World Cup Player Review for Ireland

riffmongous

I saw in the Sunday Indo today they did a small review of the players, games, runs, wickets and a small review paragraph. I thought it would be fun to do something similar here.(feel free to do it for your own country too once they get knocked out if you're not Irish )

I made a data-file of the most of the relevant stats to try to be objective, suggest any stats you think are relevant and more importantly point out any mistakes

Right,
Porterfield: 2 good knocks but early dismissals helped to put the middle order under pressure. Very impressed by his captaincy but not bowling Dockrell more in the West Indies game might have cost us the match.

Stirling: I was very disappointed by his performances and a century against a weak Dutch attack doesn't make up for the repeated failures for me. Decent bowling with a good economy.

Joyce: Didn't get the runs expected of him, but i thought he provided a steadying influence. Wasn't helped by having to be a virtual opener.

Niall O'Brien: Thought he was good, got some good runs but was never able to push on and get a big score. Great keeping too.

Gary Wilson:Looked good in the games he got to play, real pity about the Windies game

Kevin O'Brien: He made the defining contribution to our biggest ever win with some heavy hitting. Probably the innings of the WC. Didn't make much in the other games but oh well. Bowling was ok, poor economy.

Cusack: His role in the England game is often overlooked but was just as important. Sadly like a lot of the batsmen though didn't contribute any other noteworthy scores. Bowling was very bad, wicketless with a high economy.

Mooney: Finished with some good bowling figures, leading wicket taker without ever dominating a match. Did well in the England game at the end but no other scores.

Johnston: Very reliable bowler as always, took wickets and was missed for the end of the India and the Windies games. I don't know what we'll do once he retires.

Dockrell: Good tournament for him, always looked classy. Did a good job of tieing down the other team.

Rankin: Started off very badly, came back well against India and WI but was expensive again towards the end. 3 wickets is a very poor return even on subcontinent pitches. He hasn't quite developed into the bowler he could be yet.

Botha: Did well when he was able to play, was missed when he wasn't able to.

Hard to describe tournament really, pride mixed with regret. We did great but could have done better. But we were very competitive for all but 30 overs against South Africa, on the biggest stage there is in cricket, and that is a huge victory for Irish cricket.

Giggsy11

I was impressed with Ireland. Have to say they deserve to play full ODI series against test playing nations.

DH2K9

riffmongous wrote: »

I saw in the Sunday Indo today they did a small review of the players, games, runs, wickets and a small review paragraph. I thought it would be fun to do something similar here.(feel free to do it for your own country too once they get knocked out if you're not Irish )

I made a data-file of the most of the relevant stats to try to be objective, suggest any stats you think are relevant and more importantly point out any mistakes

Right,
Porterfield: 2 good knocks but early dismissals helped to put the middle order under pressure. Very impressed by his captaincy but not bowling Dockrell more in the West Indies game might have cost us the match.

Stirling: I was very disappointed by his performances and a century against a weak Dutch attack doesn't make up for the repeated failures for me. Decent bowling with a good economy.

Joyce: Didn't get the runs expected of him, but i thought he provided a steadying influence. Wasn't helped by having to be a virtual opener.

Niall O'Brien: Thought he was good, got some good runs but was never able to push on and get a big score. Great keeping too.

Gary Wilson:Looked good in the games he got to play, real pity about the Windies game

Kevin O'Brien: He made the defining contribution to our biggest ever win with some heavy hitting. Probably the innings of the WC. Didn't make much in the other games but oh well. Bowling was ok, poor economy.

Cusack: His role in the England game is often overlooked but was just as important. Sadly like a lot of the batsmen though didn't contribute any other noteworthy scores. Bowling was very bad, wicketless with a high economy.

Mooney: Finished with some good bowling figures, leading wicket taker without ever dominating a match. Did well in the England game at the end but no other scores.

Johnston: Very reliable bowler as always, took wickets and was missed for the end of the India and the Windies games. I don't know what we'll do once he retires.

Dockrell: Good tournament for him, always looked classy. Did a good job of tieing down the other team.

Rankin: Started off very badly, came back well against India and WI but was expensive again towards the end. 3 wickets is a very poor return even on subcontinent pitches. He hasn't quite developed into the bowler he could be yet.

Botha: Did well when he was able to play, was missed when he wasn't able to.

Hard to describe tournament really, pride mixed with regret. We did great but could have done better. But we were very competitive for all but 30 overs against South Africa, on the biggest stage there is in cricket, and that is a huge victory for Irish cricket.

You're a bit harsh on Stirling. He is only 20 and had to open the batting against teams like India, England, South Africa and Bangladesh. Has got a great future ahead of him and hopefully builds a good opening batting partnership with Porterfield.

randomer

DH2K9 wrote: »

You're a bit harsh on Stirling. He is only 20 and had to open the batting against teams like India, England, South Africa and Bangladesh. Has got a great future ahead of him and hopefully builds a good opening batting partnership with Porterfield.

