Dubai: Ireland have played the role of giant-killers superbly in the last two ICC Cricket World Cups, knocking out Pakistan in 2007 and beating England in 2011.
Their 2015 squad, however, maybe lacks a surprise element as it is built around experienced campaigners like William Porterfield, Ed Joyce, the O’Brien brothers Kevin and Niall and John Mooney. So, how are the men from the Emerald Isle going to find an X-factor in Australia and New Zealand?
Well, appointing Brett Lee as bowling consultant is a good start. The former Australia pacer should be a huge help to the Irish, offering insights into local conditions and death bowling.
“My allegiance is with Australia, but it wouldn’t be fair of me not to take the opportunity to try and pass on some knowledge to younger players coming through,” said Lee, who agreed a short-term deal to help Ireland during their warm-up period.
“It is my chance to give something back to cricket.”
Fresh-faced 21-year-old Peter Chase could be the joker in Ireland’s bowling back — he has yet to play in a One Day International (ODIs) but took 11 wickets at 15.72 for Durham at the end of last season — although this tournament may be too soon for him. Otherwise, Ireland will rely on the likes of Craig Young, Max Sorenson, who was a late replacement for the injured Tim Murtagh, Mooney and veteran Alex Cusack.
George Dockrell is a talented left-arm spinner who has already played in two World Twenty20s despite being just 22 years of age, and he will have a big role to play in trying to contain sides in the middle overs.
“We’ve produced some wonderful performances over the years in World Cups and there’s no reason why we can’t claim further successes in Australia and New Zealand,” said captain Porterfield.
“While we may have lost the surprise factor over the years, we’ve certainly gained a lot of respect for our brand of cricket, which has been pretty pleasing.”
But how the Irish must wish that the most talented player of their current generation — Eoin Morgan — was playing for them at this World Cup. Instead, such are the vagaries of cricket’s international selection criteria, the brilliant batsman will be captaining rivals England. Tall pace bowler Boyd Rankin has also quit Ireland to seek fame with England, but he has missed out on World Cup selection.
The Irish open their tournament against a West Indies side who are in turmoil, before taking on fellow qualifiers the UAE — and they will need to get at least one win under their belts early before they tackle the mighty South Africa in Canberra in their third game.
Zimbabwe, India and Pakistan follow and Ireland should be confident of competing against all three of those, with a quarter-final place a distinct possibility if they play to their potential. If they could achieve that, their case for full Test status and regular ODIs against top nations would be boosted and, maybe, the next Morgan will play for Ireland for the entirety of his career.
