The rise and rise of Irish cricket

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We follow the journey of Irish cricket from their first foray into Test Cricket to their climb to the top of at least one of the World Rankings (hopefully ????).

In their historical first Test against Pakistan, Ireland have named the following team:

1. Ed Joyce (c)
2. William Porterfield
3. Andrew Balbirnie
4. Niall O’Brien
5. Kevin O’Brien
6. Paul Stirling
7. Gary Wilson (wk)
8. Tim Murtagh
9. George Dockrell
10. Craig Young
11. Boyd Rankin

12. Sean Terry
13. Peter Chase

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Ireland v Pakistan

Only Test

Pretty solid performance in our Test debut. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat on a very placid deck. While the bowlers were economical, they lacked a bit of strike ability allowing Pakistan to post 482.
We we’re strong in reply however, with Ed Joyce leading from the front to record Ireland’s first Test century. His 137 anchored the first innings total of 370.
We again failed to take regular wickets and Pakistan declared, setting 366 in just over a day.
The top order again batted well in deteriorating conditions and did well to push the match to almost the tea break on the final day.
All in all a good debut against strong opposition. Highlight was Joyce’s century and the batting in general. The downside was that despite being able to restrict the scoring rate, we we’re unable to take regular wickets.

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T20 Tri-series in Netherlands

Ireland have announced their 15 man squad for the tri-series with Netherlands and Scotland:

William Portefield (c), Jack Tector, Paul Stirling, James Shannon, Gary Wilson, Niall O’Brien, Simranjit Singh, Kevin O’Brien, Andy McBride, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin, Craig Young, Peter Chase, Tyrone Kane, Eddie Richardson.

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T20 Tri-series in Netherlands

Match 1 v Netherlands

1. Jack Tector
2. William Porterfield (c)
3. Paul Stirling
4. James Shannon
5. Simranjit Singh
6. Kevin O’Brien
7. Niall O’Brien (wk)
8. Andy McBride
9. Tyrone Kane
10. Boyd Rankin
11. Craig Young

After losing early wickets, Stirling and Singh resurrected the innings with a 62 run partnership. However, losing regular wickets towards the end resulted in a below par run rate and a score that was always going to be hard to defend.
The spinners in particular came in for punishment and Netherlands were never really troubled in the chase.

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T20 Tri-series in Netherlands

Match 2 v Netherlands

one change for the next match with George Dockrell coming in for Andy McBride.

1. Jack Tector
2. William Porterfield (c)
3. Paul Stirling
4. James Shannon
5. Simranjit Singh
6. Kevin O’Brien
7. Niall O’Brien (wk)
8. Tyrone Kane
9. George Dockrell
10. Boyd Rankin
11. Craig Young

After again winning the toss, Porterfield this time sent the Netherlands in. The spinners were again targeted by the Netherlands batsmen setting a formidable score of 177.
In reply we lost regular wickets and never seriously challenged the total.

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T20 Tri-series in Netherlands

Match 3 v Scotland

George Dockrell lasted one match, being replaced by right arm seamer Peter Chase.

1. Jack Tector
2. William Porterfield (c)
3. Paul Stirling
4. James Shannon
5. Simranjit Singh
6. Kevin O’Brien
7. Niall O’Brien (wk)
8. Tyrone Kane
9. Boyd Rankin
10. Craig Young
11. Peter Chase

The batting finally clicked setting a new Irish record of 199. James Shannon also scored Ireland’s first international T20 century.
With the ball, we took regular wickets with young seamer Tyrone Kane particularly impressive.

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T20 Tri-series in Netherlands

Match 4 v Scotland

We named an unchanged squad the impressive performance last game.

1. Jack Tector
2. William Porterfield (c)
3. Paul Stirling
4. James Shannon
5. Simranjit Singh
6. Kevin O’Brien
7. Niall O’Brien (wk)
8. Tyrone Kane
9. Boyd Rankin
10. Craig Young
11. Peter Chase

Back to not being able to form partnerships or take early wickets. A disappointing loss with Singh’s 70 the only bright spot.