World Cup 2007: Review of Cricket Teams - Republic of Ireland

About Ireland Cricket

One of the 2 World Cup debut nations for 2k7, Ireland, surprised the cricketing world way back in 1969 when they bowled out a touring Windies side for just 25 runs winning the tour match by 9 wickets. Ireland, the reigning Intercontinental Cup Champions & European Cup Champions, have a big responsibility for putting up a better show than the other minnows in this World Cup. Having missed the opportunity of playing in the 99 World Cup (they lost the 3rd place play-offs with the Scots), they have come a long way to qualify for the & 2007 World Cup. The Irish Cricket Union announced the squad for the World Cup as early as August last year keeping in mind the time that would take for the team to gel into a good unit.

Win-Loss Record

The Irish team has played 3 ODIs till now and has a record of 1 win - 1 loss - 1 no result. Their first ODI was against England last June in Belfast. The Irish team's guts and courage combining with some poor showing from England paved way for a closely fought match. Chasing the English score of 301/7, the Irish team reached within 38 runs of the target hammering Harmison & Darlymple. More importantly they were not bowled out during the big chase. Their only ODI win was against the powerful Scotland side in the last year's European Championships. The Irish team shocked the Scotland, who was tipped to win the championships, by defeating them convincingly by an 85 run margin. Morgan, the Middlesex south-paw with a splendid 99 and late burst from the lower order (McCallen's 46 from 35 balls) set Scotland a target of 241 in 50 overs. A disciplined bowling effort bundled out the Scottish team to poultry 155, Morgan grabbing the Man of the Match award.

Current team players

Trent Johnston (captain)
Andre Botha
Jeremy Bray
Kenny Carroll
Peter Gillespie
Kyle McCallan
John Mooney
Paul Mooney
Eoin Morgan
Kevin O'Brien
Niall O'Brien
William Porterfield
Boyd Rankin
Dave Langford-Smith
Andrew White

Approach

The challenge for the Irish team before the World Cup will be the ICC WCC later this month. After that, they'll defend their Intercontinental title against the UAE side. All these matches before the World Cup would provide them valuable match practice.

Batting

South African born Botha, middle order batsman OBrien and the southpaw Morgan are their key batsmen. At least two of these three players should bat out of their skins if the Irish team plans to play out their full quota of overs in the international level. Courage & the county cricket experience will come to their aide but the in-experience in the highest level might come to haunt their prospects in the Caribbean.

Bowling

Line & Length and Discipline has been their biggest advantage till now. But when it comes to international cricket, the difficulty level increases and that factor played in their discipline in their 3 ODIs. They have conceded 62 extras in the 3 ODIs. Some more experience and tuning to the level will bring that figure down, hopefully. Their chief attack man will be Langword-Smith who has 3 wickets in each of his 3 ODIs. But if one asks whether they have potential to bowl out international sides, well, don't even think about it.

Current form

Their 3 ODIs doesn't suggest much about their form but when looking closer, their batsmen have applied themselves in all 3 international matches that they played. This fact is evident from their matches as they've never been bowled out in any of their international match. The bowling will be the key factor if they fancy any chance of even winning a single encounter in this WC.

Prediction

Luckily for Ireland, they've been placed in the easiest group of all. Along with them, they have the hosts Windies, the Pakistanis & the deformed Zimbabwe. Their chance of making it to the next round is very bleak but if they play hard, they might pull out a surprise over the Zimbabwe.

Other teams
Test playing Nations : India | Pakistan | West Indies | Sri Lanka | New Zealand | South Africa | England | Australia
Non test playing Nations : Canada | Bermuda | Scotland | Zimbabwe | Kenya | The Netherlands | Ireland | Bangladesh
Who will win Cricket world cup 2007?