Ireland-South Africa, Tuesday 2.30pm

1

And the show rolls on today against one of the tournament favourites.

Positives:

We gave them a great game in the warm ups before the tournament proper started and this went a long way to giving us the confidence to come out of the group.

They don’t play a recognised spinner - relying solely on the part time off spin of Graeme Smith - and this is the type of bowling that we’ve really struggled with.

We’ve looked okay with quicker bowling, especially Bray and O’Brien, and have shown we have the ability to post respectable totals against good sides already.

Our fielding has been smashing all tournament and we’re not afraid to get dirty in the field.

Every game is more beneficial for the side and we’re learning all the time.

Negatives:

South Africa have one of the most aggressive top orders - Smith and De Villiers will come out swinging - and our bowling will have to be on the money from the very off. They took Australia for 160 in the first 20 overs for example.

Ntini, their quickest and best bowler, is likely to be back from injury.

They bat all the way down with Andrew Hall, who has opened for them in the past, coming in at number 9. He scored the 67 not out in the warm up game that salvaged the game for them after we had them at 91/8.

They have been forewarned about us by virtue of that game and will look to dominate us early to put us in our place and avoid a shock.

All in all, it should be too big a task for the Irish bhoys but good luck to them all the same. If we can come out of the Super Sixes with a victory against Bangladesh that’ll be another cracking 2 weeks’ work following on from qualification.

2

Informative post Bandage. That’s some strength in the batting lineup they have. Langford Smith has started quite loosely in most matches - he needs to be more on the money from the start.

I presume Rankin is fit?

3

Kevin O’Brien out and Paul Mooney in.

4

Finally able to get back onto the board. Not to drag the subject up again but…

Just been reading that 3 of the Irish team will be leaving to play for England at the end of the year because they want to play test cricket. I dont understand how it could possibly be good for Irish cricket if the best players keep leaving and there is no stability in the squad, no chance of the team improving/advancing. If players keep leaving this is the best its ever going to get. Would you cricket fans out there be happy with being the best of the 2 tier teams?

Also it is highly unlikely that 4 from the Irish team over the past few years are going to make it into the English & Wales test squad. Isnt it more likely that the majority of the players who do this will just get lost in the transition? And if all 4 do get into the E&W squad doesn’t that not just add to the case that if they stayed in the Irish team then we would obviously be better, attract more attention and over time advance their chances to become a test nation?

www.stickcricket.com - its now been updated for this years world cup. What more can one ask for in his last 2 weeks in work!!

5

Fully agree with all of that Pagey.

6

pagey, that’s incorrect - where did you read it?

3 of the Irish side play county championship in England. Morgan is following in Joyce’s footsteps at Middlesex and has the ability to play at the highest level. He’s stated his desire to play test cricket and with him being based in England it’s likely he’ll qualify to play for them like Ed.

Niall O’Brien and Boyd Rankin have county contracts with Northamptonshire and Derbyshire respectively. They’re merely looking to forge a full time career in cricket and it’ll be touch and go as to whether they’ll even make their county sides’ first XI’s. They’ll still be widely available to Ireland (bar the one day county competition that Ireland and Scotland take part in as they’ll be representing their clubs) so whoever told you there was a 3 man exodus is wrong.

We’re 8/1 after 4.1 overs. Bray plum lbw to Pollock. Ball’s swinging all over the shop.

Spent a lot of tfk down time on stickcricket. It’s hard to do anything with Ireland though.

7

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/counties/ireland/6520335.stm

O’Brien ready to jump ship
By Martin Gough and Arlo White
BBC Sport in Guyana

At the end of the day I want to play Test cricket

Niall O’Brien

Ireland wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien proved a thorn in England’s side last week but he could be fighting in their corner as early as October.

In their spirited defeat in Guyana on Friday, O’Brien took two catches before hitting a fluent 63 off 88 balls, including a cracking square drive for four off Andrew Flintoff.

The 25-year-old played a key role in securing Ireland a place at the World Cup Super 8 stage, with a match-winning knock in the upset of Pakistan.

But next month he will head to Northants, the county he has joined after three years in the Kent first team, and complete his residency qualification to play for England.

“I’ve been going through the legal process for the last couple of years and I qualify towards the end of October,” he told BBC Sport.

"I want to play Test cricket for England and that’s the main aim.

"For the time being I want to play well for Ireland at the World Cup then cement my place in the Northants first XI.

“But at the end of the day I want to play Test cricket at the highest level.”

In training on Tuesday ahead of Ireland’s match against South Africa, O’Brien looked every inch the professional, practising a single sweep shot for longer than many of his team-mates spent in an entire net session.

For now, O’Brien proudly wears the Irish Cricket Union shamrock

He will be following in the footsteps of his friend Ed Joyce, who helped Ireland qualify for this World Cup before declaring for England.

Joyce faced intense scrutiny in the run-up to Friday’s game, repeatedly facing questions about his change in allegiances, before having a difficult match.

“Everyone wanted a piece of him and he had his phone turned off for about a week prior to it,” said O’Brien.

