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Ireland Fans Society

_Ed_

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Yeah, love this team. I couldn't believe it when they got that win over Pakistan in '07, then they produced one of my favourite 'back from the dead' run chases ever in 2011. I still get out the DVD to watch just that game.

And now this year, in a World Cup that I was finding a bit disappointing and in need of something special, who steps up and delivers?

Ireland make World Cups better, and I hate the thought of them possibly not being there in four years' time.
 

Uppercut

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Republic of Ireland is best Ireland.

Someone to do a breakdown of players please.
Porterfield (c)- Captain since forever, most famous for his indecipherable North-West accent, decent technique but a little defensive, would probably be a very important player in tests

Stirling- Immensely talented, very aggressive, adorable little spide. Also bowls filth so disgusting that the fact that it is even slightly effective reflects badly on cricket as a sport.

Joyce- Probably the best Irish cricketer ever, very successful at county level. Humped and dumped by England- played ODIs when he should have played tests- welcomed back with open arms.

Niall O'Brien- Left-handed leg-side hitter and backup wicket keeper, legend of several famous Irish victories

Andrew Balbirnie- Never seen him play, highly regarded but yet to score many runs- could be Ireland's next Eoin Morgan.

Wilson- Wicket keeper, captain of Surrey, solid all-rounder

Kev O'Brien- Quality lower order hitter who also bowls medium-pace long-hops. Most famous for pulling a win over England out of his arse in 2011. Frequently labelled "the danger man" by commentators in a failed attempt to demonstrate that they know something about Irish cricket.

Mooney- All-rounder who looks as intimidating as possible to hide his wholly unthreatening cricketing style. Nips it around nicely with the ball; has a batting style best described as "loose"; has nevertheless hit the winning runs in quite a few big victories.

Sorensen- South African import, bowls medium-fast, closest thing we have to an actual seamer at the moment.

Dockrell- Quality left-arm spinner; looks about twelve; will almost definitely end up playing for England.

McBrine- Right arm orthodox, only played a few games, seems handy enough and still very young.

Cusack- Left out for McBrine yesterday. Has batted in just about every position in the team. Used to be a specialist death bowler but now we're not sure he can handle that. Ireland stalwart, very useful cricketer but might now be over the hill.
 

Meridio

International Regular
Love the Irish, and it's great to see them sticking it to the ICC. Sign me up to the society. All together now:

Low lie the fields of Athenry...
 

Uppercut

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Love the Irish, and it's great to see them sticking it to the ICC. Sign me up to the society. All together now:

Low lie the fields of Athenry...
Careful now- lots of the cricket team are from the north and won't take kindly to being associated with rebel songs (or indeed the Dubliners).

Great tune though.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Stirling- Immensely talented, very aggressive, adorable little spide. Also bowls filth so disgusting that the fact that it is even slightly effective reflects badly on cricket as a sport.
The saddest thing about this is the fact that he changed his bowling style at one point and actually looked like a serious bowler (drift, changes of pace, spin) to the point of being selected by Middlesex as a bowling allrounder.. but that style wasn't anywhere near as effective in ODIs for Ireland as his filthy darts so he changed back. I get the feeling he'd be a bit of a different cricketer if Ireland had Test status; he's a pragmatist.
 

brockley

International Captain
Been a fan since they beat Pakistan and troubled S Africa.Have Irish ancestry as well as Scottish( a clan family.not Klu Klux Klan) and English,but put higher homeage to my Irish and Scottish ancestry.My Scottish family the Grahams fought against the British and have a rich history.My dads' family was Irish catholic.So definitely root for them as my 2nd side.
 

Meridio

International Regular
Careful now- lots of the cricket team are from the north and won't take kindly to being associated with rebel songs (or indeed the Dubliners).

Great tune though.
Yeah, I did wonder - I know a bit about Irish history, but was too lazy to check where any of the players are actually from.

Here, let's have a nice uplifting Pogues tune instead.

