ROY TORRENS doesn't expect Sunday to be his last game in charge of the Ireland squad - typically the larger-than-life team manager is planning for a victory over Pakistan and the chance to retire on the high of a World Cup quarter-final.
"I certainly do not think I'll be bowing out against Pakistan," he said, somewhat indignantly.
"We've played and beaten them before in the World Cup and while we respect them, we certainly don't fear them.
"No, I'd like to think my final game will be here in Adelaide next week against the Australians in the quarter-final - it's shaping up that way if we win.
"Playing Australia in the World Cup in Australia - that wouldn't be a bad way to finish, would it?"
Torrens is delighted that Ireland will not have to do any more travelling should they win, having undertaken a series of exhausting journeys around Australia and New Zealand.
"Everywhere you go in Australia it's a three or four-hour flight and then you've got the time at either end too," he said.
"It's all very tiring and I think that showed in our performance in the India game. There wasn't enough time to prepare properly."
Dubbed 'Sir Alex' by his players after Ireland won a unique treble of Associate trophies in 2013, late last year Torrens announced he was standing down from the logistical role he has held for over a decade, severing the final link from the part-time amateur era of Irish cricket.
The 66-year-old has done much untold networking behind the scenes to promote the Irish game during his time.
As a former fast bowler, who won 30 caps during a 18-year career between 1966 and 1984, he is concerned about the current lack of firepower in the Ireland attack.
"We have not replaced Trent (Johnston) and Boyd (Rankin) and we're too reliant on medium pacers. But that's a situation that we're addressing and I'm hopeful that youngsters like Craig Young and Peter Chase are going to come through. I think Young's a great prospect," he said.
Torrens' huge personality will leave a hole will be impossible to fill.
Meanwhile, superstar Kumar Sangakkara has added his voice to those who want to see the Associates remain part of the World Cup, after scoring a record-breaking fourth consecutive ODI century as Sri Lanka beat Scotland by 148 runs.
"Scotland and the other teams have been called minnows but they have done wonderfully well for the World Cup and for cricket," Sangakkara said. "They richly deserve to keep on playing."