Rankings Mountain
There was great joy amongst Irish and Afghanistan fans earlier this week after the ICC announcement that both teams were to be included in the automatic qualifications process for the 2019 World Cup based on rankings.
However, renowned Irish journalist Ger Siggins has pointed out that at the moment Bangladesh are 9th on the rankings with 75pts, Ireland 12th with 34pts.
Just to get to 75pts Ireland will have to win ALL their group games at the CWC AND then beat England and Australia at home.
Given the scarcity of internationals since 2011 this competition is probably our best chance of getting a shot at playing some Full Members. But the rankings route to 2019 looks to be almost impossible.
Since the 2011 World Cup finished, Ireland have only played 9 ODI's against top 8 ranked sides.
- 2011 - Pakistan twice plus England
- 2012 - Australia (washed out after 10.1 overs)
- 2013 - Pakistan twice plus England
- 2014 - West Indies, Sri Lanka (second game abandoned without ball bowled).
While 9 is indeed a paltry return, it's still more than Afghanistan (5), Scotland (4), and Netherlands (1).
Unless there is some guarantee on fixtures forthcoming from the top 8, then Ireland's automatic route looks doomed before it's even started.
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There was good news for the Irish batsmen with the news that 'mystery spinner' Sunil Narine had withdrawn from the West Indies World Cup squad.
The ICC's crackdown on illegal actions will continue during the competition, with reported players having their testing process fast-tracked in just seven days.
Narine is replaced in the squad by left-arm twirler Nikita Miller.
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Ireland will know the men in the middle for their warm-up and group matches in the World Cup after ICC revealed them on Friday.
Aleem Dar and Joel Wilson take charge of the Scotland game on Feb 10, while Billy Bowden and Kumar Dharmasena officiate in the Bangladesh game two days later - both matches are in Sydney.
Bruce Oxenford and Richard Illingworth umpire the crucial West Indies opener on Feb 16th, while the English duo of Nigel Llong and Michael Gough are at the helm for the UAE clash 9 days later on Feb 25.
Steve Davis and Ranmore Martinesz umpire the South Africa contest on March 3, while Paul Reiffel and Ruchira Palliyaguru take control of the Zimbabwe game on March 7.
Richard Kettleborough and Kumar Dharmasena are in the middle for the India match on March 10, while the final group game against Pakistan on March 15 in Adelaide is looked after by Marias Erasmus and Ruchira Palliyaguru.
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The Ireland squad flew out this morning to Sydney where they will take part in a pre-World Cup training camp at Randwick Petersham.
At the conclusion of the camp, they will play the 'Randy Petes' in a 50 over game next Friday, Feb 6th.