Anyone who might have thought that the very expression “Irish cricket” was a joke, or at least a classic example of an oxymoron, has been disabused dramatically by Ireland’s victory over England in the Cricket World Cup.

England is, of course, the home of cricket, and the sport is one of the few things that still define who the English are. Although the English national side has had its ups and downs, it has recently been on a high, since its brilliant victory in Australia.

Ireland does not – or at least had not – seen itself as a cricketing nation in the way that England, Australia, India, Pakistan and the West Indies see themselves.

Indeed, by contrast, Ireland, or at least the Republic, is inclined away from all things English. Although the English inventions of rugby and soccer are played there, Irish identity is linked, quite deliberately, with the sports of the Gaelic Athletic Association. So the Irish cricket victory is the equivalent of an English hurling team winning the Liam McCarthy Cup.

Such a victory over the ancient foe on its cultural home ground is therefore a ray of sunshine in a dark time for Ireland, which is practically bankrupt.

Aside from bringing some much welcome joy to the Irish, small and entrepreneurial businesses everywhere can take heart. We are seen as the underdogs, yet when we get our game right we can out manoeuvre our bigger, better resourced and seemingly better qualified competitors – especially when their apparent superiority makes them arrogant or complacent.

We might also let yesterday’s match remind us of these important lessons:

1   There is always hope. Victory against the odds is possible – and, indeed, occurs more frequently than the odds might suggest.

2   A bad start is often a good start. The Irish actually lost their captain on the very first ball of their innings. It seems to have only made them more determined.

3   Take nothing for granted. The English did. The Irish did not.

The United Kingdom is not as united as it once was. In 1999, Scotland and Wales were granted “responsible government” in the form of their own legislatures, and Northern Ireland has its own Assembly.

This “Devolution” has so far had little effect on business, either in the countries in question or in the UK as a whole. The new legislatures are dominated by local party hacks with little interest in, experience of, or sympathy for private enterprise.

Yet if they have done nothing good for business, at least they have done little harm ... aside from neglect. They have been content to set their local economies to cruise control, relying on subsidies from the UK taxpayer. As a result, the public sector represents a much larger percentage of the economies of the three “Celtic fringes” than it does in England, the fourth, largest, and most prosperous of the nations that make up the UK.

They may soon be forced to change. With the UK as a whole facing public spending cuts, it will not be long before the more enterprising English start complaining about subsidising dependant Scots, Welsh, and Northern Irish.

That consideration may have prompted the Scottish National Party, who are currently in power in Edinburgh, to come up with a package of proposals that would have a profound impact on business. The proposals themselves are a mixed bag – some good, some bad – but the fact that they are being discussed points the way to the future: for good or ill, private enterprise is now on the agenda of the devolved legislatures.

In theory, it could be very good for all concerned. The new legislatures have some excellent role models very close to home. Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are “Crown Dependencies”, nominally independent states subject to the Queen as Queen but not part of the United Kingdom. In practice, this gives them considerable autonomy, which they have used wisely. Cutting tax rates and deregulating, they have attracted capital from the rest of Britain and abroad, and have prospered as a result.

Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland could prosper in the same way – if they were prepared to take the risk.