 

Jarquis

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Andrew Balbirnie hit the biggest six I've ever seen when the Combined Unis played Devon
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Porterfield (c)- Captain since forever, most famous for his indecipherable North-West accent, decent technique but a little defensive, would probably be a very important player in tests

Stirling- Immensely talented, very aggressive, adorable little spide. Also bowls filth so disgusting that the fact that it is even slightly effective reflects badly on cricket as a sport.

Joyce- Probably the best Irish cricketer ever, very successful at county level. Humped and dumped by England- played ODIs when he should have played tests- welcomed back with open arms.

Niall O'Brien- Left-handed leg-side hitter and backup wicket keeper, legend of several famous Irish victories

Andrew Balbirnie- Never seen him play, highly regarded but yet to score many runs- could be Ireland's next Eoin Morgan.

Wilson- Wicket keeper, captain of Surrey, solid all-rounder

Kev O'Brien- Quality lower order hitter who also bowls medium-pace long-hops. Most famous for pulling a win over England out of his arse in 2011. Frequently labelled "the danger man" by commentators in a failed attempt to demonstrate that they know something about Irish cricket.

Mooney- All-rounder who looks as intimidating as possible to hide his wholly unthreatening cricketing style. Nips it around nicely with the ball; has a batting style best described as "loose"; has nevertheless hit the winning runs in quite a few big victories.

Sorensen- South African import, bowls medium-fast, closest thing we have to an actual seamer at the moment.

Dockrell- Quality left-arm spinner; looks about twelve; will almost definitely end up playing for England.

McBrine- Right arm orthodox, only played a few games, seems handy enough and still very young.

Cusack- Left out for McBrine yesterday. Has batted in just about every position in the team. Used to be a specialist death bowler but now we're not sure he can handle that. Ireland stalwart, very useful cricketer but might now be over the hill.
Others who are/were in the squad:

Tim Murtagh - English import, hugely successful County Championship bowler over the last few seasons, probably unlucky not to jag a home Test for them at some point. Bowls medium fast on a metronomic length, moving it both ways and extracting bounce. Never been as good in one day cricket as he is at four day cricket due to his inability to change that length but still bowls genuinely threatening new ball spells. Injured and out for the tournament; was replaced by Sorensen who immediately forced his way into the starting lineup with good warmup performances.

Craig Young - Barely sighted due to repeated injuries but a classic outswing bowler when fit. Was expected to open the bowling with Murtagh originally but he didn't set the world alight in the warmups unlike Sorensen's so he's been left out. Could still play an important part in the tournament.

Stuart Thompson - Young allrounder who was seen more as a bowler early on, he's now basically in the squad as a backup batsman. If he plays he'll probably bat 7-8 as a specialist slog overs option and only bowl a couple of overs.

Peter Chase - I haven't seen much of him, but he's a 21 year old seamer who gets games for Durham. I'm surprised the national selectors haven't been more interested in him for this fact alone given proper seamers are probably their biggest weakness. In the squad but was given less of a workout in the warmups than all the seam options including bit-part allrounders Cusack and Thompson so I'd be surprised if he got a game.

----------------------------------------------------

Outside the squad:

Andrew White - Hugely successful for Ireland in the four-day Intercontinental Cup tournament and has played for various county Second XI teams. Bats in the middle order and bowls Suresh Rana like offies. He reverts to really funky batting in one day cricket when he probably doesn't have to and therefore he's not been nearly as successful in that format, but it's a testament to the growth of Irish cricket that he wasn't even really spoken about as a World Cup option this time around.

Nick Larkin - Gold tier Sydney grade cricket batsman who usually plays domestic cricket in Ireland over the Australian offfseason, and two seasons ago expressed a desire to qualify for the national side. He's very pleasant on the eye but like a lot of these fringe players he's a better four day cricketer. Had a crack for NSW in the Shield this season and did really well, but the PONI-stacked NSW batting lineup is hard to crack so he's slipped out of the side. May revise his plans to qualify for Ireland if he can get a full time NSW contract, but he's someone we could see more of after the WC.

