CA are a scum of an organisation.
I suppose we had the WTC final this time but even in 2019 when Ireland had test status why not play 2 tests in Ireland before the Ashes.
Seeing as we're basically there instead of 2 warm up games against counties. How much would that generate for cricket in Ireland if we played a test in Dublin and Belfast.
100% agree with you.
CA were one of the organisations that heavily supported the "Big Three" concept, which I was vehemently against when it was first suggested in 2014. Most of the stuff that has gone backwards in Australian cricket since I first started regularly watching back in the mid '90s (not just at the highest level, but also at grassroots level) occurred during James Sutherland's tenure as CEO of CA. Everything now is all about the $$$$, hence why we keep playing regular ODI and T20 series against India.
Yes, I believe the best time to play tests in Ireland is when we tour England. I'd also love to see more test cricket in Dublin and Belfast. Of the 7 tests Ireland have played, only one of them was in Ireland (their debut test vs Pakistan in 2018).
We didn't play any games against county sides this Ashes series, and only played one - against Derbyshire - during the 2019 Ashes tour. Largely due to T20 (as well as the addition of The Hundred tournament), the days of Ashes tours comprising of all those games against county teams between Ashes tests - like we did in the past - are over. George Bailey made reference to this in an interview he did back in April.
This has been one of the most frustrating aspects of international cricket, much like how international rugby league is run: so much potential, yet held back by poor decisions at the administrative level. Everything nowdays seem to revolve around the ICC and/or BCCI's approval (which includes the establishment of various T20 leagues that are run and bankrolled by Indians)