'I don’t think anyone has played a bigger game' – Tim Murtagh

It’s almost impossible to overstate just how big a deal Ireland’s inaugural Test is for them. It’s a game that has been years in the making, only possible because of the dedication of hundreds, if not thousands of players, administrators and supporters who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to further the Irish cricket cause. And it’s one that marks the beginning of a new era, of Ireland as a Full Member, with all the increased opportunity and funding that title brings.

“I don’t think anyone has played a bigger game,” said seamer Tim Murtagh. “The thought of playing a Test match five years ago, when I first started playing for Ireland, was a long way off. I didn’t think it would happen in my life time so I’m just treating it as a bonus that it has done. For sure it will be the biggest game of my career.

“It’s fantastic to get the opportunity. There are a lot of players who have played a lot of games throughout the years to help us progress to this level and we’re the fortunate ones who get to play in this first Test.”

Murtagh is one of a sizeable group of Irish players in the latter stages of their careers for whom a Test debut will mark the culmination of years of hard work. It’s only natural that they might be feeling quite emotional; the challenge has been to not let those emotions affect their concentration and preparations in the run-up to the historic occasion.

“It’s all becoming quite real now,” said Murtagh. “It’s something at the start of the season I’d been deliberately trying to not think too much about. I was just focussed on starting the season with Middlesex and getting a few games under my belt. But since coming over here yesterday and in the days leading up to that, there’s been a lot of people wanting to talk about it and do interviews and it’s all become pretty real. Being over here now and in our final preparations for the game it’s all very exciting.

“I think everybody’s trying to keep a lid on it two days out from the game and just go about preparations as you normally would for any other game. Obviously it’s not any other game but we are trying to treat it as normally as we can. I’m sure it’s the same for everyone, the excitement just bubbling up inside them, but no one’s really showing outwardly any difference to what they normally would.”

Ireland are no strangers to playing huge games. They qualified for the Super Six stage of the Cricket World Cup 2007 and were only eliminated from the Cricket World Cup 2015 after losing their final group game and Murtagh believes this big-game experience should stand his team in good stead.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge for us, but this is where we’ve wanted to be for years now,” he said. “We’ve got guys who have played on the big stage for a number of years now in high-pressured World Cups, we’ve had a lot of cricket against the top teams in the world, perhaps a bit more exposure than some of the other sides making their Test debuts have done in the past. Everyone feels ready and raring to go.”

Ireland’s opponents in the historic Test match will be Pakistan, whom they defeated in the Cricket World Cup 2007, a victory that set in motion Ireland’s extraordinary rise.

“There’s some kind of symmetry to it,” said Murtagh. “That was the first occasion on the big stage where people sat up and took notice of Irish cricket so to have them over here is fantastic. It’s great to have them over here and we’re very thankful that they agreed to come over and play.”

Despite the off-field good feeling, there’ll be no love lost when the two sides join battle and Murtagh is quietly confident Ireland can bloody a few noses and perhaps add to an extensive and ever-growing list of green-jersied shocks.

“Pakistan are a high-quality team and they’ve got a lot of players who have a lot more experience than us in Test cricket,” said Murtagh. “But we’re in our own backyard and we know these conditions pretty well. We’ll just quietly go about or business and hopefully we can upset a few people and catch them off-guard.”

Ireland’s path to Test cricket has already been an extraordinary one, and one throughout which they’ve had to beat the odds and prove people wrong. Though for the likes of Murtagh, the O’Briens, Ed Joyce, and William Porterfield the journey is nearing its end, for Irish cricket it is just beginning. Don’t bet against there being many more shocks to come.