Ireland continued in their relentless pursuit of Full Member status by becoming the first country to win ICC Global competitions in each format in the same calendar year. The World Cricket League, together with automatic qualification for the World Cup in Australasia in 2015, was secured in the Netherlands in July. Then in a four week period in November and early December in the UAE, Ireland won the World T20 Qualifying Tournament and followed up with the Intercontinental Cup.
Ireland played a total of 24 matches during the year across all three formats. They won all ten T20 matches, won five 50 over matches, tied two others and lost twice. In first class matches they had three wins and a draw with the only loss being to Australia A in a game Ireland would have achieved a draw but for a sporting declaration by Kevin O’Brien.
Ireland used twenty-two players during the year with Kevin O’Brien being the only ever present while Paul Stirling missed out on emulating him because he was rested for the Intercontinental Cup match against the Netherlands. Andrew McBrine, Craig Young and Eddie Richardson all made their debuts during the year.
The success of this Ireland team is based around winning the big moments in matches. In Associate matches in 2013 Ireland won virtually every one of the big moments with one or more players delivering something special when it really mattered. Lesser teams didn’t have had the character to win those moments and they ended up with an empty trophy cabinet. The skill and resilience of the men in green continually shone through and this is what has seen them evolve into the most successful non Test playing country in the history of the game.
In the World Cricket League Ireland went into their second match against Netherlands in Amstelveen needing just one point to secure the trophy and World Cup qualification. Even though they still had two home games against Scotland to come no one in the Ireland camp wanted to risk taking it down to the wire. Set 269 to win the Dutch were cruising to victory requiring just 17 runs of 14 balls with four wickets in hand and Tom Cooper seemingly in full control of the situation. A Kevin O’Brien delivery on leg stump was clipped off his toes by Cooper and was searing to the mid-wicket boundary when William Porterfield hurled himself to his right and intercepted the ball at full stretch. Cooper dragged himself back to the pavilion shaking his head in disbelief.
That moment of magic inspired Alex Cusack to bowl a pinpoint accurate penultimate over conceding just four runs, including a leg bye, and also taking a wicket. Although a somewhat bizarre last over saw the Dutch force a tie Ireland had qualified thanks to Porterfield’s moment of magic.
In the World T20 Qualifying Tournament there were several standout moments that had a significant impact on the final outcome. Ireland are usually slow starters at tournaments and although they beat Namibia in the opening match it was the poorest fielding display for a considerable time. In the second match against Canada a total of 168 for 5, largely thanks to an unbeaten 39 off just 24 balls, by Trent Johnston, initially appeared to be enough to secure the points. That seemed even more likely when Max Sorensen got wickets with the first two balls of the Canadian innings. However a century stand for the third wicket left Canada needing just 46 runs of five overs. Disciplined bowling from Dockrell and Johnston pushed the target out to fourteen of the final over which was bowled by Cusack. A six by Jimmy Hansra off the third ball of the over meant seven were required off three balls but Cusack held his nerve and conceded just singles of the next two balls. A six of the final ball would have won the match for Canada while a four would send the match into the lottery of a super over. Hansra smashed to final ball to the extra cover boundary where Kevin O’Brien, in the rapidly fading light, dived full length to stop the ball crossing the rope and only conceded two runs to bring Ireland home by the same margin.
The next game against UAE was as equally dramatic as the home team went into the final over with just nine runs to get and three wickets in hand. This time Trent Johnston was entrusted with the key over and he delivered in spades. Yorker after yorker zeroed in on the stumps forcing the batsmen to attempt singles to a close set alert field. Superb pick-ups and throws by first Niall O’Brien and then Max Sorensen resulted in two run outs and when a final yorker ripped out the stumps Ireland were home by five runs. If either match had been lost Ireland would not have won the group and had to endure the cross over system to qualify. It was winning the big moments that made the difference.
In the semi-final , again against UAE, Ireland were struggling at 83 for 5 half way through the fourteenth over when Trent Johnston joined John Mooney and they plundered 55 off 32 balls to demoralise the UAE attack. Johnston surged to 35 off just 18 deliveries to maintain his impressive batting form which he was to surpass in the final. The momentum created by the batting onslaught carried through to the bowling and Sorensen and Tim Murtagh ripped the UAE innings apart leaving Ireland victors by 62 runs.
The third leg of the treble also saw Ireland winning the key moments that eventually led to victory. Having been put into bat Ireland stuttered to 106 for 6 only to be rescued by John Anderson and John Mooney with a stand of 54. However Ireland’s total of 187 looked well below par particularly when Afghanistan were 116 for 3. Then John Mooney and George Dockrell took their turn to produce the magic.
Aided by stellar catching and stumping by Niall O’Brien, restored to wicket keeping duties, and great support from the slip cordon, with Andrew White taking a phenomenal catch, Ireland incredibly managed a five run lead. In their second innings Ed Joyce was class personified and when he fell the mantle was taken up by Niall O’Brien. Niall nudged, nurdled and occasionally smashed the ball in reaching 87, the highest individual innings in the final. With support from his brother Kevin, White and Johnston, Ireland set the Afghans 347 to win and retain the trophy.
