THERE is no sign of the dust settling just yet after a remarkable week for Irish cricket. The wafer-thin margin made the defeat to England all the harder to bear – nobody could remember an Irish dressing room quite as downcast. The full side suffers very few defeats these days, so coming so close to a full member, and particularly that full member, and in that manner, was a deeply distressing outcome.

The attitude of the visitors was all the more reason for disquiet. The England team clearly did not want to come to Belfast, did not want to start the game, and most assuredly did not want to go out for the Ireland innings when the weather abated. A deeply graceless performance by their captain ought to assure the ECB he is not the man to lead his country in any form.

Paul Collingwood (below) whined his way around Belfast for three days, rarely missing an opportunity to say the wrong thing and finally lobbing an insult towards the Stormont ground. And this from a man whose team had just won the Ashes on a pitch a junior club groundsman would be ashamed to produce. The Durham all-rounder (can't bat, can't bowl) whinged to a like-minded Sun reporter called John Etheridge who spewed this out on Friday: "what the hell England were doing in Belfast in the first place?

"Just four days after we rejoiced at their Ashes heroics at The Oval, stand-in skipper Paul Collingwood and his side were forced to play a meaningless fixture against one of international cricket's minnows.

"What a letdown, what a flop. Most of us enjoy a pint of the dark stuff but flying to Belfast in the middle of the most congested schedule in history was not Colly's idea of good craic."

Breathtakingly, the writer followed a line about Eoin Morgan's catch with this: "Aussie Trent Johnston – yes, an Aussie qualified to play for Ireland – hoisted Shah towards long-on".

Now, maybe I'm missing something here, but has he not noticed that of the players England have used in the last year, four are South Africa-born (Strauss, Prior, Trott, Pietersen), while they have also capped players from Ireland (Morgan), Denmark (Khan) and Australia (Ambrose and Pattinson)? Five of the last 10 new test caps awarded have been to players born outside England.

And now they're off to South Africa as it happens. Should feel like a home game.

The marquee fixture for 2010, the visit of Australia, is likely to be switched to Dublin.

The Clontarf club recently commissioned a survey of its ground and its capacity to host big games. It is now confident 5,250 spectators can be accommodated, a 30% increase but still more than 1,000 seats smaller than Stormont.

Inside Edge understands this drawback can be overlooked if there are guarantees the game will be televised. The visit of England to Stormont was offered to Sky and BBC Northern Ireland and CricketIreland was frustrated both turned it down. It was particularly annoyed that BBC shunned a chance to show the Ashes winners just one day before BBC Scotland showed Australia thrashing the Scots.

I understand RTÊ have expressed an interest in showing the 2010 game if it is held in Dublin and CricketIreland is set to accommodate that request. The national broadcaster has not shown Irish cricket live since the 1980 friendly against Surrey.

Ireland's under-19's play the USA on Tuesday in their opening match of the World Cup qualifying tournament. Ireland entertain strong hopes of making it through to the finals in New Zealand in January with a squad that features one of Thursday's heroes, Paul Stirling. The side is captained by Andrew Balbirnie, a century-maker for Ireland A last month and marked out as a future captain.

The side includes 17-year-old Leinster spinner George Dockrell, who seized a great opportunity last week. After Ireland A's game at Lord's he was approached by Wendy Poynter, mother of Andrew and Stuart, who said Middlesex were short of players for an under-19 game against Surrey, and could he play? Dockrell impressed with figures of 7-50 off 38 overs.

Dockrell will, of course, be missing the final of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup against Donemana at Milverton, and Leinster must also plan without Jason Molins, who will be on honeymoon.

Play starts at noon but those unable to attend will have a range of media to serve their needs. Fergus Carroll will be there for NearFM90.3 providing regular updates, while there will be video coverage on www.fingal communitytv.com.

Liam Rooney's Cover Point magazine, now a vibrant website, has been carrying live updates on several ties this season, and will be doing so on Friday at www.cover-point.com

FIXTURES

Today Section A:Clontarf v Railway Union, The Hills v Leinster, Section B: CYM v Rush, Malahide v YMCA

THURSDAY Section A: Clontarf 247-8 v North County 53-2 off 11 overs, resumption of game abandoned because of swine flu, 4pm

FRIDAY ISC Final: Leinster v Donemana, Milverton

SATURDAY Section A: Leinster v Merrion, Section B: Malahide v Old Belvedere