What did I say? I was talking up Ireland in particular to work mates two months ahead of this year’s World Cup even starting – and I was right!
I’d even jokingly suggested how fun it would be if the Irish beat England in the group stage.
I last checked CricInfo.com when I went to bed – England 220-odd after 30-odd overs, and I suspected a 300-plus total in the offing.
I also expected Ireland to make a genuine attempt at such a target, only to fall short by say 40 runs, and everyone to have hand-claps all round about what a terrific bunch of lads they are anyway.
Boy, was I wrong.
I was blown away by the news this morning when I checked the result. Simply brilliant.
I got out of my chair and jumped and pumped my fists (dancing would be a stretch of the imagination not warranted for the minds of readers here).
Kevin O’Brien, a 50-ball century – the fastest in World Cup history, too – and rest is scorebook-etched history.
And anyone wondering about O’Brien’s funky pink hair style – it was his way of supporting the shave or dye initiative for the Irish Cancer Society. Good on ‘im for that, too.
Irish skipper William Porterfield told reporters that it was the greatest day in the lives of every player.
“We’ll be looking to put in a performance like that every game,” he added.
Hopefully O’Brien wasn’t within earshot – having to come up with heroics like that once a week might seriously damage his cardiovascular health.
“It is the biggest win Ireland cricket has ever had,” Porterfield told Nick Hoult at London’s Telegraph.
“It is good to show what we have been threatening to do for a while. We have believed for a long time we can go out there and do things like that, but it is different to actually go out there and do it.”
“We were thinking we were getting some momentum after the India game,” was English captain Andrew Strauss’ summary to the Daily Mail.
They got something entirely different.
All he could do was pay tribute to the men from the Emerald Isle.
“They will continue to run the major nations pretty close in this competition,” Strauss said.
The value of the Irish win was worth more to the Cup than anything so far, according to The Guardian‘s Kevin Mitchell.
“Every match up to the quarter-final stage will carry a frisson of doubt,” he wrote overnight.
“That can be no bad thing.”
SKY Sport commentator David Lloyd captured the mood well as he saw the winning runs roll to the boundary rope: “This is it! Take a bow Ireland. They can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Terrifc!”
Even the soon-to-be Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, praised the squad for their effort.
Balbriggan Cricket Club secretary Albert Harper told the Guardian‘s Henry McDonald that the clubhouse would be in a state of “mayhem” after the win.
“This victory should also prompt the new government to take Irish cricket seriously,” Harper added – and he anticipated what should follow in the future…”We need a stadium that can be fit to hold Test matches.”
The only sour note was the usual brouhaha about it all being a fix-up.
Of course – let’s not allow any joy of the unexpected in society any more, eh? Nothing comes without a catch, eh? If I handed some stranger down the street 10 dollars, they’d probably ask why. How about just because I might want to be generous.
Here, the Irish have been generous in giving all those who’ve been plugging the cause of the Associate nations reason to point in the direction of their nearest ICC branch office and say loudly: “I told you so!” (I realise that’s often taken as Johnny Warren’s line, but I’m sure the great man won’t mind it beinh co-opted for cricketing use on a day like today).
Seriously, if the unpredictable-result element of sport is taken away, why bother holding the tournament in the first place – and why bother watching it.
Fans in Australia, England, India – and even Ireland – have arked up about the stunning win, claiming it warrants an ICC investigation.
One Irish guy went further on the UK’s Independent website, saying he couldn’t believe there were 11 “snivelling traitors” in all of Ireland who would dare to take up a sport invented by the English. Good grief!
Another in India, posting on the Times of India‘s pages, added that the ICC had apparently fixed the England-India tie before a ball was even bowled, just to keep the tournament more interesting. What tosh.
The more amusing comments came from the Poms themselves – one wondered on the Guardian.co.uk whether that meant the Irish were now world champions of the sport.
Over at the FOX Sports Australia portal, a local suggested that with a result like last night’s, perhaps England weren’t good enough for Test level and should be kicked out of the World Cup and replaced by Ecuador or China. Ouch.
Don’t forget, either, that it was England, via some players during the past week, who suggested that the ICC ought to wait until after this World Cup before banishing the Associates from the 2015 edition. I can’t wait to hear what comes from the Irish Cricket Union’s CEO Warren Deutrom…
The English may not like to be reminded of their fixture list for the 2011 northern summer, either. Thursday, August 25 – Ireland v England at Clontarf CC, Dublin.
To paraphrase Muhammad Ali for the Emerald Isle willow men: “There’s gonna be hits over the pickets, a string of wickets and a clamour for the tickets when we stick it to the Pommies at the cricket.”
Presumably while Porterfield whacks an action figure of Strauss with a plastic miniature autograph bat. Oh, yeah.
All together now… Blarney Army, Blarney Army, Blarney Army!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Irish ripper! Five-left over (I mean, four-leaf clover) - The Roar
via news.google.com
