IN FOCUS – Seven years on, another must-win game on St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day holds great significance in the delightful story of Ireland’s spirited surge to the top of the Associate ladder. Back in 2007, the Irish team, a bunch of amateurs led by Trent Johnston, arrived at Sabina Park at Kingston, Jamaica to contest in the World Cup for the first time. In their […]

Specials – Ireland’s best T20 wins

Even though T20 is a fickle format and much dependent on luck, the forthcoming T20 World Cup in Bangladesh is as important a tournament as any for the six Associates who will have to undergo qualifying in order to reach the main round. For Ireland, this tournament assumes even more importance as they […]

IN FOCUS – A tricky Caribbean challenge awaits for Ireland

The Ireland cricket team, in spite of its continually outstanding performances at the Associate level, plays a ridiculously few number of internationals against top teams. Tours to Test nations have been even rarer. In a few days time however, Ireland are set to play the West Indies in two T20 internationals (on 19th and […]

REVIEW – A recap of a memorable year for Ireland

Whenever Ireland begin to play Test cricket, and that day should not be far, they will look back at 2013 as a watershed year in their cricket history. Ireland, under the able leadership of William Porterfield and coach Phil Simmons, proved enough throughout the year as to why they should be given Test status […]

REVIEW – Masters of the Intercontinental again

A typically spirited Irish performance saw off a tough challenge from defending champions Afghanistan in the final of the sixth ICC Intercontinental Cup, thereby enabling the boys in green to regain the trophy and achieve their dream of securing a historic treble of ICC titles in the year 2013. There were euphoric scenes […]

IN FOCUS – ICC Intercontinental Cup final : Preview

The final of the sixth edition of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the premier first-class tournament for non-Test nations, will be fittingly played between the two best Associate teams, namely Ireland and Afghanistan. The current tournament started in June 2011 and the defending champions are the Afghans, who defeated Scotland in the final of the […]

REVIEW – Yet another trophy in the bag for Ireland

It is very difficult for any team to maintain a clean sheet in a Twenty20 tournament, given the fickle nature of the shortest format of the game. The game can change in moments and a consistent team brimming with confidence can be easily beaten on a given day. However, Ireland proved last week […]

IN FOCUS – The Afghan fairy-tale continues

In what has to be the most sensational rise by a cricket team, Afghanistan’s national side has managed to qualify for the 2015 World Cup just fourteen years after becoming an ICC member and seven years after starting in the World Cricket League Division Five. Remarkably, most of these cricketers learnt the game […]

Record Book – Ireland’s earliest moments in the sun

In an earlier post, I had described the Netherlands’ surprise seven-wicket victory in a one-day game over Australia during the Antipodeans’ 1964 tour to England. A similarly sensational result occurred five years later, the teams in question being the touring West Indians and greenhorns Ireland. Ireland had beaten the West Indians by 60 […]

IN FOCUS – Johnston, a giant of Irish cricket

The inevitable has happened. Ireland’s tireless senior statesman Trent Johnston has announced that he will be retiring from the international scene in December, disappointing all those who were hoping for him to play in the 2015 World Cup. Even though Johnston will not play his third World Cup in a row, his announcement is […]