Ronan McDonald - Fast bowler on the fringes on the Queensland Sheffield Shield team who has been plagued by injury. Has Irish heritage and has played Irish domestic cricket; rapid when he's fit.

Chris Dougherty - Every national team has one. That player who national selectors just like to pretend doesn't exist. Dougherty came up through the national youth sides for Ireland, studied in Leeds, played for a couple of county Second XI teams and has spent the rest of his time bashing the door down in Irish domestic cricket as a top order batsman to no avail. Fans are miffed and apparently Dougherty is even more miffed.

Andrew Poynter - Probably the guy most complained about by Dougherty fans. A big hitting middle order batsman with a questionable defensive setup and little footwork, he gets picked in hope of he and KOB going large in tandem at the end. Has never really come off for either Ireland or Middlesex who he also plays for.

Stuart Poynter - Andrew's brother. A tidy young keeper and arguably a better batsman than Andrew. Would have walked into the side in an earlier era but the wicket keeping slots are well covered by O'Brien and Wilson. Like his brother, has also attracted county interest.

John Anderson - South African import top order batsman who appears in the Intercontinental Cup when the big names are away with county sides - again much to the annoyance of Dougherty fans. He's actually done really well in that role but he's seen as a bit limited for ODIs, particularly against Test nations.

Eddie Richardson - a young medium pacer who we might see more of when Mooney, Cusack and Murtagh are finished up.
 
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brockley

International Captain
Their are plenty playing County firsts as well as 2nds.Mark Adair has been proclaimed as a fast pace prospect on Warwickshires' books.Peter Chase is on Durham's books,gets good bounce took a 5 for at the end of the season and is very promising in the Irish squad.

13 of the Irish squad are Irish born and bred.
 
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Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
Their are plenty playing County firsts as well as 2nds.Mark Adair has been proclaimed as a fast pace prospect on Warwickshires' books.Peter Chase is on Durham's books,gets good bounce took a 5 for at the end of the season and is very promising in the Irish squad.

13 of the Irish squad are Irish born and bred.
My huge concern if Ireland got Test status would be the number of heritage players who would be recruited or throw their lot in with the Irish and that high proportion of locally produced talent would fall dramatically.
 

brockley

International Captain
True Goughy but not talking about tests,rather than growing depth.

Larken is a mercenary been released by North West after a poor season in the inter pro cup,and looks to have taken up his services with NSW cricket,good chance to earn a contract for next season.
 

turnstyle

First Class Debutant
Others who are/were in the squad:

Tim Murtagh - English import, hugely successful County Championship bowler over the last few seasons, probably unlucky not to jag a home Test for them at some point. Bowls medium fast on a metronomic length, moving it both ways and extracting bounce. Never been as good in one day cricket as he is at four day cricket due to his inability to change that length but still bowls genuinely threatening new ball spells. Injured and out for the tournament; was replaced by Sorensen who immediately forced his way into the starting lineup with good warmup performances.

Craig Young - Barely sighted due to repeated injuries but a classic outswing bowler when fit. Was expected to open the bowling with Murtagh originally but he didn't set the world alight in the warmups unlike Sorensen's so he's been left out. Could still play an important part in the tournament.

Stuart Thompson - Young allrounder who was seen more as a bowler early on, he's now basically in the squad as a backup batsman. If he plays he'll probably bat 7-8 as a specialist slog overs option and only bowl a couple of overs.

Peter Chase - I haven't seen much of him, but he's a 21 year old seamer who gets games for Durham. I'm surprised the national selectors haven't been more interested in him for this fact alone given proper seamers are probably their biggest weakness. In the squad but was given less of a workout in the warmups than all the seam options including bit-part allrounders Cusack and Thompson so I'd be surprised if he got a game.

