Irish Cricket 2007

**Sheridan** · 02/02/2007, 2:53 PM

As I predicted, Ireland's errant bowlers contrived to p1ss away a commanding position. Kenya were on the brink of defeat at 231-9. but tail-ender Thomas Odoyo blasted 61 off 36 balls to guide Kenya home with one over to spare. Once again, the batsmen are left in the lurch by an indisciplined bolwing performance which included 23 extras.

Scotland recorded another narrow victory, this time over the Netherlands, a result which effectively ends Ireland's chances of reaching the final.

2 Feb 2006 (Ruaraka, Nairobi, Kenya)
World Cricket League Division One
Ireland: 284-4 (Porterfield 104*, Carroll 2, Morgan 11, N O'Brien 9, K O'Brien 142) from 50 overs.
Kenya: 286-9 (Botha 4-42, McCallan 4-36, Langford-Smith 1-60, Johnston 0-76, K O'Brien 0-25, White 0-38) off 49 overs.
Kenya won by 1 wicket.

**Sheridan** · 04/02/2007, 4:50 PM

Same old story today, almost too monotonous to recount. Ireland, batting first, posted 308-7 off their fifty overs, enough to win most one-day games comfortably. Morgan hit 115 from 106 balls, Kevin O'Brien 52 and Trent Johnston a rapid 44 from just 27 balls faced. Johnston, however, sustained an injury (presumably aggravating the repeatedly broken and useless finger which will probably be amputated once he retires) and was unable to bowl.

Langford-Smith, who can count himself fortunate to still be in the team, took the new ball and showed his best form of the tournament, taking 1-40 off ten overs. Mooney went 1-62 off eight overs, gushing runs at an average of 7.75 per over, Botha was no more economical and there were still six deliveries available when Canada scored their 312th and winning runs. Canada's 312-4 is the 14th highest run-chase ever achieved in One Day Internationals and the largest by an Associate nation. Ireland are thereby eliminated from the competition with one fixture remaining, against the Netherlands.

4 Feb 2006 (Jaffrey's Sports Club, Nairobi, Kenya)
World Cricket League Division One
Ireland: 308-7 (Porterfield 21, Bray 35, Morgan 115, N O'Brien 0, K O'Brien 52, Johnston 44, McCallan 5*, Langford-Smith 0, J Mooney 8.)
Canada: 312-4 (Langord-Smith 1-40, K O'Brien 1-37, Botha 1-67, White 0-50, McCallan 0-55, Mooney 1-62.)
Canada won by 6 wickets

Scotland beat Kenya with surprising ease to reach the final. The Netherlands defeated Bermuda handsomely at Ruaraka.

**Dodge** · 04/02/2007, 6:00 PM

Looks like you picked the wrong week to start this thread Sheridan. Thanks for the updates though

**Sheridan** · 05/02/2007, 6:04 PM

Usual drill today, Ireland lost narrowly in their final game of the competition against the Netherlands. The match was reduced to 46 overs per side by heavy overnight rain which seeped through the covers. Kyle McCallan captained Ireland in the absence of regular skipper Trent Johnston (stricken by the ubiquitous stomach bug) and watched Zuiderent and Reekers amass 114 for the first wicket. Reekers eventually made 104, but was dropped four times in the process.

The Netherlands recorded 260-7 from their 46 overs, an adequate score in the circumstances, but little more than that. The Irish bowling was marginally more economical than heretofore, although disastrous spells from both Mooney brothers (Paul opened the bowling with Langford-Smith but was yanked out of the attack after surrendering 26 runs off three overs) in retrospect cost Ireland the match.

Despite the early loss of Jeremy Bray, Ireland were crusing at 195-1 when Morgan was caught on 94, ending a partnership of 153 with William Porterfield. Niall O'Brien, Porterfield and Kevin O'Brien then fell in quick succession, however, to place the Dutch back in command. McCallan and John Mooney offered sterling resistance but couldn't score quickly enough to drag Ireland over the line. The Dutch displayed a mastery of death bowling which has eluded Ireland throughout the tournament, and the Irish were six runs short of victory upon completion of their allotted overs.

