrilling World Cup win over a big-eight nation - who was that again? - in March saw this week's match sell out in hours. Those fans were expecting to see Kevin Pietersen and Graeme Swann, not Taylor and Scott Borthwick. After Morgan the biggest name on show will be Jonathan Trott. The right-hander has many qualities but firing the imagination is not among them.
Ireland will put out their strongest team, something that was good enough for England in Bangalore six months ago. Yet somehow you fancy the Irish less against a weakened England. The players, like the supporters, cannot help but feel less motivated by the second-class status the fixture now carries.
England cannot treat their nearest neighbour with such disdain while systematically harvesting the best Irish talent. Selector Ashley Giles keeps a very close eye on William Porterfield and Boyd Rankin at Warwickshire, while Somerset's George Dockrell is perhaps the safest long-term bet for a three lions cap. Just as all teams have a duty to Test cricket in the game's long-term interests, so the bigger nations have to the smaller, and England to Ireland in particular.
The problem, of course, is the schedule. The star names finished at The Oval only on Monday. While three days to prepare and three hours' travel would be a holiday for a county pro, central contract holders have been reluctant to interrupt their Test celebrations - just as they were for a trip to Belfast in 2009.
No-one could argue that England should take an ODI against Ireland more seriously than one against India. They are at least nominally trying to win the next World Cup and have much to learn from the holders, even if Kevin O'Brien might argue they have as much to learn from the Associate champions.
But they owe Ireland the highest respect and a good deal more besides. In particular, it is the surplus ODIs against India that stick in the craw - even more so if Sachin Tendulkar makes his hundredth century on such an underwhelming occasion. Common (but not business) sense says that ODI series should return to the three-rubber format that improves the intensity and competitiveness of contests. By prioritising the quality over quantity of 50-over cricket, England's leading players would have been free to perform what should be a very basic duty in Dublin.
Instead, revenue-maximisation wins out. There are so many fixtures with India that England cannot do the Ireland match justice, and so the best emerging nation in the game suffers. Following the Test anti-climax, it's another quiet statement of cricket's priorities.
Ireland (from): William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Albert Van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.
England (from): Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonathan Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Graham Onions, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes.
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