Organised Sunbathing aka Cricket

[Hippo]

Unbelievable batting from the Netherlands. And, er, unbelievable performance in the field from Ireland.

[simonno6]

Really good performance from the lads so far.

Any hurdle the ICC put up in our way we smash through. This pre-lim stage was designed to allow Zim and Bangla to progress to the Super 10 and stop any associates turning up and ruining their fun.

Best of luck to them tomorrow!

Hmm, you were partly right, just proves that if you have a real cut at it in Twenty-20 anything can happen.

What a stunning performance from NL. Best of luck to them. Gut wrenching for Ireland but they will be back!! Delighted another associate has qualified.

[Sionnach]

I'm glad that they beat us and got the required run rate (I'd obviously preferred if we had won, but this was the second best outcome!).

It would have been rubbish for Zim to have gone through on the basis of the Netherlands performance. Good to have an Associate team in the Super 10.

[nelly the elephant]

Loving this record last wicket partnership between Root and Anderson against India in the first test at Trent Bridge. After a miserable collapse post lunch yesterday that is a remarkable response. I'm a big fan of Jimmy's so delighted for him!

[JB1973]

Loving this record last wicket partnership between Root and Anderson against India in the first test at Trent Bridge. After a miserable collapse post lunch yesterday that is a remarkable response. I'm a big fan of Jimmy's so delighted for him!

very rarely if ever will you two 100 plus partnerships for the last wicket in the same game, says a lot about the pitch.

Maybe England should do a role reversal and open the batting with Anderson and let the demon fast bowler cook open the bowling

[simonno6]

Loving this record last wicket partnership between Root and Anderson against India in the first test at Trent Bridge. After a miserable collapse post lunch yesterday that is a remarkable response. I'm a big fan of Jimmy's so delighted for him!

very rarely if ever will you two 100 plus partnerships for the last wicket in the same game, says a lot about the pitch.

Maybe England should do a role reversal and open the batting with Anderson and let the demon fast bowler cook open the bowling

Insane stuff - two world records for the 11th Wicket.

Bonkers pitch, although it still did Captain Cook pretty easily! He needs runs like he's never needed them before! Nice Bob Willis impression though

[nelly the elephant]

Ireland's World Cup starts tonight against the Windies.............. not showing a lot of good form of late it appears.... hopefully we get a good start to the competition.

[suisse]

18 needed in 7 overs to beat the Windies. Stunning effort from Paul Sterling, Ed Joyce and Niall O'B with the bats.

[suisse]

Ireland beat the Windies by 4 wicket. Slight wobble around Kev O'Brien's run out but what a win!!

Cracking result

[Fred Funk]

Very impressive, Joyce more aggressive than normal.

[The Anathemata]

The draw is very favourable to us. We can basically throw the India/RSA games win the two others and have it all come down to Pakistan - got to hope the Windies beat them and don't throw the whole tournament now.

The tragedy is that even if we make the QFs - which proves beyond doubt that we're a top 8 side, our lack of Test Status will mean we'll still have to qualify by making the final at some Mickey Mouse competition in Bangladesh in two years time.

Dockrell and Sterling will probably be playing Test Cricket for England, at that stage.

[Fred Funk]

The draw is very favourable to us. We can basically throw the India/RSA games win the two others and have it all come down to Pakistan - got to hope the Windies beat them and don't throw the whole tournament now.

The tragedy is that even if we make the QFs - which proves beyond doubt that we're a top 8 side, our lack of Test Status will mean we'll still have to qualify by making the final at some Mickey Mouse competition in Bangladesh in two years time.

Dockrell and Sterling will probably be playing Test Cricket for England, at that stage.

It is all about the mula.
Test cricket is slowly decreasing in importance.
It is only a badge for those nations who want to keep the money pot to themselves.
What Ireland needs is more ODIs. We have only played 9 against the top 10 teams in the last 4 years.

[The Anathemata]

The draw is very favourable to us. We can basically throw the India/RSA games win the two others and have it all come down to Pakistan - got to hope the Windies beat them and don't throw the whole tournament now.

The tragedy is that even if we make the QFs - which proves beyond doubt that we're a top 8 side, our lack of Test Status will mean we'll still have to qualify by making the final at some Mickey Mouse competition in Bangladesh in two years time.

Dockrell and Sterling will probably be playing Test Cricket for England, at that stage.

It is all about the mula.
Test cricket is slowly decreasing in importance.
It is only a badge for those nations who want to keep the money pot to themselves.
What Ireland needs is more ODIs. We have only played 9 against the top 10 teams in the last 4 years.

The problem isn't so much mula as India. Basically the lazy attitude/goldfish mentality of both their players and fans has destroyed cricket and given us cr@p like ODI and 20/20. Cricket is a 5 day game and IMO the greatest technical sport on earth. The destruction of the Windies by the greed of the Indians is nothing short of a disgrace.

[Lar]

The draw is very favourable to us. We can basically throw the India/RSA games win the two others and have it all come down to Pakistan - got to hope the Windies beat them and don't throw the whole tournament now.