Only now are detailed reports beginning to emerge from Kenya. By all accounts the umpiring has been diabolical (not just on judgement calls, but rudimentary aspects of the game such as accurately counting the number of balls in an over), illness rife and the pitches excessively biased in favour of batsmen, but none of these factors exculpate the ineptitude of Ireland's bowling. Irish conditions and pitches tend to favour mediocre medium pace bowlers, and until better wickets are produced and this anomaly rectified, the national team will continue to struggle against top-class batting.

While the likes of Porterfield and Morgan will leave Kenya with their reputations enhanced, overall this entire enterprise has been deeply dispiriting for Irish cricket. Despite the glamour and hype which will attend Ireland's participation in the World Cup, be in no doubt that this was the big one, and they blew it. The squad (an eminently talented one, despite recent results) will have numerous opportunities to atone in the coming months, but one wonders how deep the scars inflicted by this failure will run.

5 Feb 2006 (Nairobi Gymkhana, Kenya)
World Cricket League Division One
Netherlands: 260-7 (Langford-Smith 0-32, P Mooney 0-26, K O'Brien 2-58, Botha 2-49, McCallan 1-48, J Mooney 0-23, White 0-18) from 46 overs.
Ireland: 254-8 (Bray 8, Porterfield 84, Morgan 94, N O'Brien 1, K O'Brien 3, McCallan 25, White 2, J Mooney 18*, Langford-Smith 0, P Mooney 1*) from 46 overs.
Netherlands won by 6 runs

In today's other games, Kenya trounced Canada to reach the final, where they'll play Scotland, despite the latter surprisingly losing to Bermuda in the final round of matches. Both Kenya and Scotland qualify for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. Ireland's fifth-placed finish was a travesty given the quality of the team's batting.

**Sheridan** · 07/02/2007, 4:53 PM

Kenya cantered to victory in the World Cricket League final, reaching their target for the loss of just two wickets having dismissed Scotland for 155.

Canada's wicketkeeper/batsman Ashish Bagai was named player of the tournament, with Ireland's William Porterfield in second place.

It was announced today that Stormont will host a three-match One Day International series between Australia and India this summer, after venues in the USA and Canada were deemed unsuitable for the fixtures. The games will take place on the 27th and 29th of June, with the final fixture on the 1st of July. The Belfast venue's greater capacity of 9,000 won it the nod over Clontarf.

**swano** · 08/02/2007, 9:52 AM

The generally high runs scored and rubbish bowling figures can partly be put down to the fact that the boundaries in the tourament were a lot shorter than regulation boundaries.

It seemed like the teams didn't have much between them. It's a pity we don't have one of those teams in our world cup group as it would give us a great chance of getting a win.
As it stands we have Zimbabwe as the "weak" team in our group and as bad as they are at the moment it will still take an immense effort for us to beat them.

Irelans vs Pakistan on Paddys day in Montego Bay should be some occasion.

**Sheridan** · 10/02/2007, 10:16 AM

Ireland are cruising along nicely against the UAE at Abu Dhabi on day one of their Intercontinental Cup fixture. Ireland must win the game to progress to the final and currently stand at 314-2 off 71 overs. Eoin Morgan is 93 not out, with Andr� Botha also undefeated on 85. Porterfield and Bray are back in the hut, having scored 46 and 82 respectively.

**Sheridan** · 10/02/2007, 5:18 PM

Ireland closed day one on 461-2, thanks largely to a national record partnership (as yet unbroken) of 325 between Morgan and Botha. Morgan, unbeaten on 182 at close play, is encroaching upon Ivan Anderson's Irish record of 198*, the pair upon the tournament partnership record of 331, and the team upon the Irish record total of 462, set against WH Laverton's XI in 1893.

Given this formidable start, Ireland presumably will hope to avoid batting again by declaring in the 600s and then bowling the UAE out twice over the coming 2 and a half day. The maddeningly innocuous nature of Ireland's bowling in Kenya, however, suggests that nothing can be taken for granted.