Just harsh on Stirling? I think all of the reviews are over critical. If I read these "ratings", I would think the Irish team had a very disappointing world cup. Would love to see the OP review the England team...

With regard to Stirling specifically, his age is irrelevant. He is in the team based on his ability rather than his potential. We won two games, and he got MoM in one of them.

riffmongous

randomer wrote: »

Just harsh on Stirling? I think all of the reviews are over critical. If I read these "ratings", I would think the Irish team had a very disappointing world cup. Would love to see the OP review the England team...

With regard to Stirling specifically, his age is irrelevant. He is in the team based on his ability rather than his potential. We won two games, and he got MoM in one of them.

The target laid out by the team before the first game was to reach the quarter finals so I'd say if you asked them they would say it was a disappointing tournament.

The reviews were just a bit of fun but like I said I based them on the facts and figures in order to be objective. I think we are good enough to be a full ODI side so I judged them like one. If I was an Englishman and Strauss was coming into the last game against an Assosciate nation averaging 11 you can damn well be certain I'd be harsh on him. Personally I find the 'Sure isn't it great that we are there' attitude incredibly patronizing to the team, most people don't want to take off the kid gloves when dealing with them.

You're more than welcome to write down your own 'ratings', I'd be quite interested to see someone else's opinions on a player-by-player basis.

riffmongous

DH2K9 wrote: »

You're a bit harsh on Stirling. He is only 20 and had to open the batting against teams like India, England, South Africa and Bangladesh. Has got a great future ahead of him and hopefully builds a good opening batting partnership with Porterfield.

The Dutch attack took 30 wickets in the 6 games, we took 40 and England took 51, so I don't rate the Dutch attack to be honest. In the games that counted he averaged 11 and for me that is a fail.

Of course he has a great future but I thought he was a disappointment in this tournament. I thought he would do a lot better and he is indeed capable of doing a lot better.

D3PO

Porterfield : Great captaincy, didnt have a great tournament with the bat bar one innings versus India where it must also be remembered that he was dropped for a duck and a decent know agaisnt a poor dutch attack on a batting friendly track.

Captaincy 9/10
Batting 7/10
Fielding 8/10

Overall 8/10

Stirling : Excellent bowling, much better than I expected as I and Im sure Porterfield only saw him as a relief bowler / part timer prior to the tournament. Poor tournament with the bat masked by the last game. Needs to learn when to go after the bowling and when to respect it, should learn a lot from the tournament. His fielding was ok took a stunner against England but dropped a dolly versus the Saffas

Bowling 8/10
Batting 5/10
Fielding 7/10

Overall 6.5/10

Joyce : Not given the platform or batting scenarios he would have envisiged prior to the tournament. Didnt look his fluent best with the bat. Infact reminded me of a struggling Ian Bell from a few years ago at points. Will be dissapointed with his own batting Im sure, but class is permanent and form is temporary. His ground fielding was superb and he saved many a run in the field.

Batting 6/10
Fielding 9/10

Overall 7/10

Niall O'Brien

The most consistent and most comfortable looking of all our batsmen in the tournament despite the fact he didnt really put up any high scores. I think he got starts in every game bar one. He looked our best bat all world cup. His keeping was superb.

Batting 8.5/10
Keeping 9/10

Overall 9/10

Wilson

Looked in good form with the bat when he got the chance to show it. His county experience has markedly improved his ability with the willow. He will be dissapointed with his fielding though with a few drops including a potential tournament changing drop of Pollard it wasnt a dolly by any means but he wont be happy not to have pouched it.

Batting 8/10
Fielding 7/10

Overall 7.5/10

Kevin O'Brien

Words cannot describe his batting display against England but like Stirling it does put a sheen on a below par batting effort for the tournament in general. His bowling was expensive but given the situations of matches when he came on to bowl and the wickets take either by run outs or his own wickets it was actually a pretty good situation. Cant recall his fielding too much he did drop Van Wyk at short cover that he should have had but that and him falling whilst fielding versus England are pretty much the only times I recall him so I guess perhaps unfairly Id call his fielding average.

Batting 7.5/10
Bowling 7.5/10
Fielding 7.5/10

Overall 7.5/10

Cusack: (Copied from DH2K9's post as I pretty much agree) His role in the England game is often overlooked but was just as important. Sadly like a lot of the batsmen though didn't contribute any other noteworthy scores. Bowling was very bad, wicketless with a high economy.

Batting 7/10
Bowling 5/10
Fielding 7/10

Overall 6/10


Mooney: Bowled well and consistently, showed he can be a good middle to low order bat but didnt have the same consistency as he did with the ball. I think he will be pretty pleased with his performances though

Batting 6.5/10
Bowling 7.5/10
Fielding 7.5/10

Overall 7/10

TJ:

Bowled his usual consistent nagging wicket to wicket line, and our best seam bowler in the tournament. Fielded well but has more batting ability than he showed granted he never got to come to the crease in a good position to work from. I suspect he may retire a second time at some point this year perhaps after the England game in August. I just hope that Cricket Ireland onboard him as a coach should that happen. His experience to the squad is invaluable.