----------------------------------------------------

Outside the squad:

Andrew White - Hugely successful for Ireland in the four-day Intercontinental Cup tournament and has played for various county Second XI teams. Bats in the middle order and bowls Suresh Rana like offies. He reverts to really funky batting in one day cricket when he probably doesn't have to and therefore he's not been nearly as successful in that format, but it's a testament to the growth of Irish cricket that he wasn't even really spoken about as a World Cup option this time around.

Nick Larkin - Gold tier Sydney grade cricket batsman who usually plays domestic cricket in Ireland over the Australian offfseason, and two seasons ago expressed a desire to qualify for the national side. He's very pleasant on the eye but like a lot of these fringe players he's a better four day cricketer. Had a crack for NSW in the Shield this season and did really well, but the PONI-stacked NSW batting lineup is hard to crack so he's slipped out of the side. May revise his plans to qualify for Ireland if he can get a full time NSW contract, but he's someone we could see more of after the WC.

Ronan McDonald - Fast bowler on the fringes on the Queensland Sheffield Shield team who has been plagued by injury. Has Irish heritage and has played Irish domestic cricket; rapid when he's fit.

Chris Dougherty - Every national team has one. That player who national selectors just like to pretend doesn't exist. Dougherty came up through the national youth sides for Ireland, studied in Leeds, played for a couple of county Second XI teams and has spent the rest of his time bashing the door down in Irish domestic cricket as a top order batsman to no avail. Fans are miffed and apparently Dougherty is even more miffed.

Andrew Poynter - Probably the guy most complained about by Dougherty fans. A big hitting middle order batsman with a questionable defensive setup and little footwork, he gets picked in hope of he and KOB going large in tandem at the end. Has never really come off for either Ireland or Middlesex who he also plays for.

Stuart Poynter - Andrew's brother. A tidy young keeper and arguably a better batsman than Andrew. Would have walked into the side in an earlier era but the wicket keeping slots are well covered by O'Brien and Wilson. Like his brother, has also attracted county interest.

John Anderson - South African import top order batsman who appears in the Intercontinental Cup when the big names are away with county sides - again much to the annoyance of Dougherty fans. He's actually done really well in that role but he's seen as a bit limited for ODIs, particularly against Test nations.

Eddie Richardson - a young medium pacer who we might see more of when Mooney, Cusack and Murtagh are finished up.
Retired last week.

Ireland cricketer Andrew White retires
 

brockley

International Captain
Will play the Interpro cup,aged 34 missed the world cup,mainly his future lay with the Intercontinental cup.
 

Migara

International Coach
If the ICC had done the right thing and given Ireland test status 8 years ago, I reckon they'd be a properly competitive side right now, not unlike Zim in the early 90's rather than occasional upset merchants. Still an immensely likeable team.
Don't agree with this. Zimbabawe with Flowers, Johnson, Goodwin, Campbell, Whitall, Taibu, Streak, Olonga and P. Strang was quite a strong side. Then they had Blignaut, Ervine and few others who were pretty decent in the fringes. If seniors have not fallen off with ZC, then Zim would have been a formidable force by mid 2000s.
 

brockley

International Captain
I think the advent of Bangladesh who beat Pakistan in what is said to be a fixed game under Malik.Dalmiya gave them status on this one game.

On reflection how they gone in tests,it seems a hasty decision.And this logic on 1 win is not a good way,Sri lanka upset in a world cup game but didn't get test status straight away.
But Ireland is a different case,closer to test cricket then before this tournament.Its definitely closer,but going the other way on Kenya little was done to support the game after making the semis and look at them now.
Maybe 2 years i'd say test status.
 

Funky Goose

Cricket Spectator
Their win over us in the last world cup was so shocking to me I couldn't help but appreciate them. Plus I'm 1/4 Irish, so if it all goes wrong for England (it will), then at least I'll have someone decent to cheer :laugh:
 

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