Ireland beaten by England, but not disgraced
The prophets of doom who had predicted a total mismatch, were left disappointed after a gritty display by the Irish left the margin of defeat at just 38 runs. This was as good as even the most optimistic of Irish supporters dreamed of - and there were 7000 of them who witnessed history in the making. The sun shone, the runs flowed, and the number of youngsters at the game was great to see.
The players and the coaching staff were clearly in a joyful mood after the defeat, and their assertion that Ireland deserved ODI status felt fully vindicated. Ehsan Mani, watching from the balcony at the impressive Stormont facilty, can't have hoped for much better. The setting, crowd, weather and performance of the Irish made it a day to remember.
"We can be proud of our display" said Birrell. "The players can hold their heads up high after this performance. The team's confidence was low after our indifferent C&G campaign, but today they showed the Irish public what they are capable of. Our fielding was superb, with great determination and athleticism."
Birrell also hit back at the criticism in some sections of the English press the previous day, regarding the number of non Irish born players in the team. "We've learned that from England, who have been doing it for years. Today, they had our best player in their team, Ed Joyce. Since the days of when they appointed Tony Grieg, who is more South African than me, as captain, they have gone down that route.
As well as Ed, there is Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss also in the current side. You don't read - the South African Kevin Pietersen in the press - with us, it is always the 'Australian Tent Johnston', or the 'South African Andre Botha'.
My guys have all come through our system and are living here. Three of them are married to Irish women and have Irish kids. They are here for the long haul, and won't disappear after the World Cup."
Skipper Trent Johnston felt that Steve Harmison was the difference in the two sides. "We haven't faced anything like that before, even in the C&G. His pace and bounce troubled us, and the guys were all impressed by him. We felt that 260-270 would have been a gettable total, but 300 was just too much. It's nice to have been a part of history, and the players will all take special memories from it."
England captain Andrew Strauss praised the Irish effort, "Ireland played well and put us under pressure. They showed they are very capable, putting up a good fight, and it's plain to see there's a lot of interest in the game."
To the game itself and in the England innings, Marcus Trescothick scored 113 off 114 balls as England ran up 301 for 7 in the first One Day International between the two countries at Stormont.The left hander hit 12 boundaries in his chanceless knock, with a number of them coming from his trademark cover drives.
He shared in a 134 run stand for the 4th wicket with Ian Bell who hit 80. The pair had come together with the score on 92 for 3, with Ed Joyce, Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood all dismissed.
The crowd had mixed emotions at the dismissal of Joyce for 10 - the player of course had played most of his cricket in Ireland, before joining Middlesex and qualifying for England. He mistimed a pull from Langford-Smith and was well caught at square leg by Kevin O Brien.
O Brien then had Andrew Strauss well caught by Botha at square leg, the skipper pulling a long hop straight to the grateful North County player.
All the Irish bowlers performed well, and were backed up by some excellent fielding. The Irish threw themselves around the ground, and caught everything that came their way.
Geraint Jones struck an enterprising 20 off just 13 balls to get England over the 300 mark, but the Irish would have settled for that at the start.Dave Langford-Smith with 3 for 63 and John Mooney with 3 for 79 were the most successful of the Irish bowlers.
In the Irish innings, Dom Joyce fell for 0 in the first over, but Jeremy Bray and Andre Botha impressed with a 50 run stand. Botha top scored with 52, while Bray made 22, and Mc Callan, 24.
A flurry of wickets left Ireland at 135 for 6 - they were 118 for 2- and an early finish looked on the cards. Andrew White, 40, and Kevin O Brien, 35, ensured there would be no early end adding 74 for the 7th wicket. John Mooney entertained with a brisk unbeaten 30, as the Irish finished on 263 for 9.
A great day all round, and I for one, am looking forward to their return in 2008.