**onceahoop** · 10/02/2007, 7:00 PM

I think it was recognised by management that the bowling was weak before they went out and they hoped the fulltime coaching would help. Doesn't seem to have happened. Don't know if the great Matt Dwyer is still involved with the coaching but we could do with someone as economical as him now. It's infuriating for batsmen having posted big scores to see the bowlers let them down. In fairness to our lads though they seem to have hung in there. Great stuff from Morgan and Botha

**MariborKev** · 11/02/2007, 1:11 AM

Originally Posted by pete

Did Scotland up the run rate a lot near the end?

What kind of cheers do they have in cricket? Come on you chaps in green?

Pete,

Go and see any game with the Aussies involved and there is plenty of chanting. Was at the MCG on Friday to see England win a game

Any eL heads heading out to the WC? Me da and wee brother are heading out.

**Sheridan** · 11/02/2007, 12:36 PM

Ireland declared at 531-5 early on day two, having broken numerous records along the way. The total itself was Ireland's highest ever in 155 years of representative cricket. Botha's and Morgan's partnership of 360 (eventually broken when Botha was caught at mid-off on 157) was a record for both the national team and the Intercontinental Cup. Morgan went on to surpass Ivan Anderson's 33-year-old record by scoring 209*, the first double century ever recorded by an Irish batsmen. Trent Johnston, having promoted himself up the order in the hope of clobbering some quick runs, declared the innings closed when he was caught by Ahmed Raza for 11.

Ireland's bowlers, as per usual, did their utmost to undermine their batsmen's efforts, Langford-Smith leaking 12 runs off the first over. Thereafter, he and Rankin manage to staunch their early largesse, but nonetheless, the UAE's openers had put 75 on the board before Silva was caught by White off Rankin for 25. Ireland's experienced off-spinner Kyle McCallan was entrusted with the ball after just 18 overs and suffocated the UAE batsmen; seven of the nine overs he bowled before tea were maidens.

McCallan had Gayan Silva caught by White with the score on 98, and finished the day with the remarkably economical figures of 27-11-48-1. The strangehold he exerted over the batsmen was such that opportunities appeared for his supporting bowlers. Fellow spinner White bowled Saqib Ali for 26 in the course of an indifferent spell. Arshad Ali was eventually run out by McCallan having top-scored with 74. Kurram Khan soon followed, bowled by Andr� Botha for 28 to make it 176-5. Botha then had Kashif Khan caught by Langford-Smith with the score on 186. Zubair was next to fall for the addition of just twelve runs, run out by a combination of Morgan and Bray. Johnston redeemed an undistinguished opening spell by removing Bari and Raza for ducks (caught Bray and O'Brien respectively) to reduce the UAE to 222-9.

Stumps were drawn with the United Arab Emirates 309 runs in arrears, with just one wicket standing and the new ball due in two overs. Separating the final pair shouldn't prove too arduous for Ireland's bowlers tomorrow morning. Johnston will presumably then enforce the follow-on as Ireland close in on the victory which will qualify for them for the tournament final against Canada.

**bennocelt** · 11/02/2007, 8:58 PM

cheers for all these reports Sheridan, good stuff, get us in the mood for the world cup

**Sheridan** · 12/02/2007, 9:31 AM

Ireland cruised into the final of the Intercontinental Cup with a day and a bit to spare, after running through the UAE's batting order like a dose of salts today. Some lusty early morning hitting added 14 to the hosts' overnight score, before Trent Johnston wrapped up the innings by trapping Raza lbw for 11.

With the UAE still 288 behind, Johnston exercised his prerogative to enforce the follow and captured three quick wickets (danger-man Arshad Ali lbw for 7, Asham caught Gillespie for 2, and Gayan Silva caught Bray for 1) to precipitate an outright collapse. Saqib Ali was next to go, lbw to O'Brien in his first over of the day. The UAE were 36-4 at lunch.

The carnage continued apr�s le d�jeuner with Kashif Khan falling lbw to Rankin (who'd bowled well but lucklessly on Sunday, by all accounts) and Shadeep Silva caught by Langford-Smith off McCallan. At that stage the score was 87-6.

Two further wickets had tumbled befor the UAE made it into three figures. Nadeem was caught behind by Bray off Rankin, before his fellow Northerner McCallan removed Khurram Khan lbw for 42. Rankin severed the last vertebrae of the tail, with Raza caught behind for 10 and Zubair clean bowled for the same score.

