William says Ireland is ready to conquer the Associate world

Captain Porterfield says main threat will come from old foe and defending champion Scotland

Following the success of Ireland at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, expectations were high that the team would continue to make strides on the world stage.

After a brief period of coming back down to Earth which coincided with a number of key players being unavailable, William Porterfield’s team returned to winning ways, making it through to the ICC World Twenty20 in England later this year as well as winning its third successive ICC Intercontinental Cup and other regional events.

But with that success comes more expectation and Ireland is one of the favourites to win the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier which gets underway in South Africa on 1 April. Porterfield maintains that the expectation translates into the team as confidence rather than pressure.

“We are quietly confident within the squad in the preparation we’ve been doing,” said the 24-year-old opening batsman.

“We know it’s not going to be easy – we saw that before the last World Cup (at the ICC World Cricket League Division 1) in Kenya when we failed to perform so we’re taking nothing for granted. But we’re still quietly confident we can go all the way,” he said.

“There probably will be some extra pressure on us but we are not looking at it like that. We were favourites going into the World Twenty20 Qualifier last year and we came through on top so we know we are going to have to deal with the tag as favourite and the pressure that goes with that. We would rather have the tag as number-one Associate and we will be trying to end the tournament in South Africa in the same position.”

“I think cricket in Ireland has been developing really well. Even since the World Cup in 2007 I think we have taken some massive steps. I think we’ve got to continue to take those strides and so qualification for all the major tournaments is a must for ourselves. We have to not only be the best Associate team but also be knocking on the door of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh and trying to compete with them before we move up a level. It’s a really exciting time to be involved in Irish cricket.”

Coming out of the European winter, there is the danger that Ireland will be a little rusty compared to sides from Africa and Asia who have plenty of match practice under their belts. But Porterfield is happy with preparations so far.

“We have had a long pre-season indoors and we are just looking forward to getting outdoors now and putting into practice what we have been training for. The guys are in good shape, we have a full squad and we are very excited.

It’s one thing getting to the top but it’s another thing staying there. One of the biggest things the Ireland players have to guard against these days is complacency when they take the field against teams they know they should beat.

“Anyone who has seen what we have been doing over the past few weeks and months will know that we are a side that doesn’t get complacent,” said Porterfield.

“We know we have to stay one step ahead of everyone else. The level we are playing at, everyone knows everyone else – you know where their strengths are and where their weaknesses are and so we are constantly trying to improve so we can stay ahead of the game.”

So where will the main threat come from? Unsurprisingly, Porterfield says the Ireland v Scotland rivalry, which has been bubbling along since 1888 and is one of the oldest in international cricket, will be hugely important to how Group A finishes. The Scots beat Ireland in the final of this competition four years ago and the men in green will be out for revenge.

“Scotland will be one of the main contenders in our group. On paper that will be one of the biggest games for us but as we have seen in previous tournaments, anyone can cause an upset. We won’t be taking anything for granted and we’ll be treating the next game as the most important. Our opening game is against Scotland so that will be our main focus initially so we can hopefully get off to a winning start.

“We do know the opposition quite well at this stage so we will have individual plans as well as team plans going into the tournament and certain games. But we’re focusing on what we can do and if we’re on top of our game going into the tournament then that is the main thing for us.

“We’ve got a full-strength team with all the county boys back. From a bowling point of view I think Boyd Rankin could cause a bit of trouble with his extra height and bounce. From a batting perspective we’ll have Eoin Morgan who has just come back off England Lions duty so he’ll definitely be one to watch out for.

Ireland (squad): William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Regan West, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Listen to the full interview with William Porterfield at http://www.icc-cricket.com/.

For up-to-date headshots of the Ireland team that can be published free of charge, please contact Barry Chambers at barry.chambers3@btopenworld.com.

This captain’s interview is one of 12 being sent out in the days leading up to the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier. The schedule for those releases is as follows (including those that have been sent out already):

31 Jan – confirmation of all 12 participating teams

10 Feb – fixtures and venues confirmation

10 Mar – squad announcements (all 12 squads)

Releases (12) in the month beforehand, each focusing on one of the teams:

11 Mar – Namibia

12 Mar – Bermuda

13 Mar – Scotland

16 Mar – Ireland
17 Mar – Afghanistan

18 Mar – Canada

19 Mar – Netherlands

20 Mar – UAE

23 Mar – Uganda

24 Mar – Kenya

25 Mar – Oman

26 Mar – Denmark

In addition, there will be further tournament previews and other features sent out before the event gets underway on 1 April.
In total there are eight venues being used for 54 matches played over 19 days with 12 teams fighting it out for the four qualification places on offer in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, formerly known as the ICC Trophy, incorporates Divisions 1 and 2 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and is the gateway for the top Associate and Affiliate teams into the premier one-day tournament in the world.

Day one of the event offers up perhaps the most eagerly awaited fixture of all with defending champion Scotland taking on fierce rival Ireland in an ODI at Willowmoore Park in what will be a repeat of the final in 2005.

Among the teams will be Afghanistan and Uganda, which both qualified from January’s Pepsi World Cricket League Division 3 event in Buenos Aires. The WCL was created to provide a clear pathway for teams outside the top 10 towards improvement and ultimately, the ICC Cricket World Cup. This global event gives ICC Associate and Affiliate Members the opportunity to play similarly ranked sides in meaningful competition regardless of where they are located in the world.

The 12 teams taking part in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier are split into two groups of six teams. Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Oman, Namibia and Uganda make up Group A while Kenya, Netherlands, Bermuda, UAE, Denmark and Afghanistan form Group B.

Each side plays the other teams in its group once with the top four from the groups progressing to the Super Eight stage. The teams each play four Super Eight matches against the sides they did not meet in the group stage. All points won in the groups will be carried over to the Super Eight stage apart from those gained against the bottom two from each group.

The top two teams in the Super Eight stage will contest the final to be played at Centurion on 19 April. The third and fourth-placed sides will play-off at Potchefstroom, the fifth and sixth-placed sides play off at Willowmoore Park while the seventh and eighth-placed teams play off at Stan Friedman Oval, Krugersdorp.

The top four sides at the event qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. The top six teams secure ODI status until 2013 and also qualify automatically for the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10.

The bottom two teams from the CWCQ, which incorporates Divisions 1 and 2 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League, will be relegated to Division 3.

Note to reporters and editors: the process of media accreditation for the event is now closed. If you require accreditation and still have not applied please email lucy.http://lucy.benjamin@icc-cricket.com immediately.