Ireland to play in West Indies Domestic 50 over tournament

KevIRL

Starting to get on top here. 86/5

djimi

89/6 now

BarryD

Dockrell's got great figures - 3/14 off 7 overs.

djimi

7 down.

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KevIRL

8 now. Close it it out lads

KevIRL

1 more to go

BarryD

Spinners did it so? Well done.. good to finish with a win!

KevIRL

And that's it. Darren Sammy, Junior Murray, Devon Smith, all the Windward Islands, your boys took one hell of a beating tonight...

D3PO

good for the confidence before the windies games. Also saves a little bit of face having been invited to play in this competition.

hopefulyl was some good experience for McBrine and Young particularly McBrine.

Would be good if we get invited back again next season who knows.

djimi

Some excellent bowling figures there; Dockrell 3-14 from 7, Sterling 1-13 from 7, Sorensen 1-16 from 5, Poynter 2-11. Brilliant defense of what was quite a low score.

Good to see us come away from this with a win. In truth I think this tournament has shown how far we still have to go to get to where we want to be, but its all great experience, not only of playing against some of the top players, but also of playing in some different conditions. Our batting was poor throughout, but we know what we need to work on. The win will be a nice boost going into the ODIs.

minitrue

Fair dues, that was superb stuff in the field! We didn't bat well at all and while it wasn't a 300 pitch, it was more then a 180 pitch. But this time in the field at least we showed more of our usual spirit, pride and class.

Porterfield has to take some credit for his captaincy and I'll go back on what I said, we can't really drop him now so close to the T20WC, we have to show faith in him now (up to the T20WC at least) ... but ick, he is on a long run of nasty form. I really hope he can find some form before the T20WC as if he keeps going like this I don't think he can stay as skipper for the ODI WC.

D3PO

I guess the biggest problem with Porterfield and his form is who would you bring in for him ?

Unfortunatly we dont have a large line of batsmen to come in either with his experience or weather we like it or not his skill level.

Drop him then you move Joyce up to open and can rejig a bit behind that but who do you bring in Richardson or keep Poynter in ? I cant really think of anybody else putting their hand up for inclusion and Im not so convinced this would be the best move either.

Perhaps if we had blooded Hamish Marshall back in 2011 when he became eligible you could have had more scope but thats not a realistic prospect anymore.

I think the bigger issue is not Porterfield out of form but collectively as a team we have too many guys out of form.

Wilson has been muck for a long time, Murtagh really hasnt shone in Irish colours at all, Porterfield has been out of form for an age, Dockrell has been very inconsistent too (although good in the last game) Cusack has been pretty awful with bat and ball too.

We really cant afford to have that many guys off colour and still compete against the big boys.

You throw in TJ retiring, Rankin gone to England, Mooney out for who knows how long, add in that right now there arent too many exciting youths coming up as born by the fact we didnt even qualify for the U19 world cup which is currently ongoing and theres a genuine concern about our competitiveness going forward in the short term. (That said I am excited about Young, McBrine & Mcarthur's futures but not so much with our younger batsmen)

minitrue

Harsh on Wilson I think, he did fairly well in County Cricket last year (being picked as a batsman), regularly chips in with valuable runs for us and has kept the gloves off Niall. Murtagh might not have had as many good days as we'd like (e.g. 3-33 Vs England) but I don't think he deserves to be mentioned in this context either.

No argument at all that we don't have a big queue of guys who have form at this sort of level, but we've tried out quite a few like we just did while we rested Joyce (and Stirling was injured). At some point Porterfields form (and anyone else like Cusack) has to be deemed bad enough that the next in line gets a bit more of a run at it while the person misfiring gets a chance to look elsewhere to find some form. Of course I hope Porterfield finds his way back to where he was, he's been a brilliant partner to Stirling when he's in any sort of form and a good captain.

Next years Interpro series should be seen as a big chance for the others to put up their hands and try and take some of the slots of those who are struggling and making up the numbers at the moment.

D3PO

In fairness outside of the one day v England Murtagh has done nothing thats almost 50% of all the wickets hes taken on ODI's he only has 4 others in his other 7 bowling perfermances.

One sunny day a summer does not make.

Wilson hasnt really fired for us since the UAE series in the UAE. I'd concende that both have done far better in the county championship than for Ireland recently but that really doesnt help us out at all. The talent is there no doubt about it but the form for Ireland has not been.

minitrue

Still think you are being harsh on Murtagh.

Our most economical bowler in the tied ODI Vs Pakistan (9-0-40-0 but ok no wickets). 7-2-13-2 Opening spell in the 2nd ODI Vs Pakistan (yes, he got fairly hammered later giving away 5, 12 and 24 in each of his single over spells towards the death). Bit of a mixed bag bowling in the other ODIs, nothing spectacular, nothing really terrible. Then of course there was his 23 from 19 balls Vs Scotland from #10, including 6,4 when Ireland needed 9 from 3 balls.

In his few T20s 2-0-9-0 Vs Afghanistan (most economical again), 4-0-29-0 Vs Canada (only Cusack cheaper) and 2.5-0-24-2 Vs Afghanistan in the final.

In the Intercontinental Cup he only played against the UAE where he got 18-9-28-1.