10-12 Feb (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

ICC Intercontinental Cup, Group A

Ireland: 531-5 declared (Morgan 209*, Botha 157, Bray 82, Porterfield 46, K O'Brien 7, Johnston 11)

United Arab Emirates: 243 (Johnston 3-53, Botha 2-14, McCallan 1-48, Rankin 1-34, White 1-34, Langford-Smith 0-55.)

United Arab Emirates (following on): 118 (Rankin 4-56, Johnston 3-8, McCallan 2-21, K O'Brien 1-11, Botha 0-6, Langford-Smith 0-3.)

Ireland won by an innings and 170 runs

Ireland win Group A and will play Canada in the tournament final, at a date and venue to be determined.

**endabob1** · 13/02/2007, 8:01 AM

Who's in our world cup group and is there any chance of us doing what Kenya did 4 years ago?

**Sheridan** · 13/02/2007, 8:07 AM

Zimbabwe, Pakistan and the West Indies. No chance of making the semis like Kenya, who were aided by forfeitures. Could and arguably should beat Zimbabwe in the opening game. Ireland have beaten a full-strength West Indies team at Stormont in the recent past, but they'll be a different proposition at home. Pakistan are a cut above.

Gustavo - the UAE team is usually composed of subcontinental immigrants or the descendants thereof.

**OwlsFan** · 13/02/2007, 1:04 PM

I saw Morgan when he was about 7 or 8 with a cricket bat and ball as he was watching his dad's team, Rush, playing against our club and he was tremendously gifted even then. Talent will always out in the end.

Anyone who has ever played cricket against the North County teams will realise how off the mark "Come on you chaps in green" comment made earlier is. It's very much a workingmans' game in Fingal.

**OwlsFan** · 13/02/2007, 2:13 PM

The Irish cricket team competing at the World Cup in Jamaica in March will have a theme song to rival rugby's 'Ireland's Call', and it's been inspired by the biggest cricketing community in the country - Fingal.

This week sees the launch of a competition to come up with the perfect Irish cricket team anthem, and songwriters and performers have until Friday February 23, to get their entries in.

The winner will walk away for a cheque for a 1000 Euro courtesy of Seamus Murphy/Murphy Environmental.

"The World Cup is something totally new for Irish cricket, and it was felt by many that we needed an anthem to mark the occasion, and we'll be singing the winning song in Jamaica, " stated the man behind the project, local councillor David O' Connor.

The process is relatively simple. Singers and songwriters, (who can get somebody else to perform their song if they so wish), must get their entry on cassette or CD to Hubert Murphy in the Fingal Independent, 4 Main Street, Swords, Co Dublin, on or before February 23 at noon. The song must be their original work, and they should supply contact details.

Once all the entries are in, a panel of judges will decide on a shortlist for a gala night to be held at the Irish Cricket school of excellence, In Balrothery on Wednesday February 28.

Entrants must be available to perform their song on the night.

"The whole cricketing thing is gaining momentum by the day with the World Cup advancing, and we expect a good entry for this competition. Naturally the song won't be too long, and the chorus will be the key to the whole thing," Dave explains.

"This idea is coming from the grass roots of Irish cricket, and we think the players will love the idea too."

The 500 strong army of fans will depart for the West Indies on March 10, all armed with the words of a new song.

**bennocelt** · 13/02/2007, 9:12 PM

Originally Posted by OwlsFan

The Irish cricket team competing at the World Cup in Jamaica in March will have a theme song to rival rugby's 'Ireland's Call', and it's been inspired by the biggest cricketing community in the country - Fingal.
.

god that wouldnt be hard

**swano** · 14/02/2007, 5:13 AM

Ireland have no chance of getting out of the group but we may give Pakistan a better game than you'd imagine. Afridi is banned for the game, Gul is a major injury doubt and it's quite likely that Asif and Shaoib will be banned again after the PCB carry out their internal drugs tests on feb 17th. It's expected that the two will still have traces of the nandralone that showed up in the last tests. All a bit of a shambles and can pnly be good for us.