Bowling 8/10
Fielding 8/10
Batting 6.5/10

Overall 7.5/10

Dockrell: Outside of Peterson & Harbajan Id rate him as the third most impressive spinner in the tournament. The variations and way he kept the worlds finest batsmen in check was nothing short of exceptional. Didnt dissapoint in the field either and for a tailender did better with the bat than I expected (was averaging more than Stirling with the bat before the Dutch game) My Irish player of the tournament not surprisingly. Pitch about hsi shoulder thankfully his non bowling arm. I fear even if we make the 2015 tourny it will be minus an English playing Dockrell.

Bowling 10/10
Fielding 9/10
Batting 7/10

Overall 9/10

Rankin : Poor tournament if were honest. That said only getting 3 wickets makes it look perhaps a bit worse than it was as there were many drops off his bowling, plus many of the pitches didnt really offer much for him. Those points aside he was wayward too often, went for too many runs and bowled too many poor deliveries. Hes a shadow of the player who was being touted for England a few seasons ago. Lets hope he has a good domestic year in England and can refind his Mojo. His fielding was ok and for a number 11 bat did ok. He will be dissapointed with his overall tournament though I feel.

Bowling 5/10
Fielding 6/10
Batting 5/10

Overall 5/10

Not going to rank Whte or Botha I didnt see enough of them to really make a proper eval of their performances

TheDrog

William Porterfield,
Captaincy 9/10 a couple of things he could have done differently but was rightly praised by commentators
Batting 6/10 two good knocks but a lot of early dismissals
Fielding 9/10 superb as ever except for one drop off Rankin

Andre Botha,
Batting 6/10 you always feel he should do better than he does. one of only four irish ducks in the tournament
Bowling 8/10 4 wickets from his two games show he was badly missed
Fielding 8/10 solid took his catch well, didn't let anything past him

Alex Cusack,
Batting 6.5/10 a good knock against england but failed to repeat it, capable of more
Bowling 5/10 in the past seen as irelands death bowler he rarely got the ball and didn't threaten when he did
Fielding 7.5/10 took his catch but at times looked a little loose in the field, can't pinpoint incidents but noticed it throughout

Niall O’Brien (wk)
Keeping 9/10
Batting 6/10 given that he got off to starts in almost every game his performances were poor, got himself out too often

Kevin O’Brien,
Batting 7/10 One amazing knock but collapsed under expectations of a repeat
Bowling 6/10 one good but expensive performance, not really used as much as expected
Fielding 7/10 Dropped a few catches as the tournament went on

George Dockrell,
Batting 7/10 good performances from him, has the potential to become a decent all rounder
Bowling 9.5/10 rightly praised by the media but needs to learn from the Pathan over how to deal with someone attacking you like that
Fielding 10/10 didn't put a foot wrong, took his catches

Trent Johnston,
Bowling 8/10 8 wickets at a decent average, knee injury prevented him from taking a few more
Batting 7/10 swashbuckling as ever but definately an international tail ender
Fielding 8/10 a few moments he will have been disappointed with but more to do with age than ability

Nigel Jones, n/a

John Mooney,
Batting 7/10 Combined good knocks with a few shocking ones, got himself out stupidly a couple of times when he was needed to perform like he did against england
Bowling 8.5/10 leading wicket taker, a little expensive at 5.75 but his average of 25.9 was very respectable
Fielding 10/10 a world class fielder who never seems to make a mistake, probably the best in the world at the moment

Boyd Rankin,
Batting 7/10 a tailender who did what was expected of him
Bowling 5.5/10 one and a half good performances, he was unlucky not to pick up more wickets but his confidence was noticably low and only dropped more with each catch that went down
Fielding 8/10 did what he had to do well, no mistakes


Paul Stirling,
Batting 6.5/10 stop getting out playing stupid shots just because you've just hit a boundary doesn't mean you should start swinging away
Bowling 8.5/10 very good kept it tight and while he didn't take many wickets he tied down and end well
Fielding 6.5/10 some very noticable mistakes, a couple of bad drops and misfields let him down but I would expect him to bounce back


Albert van der Merwe, n/a

Gary Wilson (wk),
Batting 8/10 one bad knock in his first game but came back well, very unlucky against the windies, he anchored the middle order well
Fielding 7/10 not actually a bad job but his drop off pollard was match turning

Andrew White,
Batting 2/10 never looked comfortable with the bat
Bowling 5/10 overlooked with the ball by porterfield the few overs he did get were unremarkable
Fielding 8/10 very solid, took his catches well

Ed Joyce.
Batting 6.5/10 one good knock and a couple of starts, not the performances people were hoping for and expecting from him
Fielding 7.5/10 ground fielding was good if a little behind the rest of the team but it's never been the strongest part of his game. Runouts a plenty though