The tragedy is that even if we make the QFs - which proves beyond doubt that we're a top 8 side, our lack of Test Status will mean we'll still have to qualify by making the final at some Mickey Mouse competition in Bangladesh in two years time.

Dockrell and Sterling will probably be playing Test Cricket for England, at that stage.

It is all about the mula.
Test cricket is slowly decreasing in importance.
It is only a badge for those nations who want to keep the money pot to themselves.
What Ireland needs is more ODIs. We have only played 9 against the top 10 teams in the last 4 years.

The problem isn't so much mula as India. Basically the lazy attitude/goldfish mentality of both their players and fans has destroyed cricket and given us cr@p like ODI and 20/20. Cricket is a 5 day game and IMO the greatest technical sport on earth. The destruction of the Windies by the greed of the Indians is nothing short of a disgrace.

There are a lot of your posts I don't much agree with but I think you are right here. Except that the problem is moola and India. In much the same way as the EPRC will become boring if it becomes an Anglo French dominated competition Cricket will become boring (many say it already is!) if India, Australia and England just hoover all the cash and don't allow teams like Pakistan and the West Indies (let alone Ireland, Bangladesh etc) to develop and compete.

[The Anathemata]

Got tkts for 3 days of the Ashes at Lords & the Oval. Can't wait!

[offshorerules]

I wonder is Eoin Morgan looking at the Irish team this morning and wondering what could have been? Probably not I suppose but it must be hard for him.

[jezzer]

Anyone watch the highlights of the Ireland UAE game last night?

What a stunning game. Went right down to the wire.

15 years ago, the words "mental toughness" and "Irish Sport" were never seen on the same page. Now, it seems like we're famous for it. What a turnaround in sports psyche on this little island of ours.

After Harrington, the Irish rugby team, Munster, Leinster, Katie Taylor and so many other role models with grit and composure under pressure, it's amazing to see how infectious that has become. Even the Irish football team's draw away with Germany was mainly achieved through composure and mental toughness.

Last night, watching the cricket team pull it together at the death - and doing it by taking calculated risks between the wickets and by slogging the ball when the chance came up, it shows how success breeds success not just inside a team or a sport, but in a country too.

The heroes of last night were the Wilsons, the Dockrells, the Balbirnies who were so composed at the crease in difficult circumstances. Bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

[nelly the elephant]

Anyone watch the highlights of the Ireland UAE game last night?

What a stunning game. Went right down to the wire.

15 years ago, the words "mental toughness" and "Irish Sport" were never seen on the same page. Now, it seems like we're famous for it. What a turnaround in sports psyche on this little island of ours.

After Harrington, the Irish rugby team, Munster, Leinster, Katie Taylor and so many other role models with grit and composure under pressure, it's amazing to see how infectious that has become. Even the Irish football team's draw away with Germany was mainly achieved through composure and mental toughness.

Last night, watching the cricket team pull it together at the death - and doing it by taking calculated risks between the wickets and by slogging the ball when the chance came up, it shows how success breeds success not just inside a team or a sport, but in a country too.

The heroes of last night were the Wilsons, the Dockrells, the Balbirnies who were so composed at the crease in difficult circumstances. Bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

I got up to watch it live Jezzer........a great result in the end the way we gutsed it out but I think we effectively gave them another 100 runs to their total with undisciplined bowling..... Kevin O'Brien being a particular culprit. It made our run chase more difficult than it should have been. Like you say though, great mental strength on display and it was the UAE bowlers who couldn't keep it together at the end and apply the necessary pressure.

[jezzer]

Anyone watch the highlights of the Ireland UAE game last night?

What a stunning game. Went right down to the wire.

15 years ago, the words "mental toughness" and "Irish Sport" were never seen on the same page. Now, it seems like we're famous for it. What a turnaround in sports psyche on this little island of ours.

After Harrington, the Irish rugby team, Munster, Leinster, Katie Taylor and so many other role models with grit and composure under pressure, it's amazing to see how infectious that has become. Even the Irish football team's draw away with Germany was mainly achieved through composure and mental toughness.

Last night, watching the cricket team pull it together at the death - and doing it by taking calculated risks between the wickets and by slogging the ball when the chance came up, it shows how success breeds success not just inside a team or a sport, but in a country too.

The heroes of last night were the Wilsons, the Dockrells, the Balbirnies who were so composed at the crease in difficult circumstances. Bodes well for the rest of the tournament.

I got up to watch it live Jezzer........a great result in the end the way we gutsed it out but I think we effectively gave them another 100 runs to their total with undisciplined bowling..... Kevin O'Brien being a particular culprit. It made our run chase more difficult than it should have been. Like you say though, great mental strength on display and it was the UAE bowlers who couldn't keep it together at the end and apply the necessary pressure.

Yeah, for everything good Kevin did in the match he did something not so clever. For me it was Wilson and Dockrell who won that game.

The South Africa game will be a great barometer of where we really are. Be also interesting to see how we get on if we're put in to bat first.

[jezzer]

Well worth a read on Ireland's struggle to be a legitimate test level nation

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 83151.html