Ireland v England

[cully]

Clash of the old foes, can't fooking wait...

[bandage]

Ed Joyce named in England's 15 man squad for the game. This is going to be immense - I wonder will he batter us around like he did for Middlesex the other day when scoring 95 against us in the C&G Trophy. He's 154 not out overnight against Yorkshire in the championship - the England skipper Vaughan is playing for Yorkshire as he steps up his return to fitness. I presume him there witnessing Ed in full flight was what sealed the call up for Joyce. Only downside is Fred is out injured. Won't sleep Monday night with excitement.

[therock67]

Preview of the game here of course:
thefreekick.wordpress.com/2006/06/08/ireland-v-england/

[cully]

shame about fred alright. it is actually a very good opportunity for ed to stake a claim on this team. the english one day side isn't particularly strong, and i firmly believe that there are places up for grabs. if he does well at one-day level, it will be easier for him to make the step up to test level. the longer form of the game being more suited to his style.

[cully]

word is that ed will be playing which i suppose isn't a huge surprise. from watching ireland play v sussex at the weekend i hope that england bat first, or else i fear it'd be all over in a matter of hours. looking forward to it.

[whyohwhy]

what did ye 3 cricket fans make of Flintoff being interviewed by the Beeb before the england-paraquay match? he was hammered, hilarious viewing. the other fella didnt look too bad!

nice to see em getting down and dirty with the ordinary punters

[bandage]

It's a myth that the E&W team are toffs. The likes of Fred, Vaughan, Harmison etc are all men of the people. Decent, honest lads and gagging to see them in the flesh tomorrow. Eoin Morgan is out for Ireland due to Middlesex commitments and Kent need Niall O'Brien too. As Cully says we need England to bat first so we can see a full 50 overs of KP, Ed and the boys (Ed's due to open the batting as he does in ODI's for Middlesex). They will skittle us out for less than 100 so it'd be a disaster if we bat first.

[therock67]

While very briefly watching Essex v Somebody yesterday Darren Gough was commentating for about 20 minutes before batting. He was asked to pick his XI for the World Cup and chose:

Trescothick
Joyce
Loads more guys

He left out Cook which commentator was saying was a bit odd but Gough said that he doesn't have any experience of scoring in One Day Internationals. Commentator said "Hang on a second you have Joyce in there" but Gough said "the lad has plenty of experience playing one days for Ireland in the qualifiers and I've been very impressed every time I've seen him."

Gough also picked himself as captain though.

[cully]

Good to see that he's respected by fellow pros. he got a cracking write up by angus fraser (which was printed in the tarf cc programme) touted him as a future test player, commented on his temperment and timing, likened him to david gower, high praise

[therock67]

Good taken out of England fixture
James Fitzgerald

The Irish Cricket Union will tell you that today is a historic day for the game on this island. And in some ways they are right. Ireland have been playing international matches for 150 years and today is the first time to be taking on the full England side. It is also the first time a game involving Ireland will have been granted one-day international (ODI) status by the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC).

But forgive me if I don't get too excited about it. Despite the fact they are our closest Test-playing nation and therefore have moral obligations as full members of the ICC to support the development of the game beyond its traditional boundaries, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have done nothing to make this match the success it undoubtedly will be.


The ECB made no secret of the fact they did not want the match to be granted ODI status. They wanted the ICU to stage a mere friendly because then they could have used it as an opportunity to give all 15 members of their one-day squad a run-out. They could have given all bowlers a bowl and all batsmen a knock, turning the match into a farce in the process.

Talking privately, many ECB officials feel that granting ODI status to a team as relatively weak as Ireland devalues the concept of the one-day international and that this match will bring with it no value to England.

Thankfully, the ICC insisted that the match must go ahead as an ODI and we will therefore see a strong England side take the field.

Last week, I asked the ICC and the ECB to comment on the staging of this match and the two responses I received speak volumes of their respective attitudes. The ICC president Ehsan Mani sent me a passionate 670-word piece on how he feels this game is a crucial step forward, not only for Ireland but for all non-Test playing nations. He criticises the detractors, saying their view is "dangerous" and "short-term".

From the ECB I got 43 bland words from an unnamed "spokesperson". It all smacks of the big brother reluctantly agreeing to go into the back garden with his annoying younger sibling to hit him a few catches, just because Mother told him to.

And no doubt the ECB blazers will be strutting around Stormont today expecting grovelling thanks at every turn.

It will be great for the 8,000 or so people to see some of the best players around performing in Ireland - it starts at 10.45 - and it will be marvellous for the ICU, who are aiming to make around £100,000 from the day but for me, the good has gone out of it.

Irishman Ed Joyce who is due to make his debut for England against his native country at Stormont today may miss out because of a stomach bug. Joyce, who travelled to Belfast yesterday, saw a doctor last night and has been classed as doubtful by England management. Meanwhile, Ireland will definitely be without Eoin Morgan of Middlesex and Kent's Niall O'Brien who are playing for their counties. William Porterfield comes into the squad as a replacement.

[bandage]

Cracking day yesterday. Good, competitive performance by Ireland. Sun (got burned), beer and a pleasure to watch some of these players in the flesh. Tresco didn't break sweat getting his ton and you really appreaciate the speed at which Grievous Bodily Harmison and Mahmood bowl at. Good banter with the English lads on the boundary too (Liam Plunkett is dead to me after refusing to sign autographs for youngsters - gave the cnut some abuse for that) and Ed got a bit of light-hearted banter when fielding at third man. The day was topped off with a bit of an alcohol fuelled row in the stand which was a pleasure to watch. The only disappointment was a disappointing totty count and the plethora of Northern Ireland soccer jerseys on show. I actually half regreted not wearing my Celtic jersey if only to see what kind of reaction it would have got in the ground.

[cully]

cracking day out as bandage said. england coasted through the day. bell was shown up as he couldn't get the thing off of the square for ages, credit must go to TJ for drying up their boundaries also. good night had in belfast. agree with bandage on the lack of francesco but the kukri birds were outstanding. plunkett is dead to me also. nice to see bandage remark on the small brawl in the stands, i honestly think that as a spectator sport cricket is up there with any other. you sit there, watch the action and drink pints for the day. highlights of the day for me was watching billy c and joe mo running into and knocking over the advertising hoardings at about nine o'clock that night, also john mooney milking the crowd and completely missing a ball which was on it's way down to him at third man, the crowd had to shout 'behind you', it was like something from a christmas panto, hilarious.

[iamthelaw]

cully said:

joe mo running into and knocking over the advertising hoardings at about nine o'clock that night

tackling inanimate objects is a staple of the joe mo repertoire, at least he's got a chance against advertising hoardings, it used to be lampposts.