Tomorrow, in the Amsterdam suburb of Amstelveen, Ireland will take the next step in their journey to the World Cup 50 over finals in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
Two wins against the Netherlands (the second match is on Tuesday) will ensure automatic qualification for the finals for the third successive time. Earlier this week in the four day competition Ireland reached the final of the Intercontinental Cup for the fourth time with a comprehensive win over the Dutch. The two wins by Scotland over Kenya this week has moved them into second place two points behind Ireland and a point ahead of the Netherlands albeit Scotland have played two games more than either of their two main rivals. The fight for the two automatic places on offer mean there is no room for slip ups this week by either team.
For the two ODI’s Ireland will be at full strength with their full complement of English county players available for these vital qualifiers. The experience of these players together with the home based talent of the likes of Trent Johnston, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney and Max Sorensen should be more than good enough to see off the Dutch challenge. Ireland has won their last eleven matches in all formats of the game against the Netherlands, a sequence that stretches back to February 2007. It would be a major shock if Ireland lost one of the upcoming matches and it would be unthinkable that both could be lost.
Of the fourteen man squad it is likely that James Shannon and Andrew White will not be asked to start. Shannon was a surprise choice in the second ODI against Pakistan and despite his undoubted potential he has not yet shown that he can step up to the next level. White’s area of expertise is very much founded in the four day game as he demonstrated once again against the Netherlands in the past week and he is there primarily as backup in case of injury to one of the top six. Those top six pick themselves and the current form of Stirling, Joyce and Kevin O’Brien in particular is a joy to behold. Johnston and Dockrell are also certain starters with Dockrell eager to emulate his performance in the four day match where he literally had the Dutch in a spin.
This leaves four players vying for three places. It depends very much how Coach Phil Simmons sees it. The lesson that should be taken from the second Pakistan match is Ireland needs at least four specialist bowlers in key encounters. Tight matches are invariably won and lost in the death overs of the innings and the failure of the Ireland bowlers to deliver against Pakistan in these overs cost them an historic home victory against a major nation. Some attributed this failure to Tim Murtagh as his final over was smashed for twenty four runs by Wahib Riaz. However in Murtagh’s defence he is not normally used by his county Middlesex at the end of an innings. Ironically the attributes that make Murtagh a fine bowler at the front end of a innings i.e. line, length and movement with the new ball, can be a liability when teams are chasing runs at the end and the ball is a lot softer and doesn’t move around.
Max Sorensen, who surprisingly hasn’t yet made his ODI debut has already demonstrated that he has the ability to bowl up front and close out a game and his addition to the team alongside Johnston and Murtagh would give Ireland a specialist three man pace attack. Should Simmons go this way the final choice would be between Mooney and Cusack. Both are all-rounders and could fill the fourth seamer role. The problem for Cusack is that is has had little form with the bat for some time now. Indeed in his last twenty innings for Ireland in all forms of the game he has only managed 223 runs while Mooney batted well against the Dutch earlier in the week and also contributed significantly to Ireland’s victories in the UAE in March. Cusack however would be perceived to be the better bowler and the final decision will depend on whether or not Simmons goes for three frontline pace bowlers.
The Dutch will also be improved by all their top players being available with the exception of Ryan ten Doeschate who favours being a T20 mercenary over playing for his adopted country. Nonetheless the Netherlands will be formidable opponents and any degree of complacency on Ireland’s part could see them come unstuck.
Ireland has proven conclusively that they are head and shoulders above the other Associate teams and indeed have lost only four times to fellow Associates in over forty matches. While there has been a degree of recognition from the ICC in regards to Ireland’s achievements, particularly in the form of funding, insufficient progress has been made in helping Ireland obtain more fixtures against the top flight teams and so enable the team to further increase their skill levels. However as long as the ICC and particularly the Indian cricket board (BCCI) want to keep the ten test playing nations as a closed shop for political ends progress will be slow despite the sterling efforts of Cricket Ireland administrators led admirably by Warren Deutrom. There is no rational explanation why Zimbabwe is a top tier cricketing nation and Ireland cannot even get permanent ODI status unless of course it is because Zimbabwe are a willing supporter of India in the main decision making bodies of the ICC.
Ireland can only keep lobbying off the pitch and keep winning on it until such time as even the ICC are so embarrassed that full recognition cannot be denied any longer.
Let us hope this week takes Ireland further down that road.
-Odran Flynn