"I spoke to him briefly afterwards. He was a bit despondent - it was a big occasion and he wanted to get runs.

“Ed has led the way [for other Irish cricketers]. To play cricket at the highest level you’ve got to make some tough decisions along the way.”

Of course, O’Brien cannot just waltz into the England side when he qualifies but there is plenty of uncertainty as to who will have the wicket-keeper’s job in the long term.

Geraint Jones’ return to Kent, after falling out of favour with England, saw O’Brien opt to move elsewhere to ensure a regular first-team place.

Chris Read was the last keeper to play for England in a Test while Paul Nixon was England’s surprise choice as their one-day keeper this year.

“There’s a lot of good wicket-keepers in England - people like Jon Batty at Surrey, Stephen Davies at Worcester, Nic Pothas at Hampshire - looking for that position,” O’Brien added.

"At the moment I’m trying to keep my feet on the ground but scoring runs against international sides at the World Cup is not going to do me any harm.

“Hopefully if I can contribute a few more fifties - and maybe a sneaky hundred - before the end of the tournament it will open a few eyes.”

8

He left Kent at the end of the season because Geraint Jones lost his English place and came back to play for them. He’ll have an awful lot to do to get into the English set up if he’s forced out of his county side by a English reject but I can’t fault his ambition to play at the highest level.

9

was about to post same article myself rock.

not a huge cricket fan but have enjoyed watching it since the ashes of 18 months ago. so i should probably reserve comment giving that i dont have a great knowledge of the sport in Ireland, but surely it cant be good if the countries top players continue to jump ship.

although saying that i do accept bandage’s point of players wanting to test themselves at the highest level, but wouldn’t be nice if they could stay and do it with Ireland.

10

But don’t you see how this is destroying the team. We have a decent one day side now, we have genuine talent and a bit of depth and most of the decent players (Morgan, Rankin, Joyce) are young enough. It’s absolutely devestating to the game in this country if they all jump ship. We won’t have this opportunity again for a very long time.

11

His ambition is to play test cricket. He’s a good bit down the queue so he’ll still be able to play with us. It’s not as if we’re going to assume test status even in the medium term. Cricket afficionado, the bhoy, told me there’s not one single club in Ireland with outdoor nets on proper pitches - all the nets are on artificial surfaces - so we’re literally years and years away from having the basic facilities that go hand in hand with being a test nation. In the meantime I don’t blame any of our players for wanting to further themselves at the highest level.

12

Would you extend that attitude to GAA? If someone from one of the weaker counties with poor facilities left their setup at the age of 22 to join a glamourous neighbour?

13

We had this debate last week.

It’s apples and oranges. We don’t have a test team. Every county in Ireland competes in the football championship (bar those Kilkenny pricks) and in hurling there is a natural progression to the top level now by virtue of the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups.

Another valiant attempt but I won’t back down or change my mind.

14

23/1 after 11 overs. They’ve been on and off twice for just a single over in the last 30 minutes but this time the rain seems really heavy.

It’s already been reduced to 47 overs per side and will more than likely be reduced even further now.

The ball is still moving a lot off the seam, so much so that both opening bowlers keep missing the bat, and Morgan and Porterfield are still hanging on grimly.

Only runs have been a couple of clips off the leg and then a few edges that went wide of the slip cordon.

This will be a big test for Ireland and hopefully their inexperience doesn’t tell. If it was a full 50 overs match with pitch conditions the way they are you’d tell the batsmen to consolidate and just concentrate on surviving while the ball is new. Worry about the scoring rate later but firstly make sure you have wickets in hand to ensure you bat your full allocated time. There’s no point throwing the bat around when the ball is moving so much and suddenly finding yourself 40/5 early doors.

But with the prospect of the overs being reduced further because of the weather it puts Ireland in a really tough position. There’s no point in being very careful and defensive and going along at the current run rate of 2 an over if we lose such time that it’s only a 30 over game.

Will be interesting to see how the weather develops. With the covers on and moisture on the pitch the ball will still be moving around whenever we bowl.

15

Certainly looks like a bad toss to lose - with the weather helping bowling and Ireland not sure what the overs will be so no idea how aggressive to be.

16

Does the match have to be finished in one day? If it is not do both teams get a point each?

17

No, there’s a second day allocated to finish it if necessary.

I don’t know how they decide what to do though.

Australia/West Indies both batted 50 overs in two days after it rained at the end of the Australian innings whereas the Australian/Bangladesh match on Sunday was reduced to 22 overs per side and finished in one day after early rain.

Each side has to bat a minimum of 20 overs for there to be a valid game though.

18

91/4 after 25 overs in a match reduced to 35 overs.

Definitely a disadvantage to bat first when you don’t know for certain how to pace the innings and how many overs you’ll definitely have to bat.

I suppose they’ll be looking for 70-75 off the last 10 overs to push up to 170 minimum.

19

142/8 after 34 overs.

Lost wickets at regular intervals to slow down the run rate. Some softish dismissals but they had to try to accelerate.

Still, to get over 150 would beat a phsychological barrier.