Irish Cricket

Stirling is on fire at the moment. :clap:

50 not out from 17 balls. :clap:

Second quickest T20 in history. :clap:

Yuvraj did one in 12 balls before.

86/2 off 9 overs.

We need a run a ball from here.

Stirling dropped at long on. Should have been taken.

Not impressed with Gary Wilson. :rolleyes:

125/4 after 15.

Stirling went for 79 and then Kevin O’Brien was dismissed first ball.

A great group of lads :clap: :clap: :clap: :ireland: :ireland: :ireland:

Champions of the associate and affiliate nations! :ireland:

That Pointer lad looks like he would be a good man to skull pints of porter :pint: :pint: :pint:

:ireland:

Always important to demonstrate we are top dogs of the second tier. Hopefully we can repeat our World Cup victory over Australia from the rugby football last year, except this time it will be in a real sport.

Great to see so many fatties perform well today.

Shahzad, Stirling and Poynter. :clap:

Great to see Enniscorthy man George Dockerill getting to perform at another World Cup :clap:

Funnily enough, he didn’t even bowl against Namibia. The seamers were getting good value out of the pitch, and it was very good captaincy by Porterfield to recognise this and not just stick to formula. He’s likely to be very important in Sri Lankan conditions though.

Wonderful news today with RSA announcing the extension of their sponsorship of Cricket Ireland until 2015. :clap:

Speaking of Dockrell, very strong performance for him in the County Championship opener for Somerset.

Somerset 350 (Compton 99) and 73 for 4 beat Middlesex 246 (Philander 5-43) and 175 (Dockrell 6-27) by six wickets
Vernon Philander may have been the talk of the County Ground for much of this match but friend, foe and neutral observer alike went away this evening singing the praises of spinner George Dockrell.
Fast bowler Philander played a significant role as Somerset launched their latest attempt to win a first championship title by beating Middlesex by six wickets. But it was 19-year-old Dockrell who took centre stage - and looked an absolute natural under the spotlight - when his team needed a generous helping of magic today.
Figures of 6 for 27 from 20.1 overs suggest a wizard at work. Well, there will be batsmen on the circuit who play him better than these visitors. And not all pitches are going to yield as much turn and bounce as this splendid early season offering from groundsman Simon Lee. But Dockrell’s left-arm weaved a spell which was a treat to watch - unless you were something like 22 yards away, of course.
Dockrell, a tall, slim Irishman, has been gathering an army of admirers for a couple of years now, mainly while playing limited-overs cricket for his country. Indeed, people were purring about him when he appeared against England - as a 17-year-old - in the World Twenty20 tournament of 2010.
This season, though, is Dockrell’s chance to play first-class cricket to his heart’s desire. With Murali Kartik having left Taunton for Surrey, the way is clear for young George to fill his boots. And fill them he surely will if he keeps bowling with as much control, flight and variety as he displayed during this match.
Somerset were first alerted to Dockrell’s talent when he was just 15. Last year, with Kartik on board, he appeared in only one championship contest. But this summer his development promises to be rapid and, on the evidence of today, spectacular.
Middlesex were looking more than capable of earning a draw when they reached 105 for 1 deep into the morning session. The first innings arrears had just been cleared and, with a fair amount of good fortune, admittedly, Philander had been seen off.
But Dockrell changed the game from the moment he defeated Sam Robson’s attempted sweep to win a leg before decision. Chris Rogers followed, edging a cut, and the visitors knew a tricky afternoon stretched out before them.
Even so, losing their last seven wickets for 40 runs in 20 overs to be hurried out for 175 was pretty remarkable. Philander did for Neil Dexter and Dawid Malan to finish with match figures of 7 for 81. But the Dockrell show resumed with John Simpson being undone by turn and bounce before Gareth Berg, lbw pushing forward, Ollie Rayner, stumped, despite at least one fumble from Craig Kieswetter, and Toby Roland-Jones, holing out in the deep, completed the collection.
A match haul of 8 for 62 should have allowed Dockrell to sit back and relax while Somerset knocked off a victory target of 72 in 40 overs. Instead, he and a few others in the home changing room will have moved towards the edge of their seats as the hosts slipped to 44 for 4.
Having one eye on approaching dark clouds probably did not help the top order. But just when some mild panic was setting in around the ground, James Hildreth and Jos Buttler settled matters with a few hefty blows - including Buttler’s reverse sweep off Joe Denly, to seal the deal.
Having lost their opening match of the last two championship campaigns, Somerset deserve to feel good about themselves after this result. As for Middlesex, they fought so hard for so much of a match in which conditions generally conspired against them that defeat will be tough to take. But in the first division one bad session is usually fatal - and the visitors had a shocker after lunch today.
No such worries for Dockrell, of course. “This should give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season,” he said. "Obviously I didn’t get many opportunities last year with Murali Kartik here so I’m pleased to have started well.
"You have to go with what you’ve got. I’m quite tall and getting bounce seems to be a big thing for me at the moment. I’m still working on my action and I made a little change this winter while working with Ireland coach Phil Simmons and it seems to have helped because I’m getting a bit more spin.

Wonder will he declare for England?

Don’t think he’s been in any of their development squads yet, but I’d say if he keeps this up it will be a matter of time.

Dockrell won another game for Somerset today with another six-for against Durham (having earlier hung around with the bat long enough for Somerset to earn the bonus point). :clap:

Mixed day for the Irish lads though. Morgan scored eight for Middlesex against Lancashire in what must be his first County Championship game in fucking ages. He’ll have another go second innings though because Middlesex are well behind the game there.

My cricket knowledge is diminishing all the time as other sports have taken precedence but I saw Ireland ‘A’ took a fairly heavy defeat from Kent’s second XI in a 3-day game. Anyone decent coming through, Braz? How are the other Irish at county sides doing? Are most of them like Stirling, Wilson etc still floating around their second XIs? What about Rankin and Porterfield?

Porterfield is doing ok with Warwickshire, Rankin is out injured. Joyce doing fairly well with Sussex. Dockrell really is the star though. The English must surely be having a serious look at him.