Trent Johnston in his final match made an early breakthrough but then limped off with an Achilles injury and was unable to return. A good spell by George Dockrell, in which he took three wickets, appeared to signal a comfortable win for Ireland but a century stand between the Afghan captain, Mohammad Nabi and Rahmat Shah put the game back in the melting pot.
The new ball was taken and so commenced the last big moments of the year. Max Sorensen, who had bowled well in the match without any luck or wickets, got Nabi LBW and then up stepped John Mooney for the third time in the match. He produced a spell of bowling that the absent Trent Johnston would have been proud to emulate. Bowling with genuine pace and aided by splendid catching behind the wicket and choral support from Niall O’Brien (see my previous column) he closed out the match with his tenth wicket and took Ireland to a historic treble.
Ireland also won some big moments in their three ODI’s against Pakistan and England but the experience of the opposition saw them eventually winning more. In the first Pakistan ODI Ireland scored nine more runs than Pakistan yet finished with a tie. On the back of a run a ball hundred from Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien produced his best innings since that marvellous night in Bangalore. His 84 not out off a mere 47 balls deserved to win the match. Ireland needed 15 off the final over to be bowled by the number one ranked ODI bowler Saeed Ajmal.
On a bitterly cold murky Clontarf late evening in front of a large crowd with divided loyalties and nails bitten to the quick, Kevin and Saeed stared each other down and the Pakistan champion twirler blinked. With 13 required off just three balls the Irish support were resigned to another moral victory but the Railway Rocket wasn’t in the mood for moral victories. Six of the fourth ball was followed by another powerful hit to the long on boundary and only a frantic piece of fielding turned four into two. The final ball was speared into leg stump and Kevin realising that an attempt at an aerial shot would probably mean defeat instead hit a powerful sweep shot beyond the gangling figure of Mohammad Irfan to warm the hearts and hands of the home supporters.
The second ODI in front of a full house saw Ireland struggle to 229 which looked to be thirty runs short. That they were able to even get to that total was a tribute to Ed Joyce who came in at the last ball of the first over and was still there at the end. Mixing gritty defence and cultured stroke play he finished on 116 and at times appeared to be batting on a different pitch and against a different attack than everyone else.
Only Niall and Kevin O’Brien with 29 and 38 respectively reached double figures. However a scintillating opening burst by Trent Johnston and Tim Murtagh left the top order in tatters and 229 suddenly looked as unattainable as peace in the Middle East. With the score on 16 for 3 at the start of the tenth overcame the big moment that Ireland grab with both hands at Associate level. Unfortunately this time they didn’t grab it but literally dropped it. The first three balls of the over from Johnston all produced edges with the first and third dropped and the second caught. The Ireland momentum stalled and although they got another three wickets the chance had gone.
On a glorious early autumn day in September Ireland hosted England in a setting and in front of a crowd that was unimaginable a few short years ago. A specially constructed press box was full to overflowing and Sky cameras relayed the action to the world. A magnificent hundred from William Porterfield set up the realistic prospect of back to back wins over the Saxon invaders. When Johnston and Murtagh reprised their opening spell against Pakistan the chanting of the 10,000 crowd appeared to be the precursor to victory. But led by McMurrough Morgan England ended up winning comfortably. This time there were no dropped catches but as in the Pakistan match the support bowling couldn’t close the deal.
There is no doubt that Ireland can win more big moments against the Test playing nations but that can only happen if they can get more games against them to gain more experience. The puppet Government that is the ICC are high on good intentions but distinctly lacking in action. Perhaps appointing Robert Mugabe as Honorary President of Cricket Ireland would accelerate our progress to full member status and increase our revenue stream.
PERFORMANCES IN 2013
Ireland scored 9 centuries and 29 half centuries during the year with William Porterfield topping both lists with 3 and 6 respectively. Five batsmen passed 500 runs with Porterfield again top while Ed Joyce had the highest average. On the bowling front George Dockrell took 40 wickets which was two ahead of Max Sorensen. Remarkably every single bowler, bar one, ended with an economy rate below five and the one exception was Alex Cusack who apart from one match did all his bowling in limited overs matches.
William Porterfield was the leading run scorer in 2013 with his highest ever tally for Ireland in a calendar year and his 1073 runs are the second highest number of runs in a year by an Ireland player. He is only headed by Paul Stirling’s 1189 runs in 2010 although Paul took an additional fifteen innings to accumulate his total. William also made a century in each format and thus joined Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Suresh Raina as the only players ever to achieve this feat at international level in the same calendar year. His average of 51.10 comfortably beat his previous best of 42.83 set in 2009.
He put his lean spell of the second half of 2012, when he scored just 98 runs in ten innings with four golden ducks, far behind him and clearly demonstrated the inner steel of Ireland’s longest serving captain. His captaincy skills, which attracted praise at the 2011 World Cup from Nasser Hussain and Ravi Shastri among others, have been instrumental in ensuring that Ireland are out on their own at Associate level and can compete regularly with the “elite” countries. Add to this his superb fielding, which is on a par with anyone currently playing International cricket and you have a player that many other countries must envy. It was very fitting that he should score a magnificent hundred against England in Malahide in the most important match ever staged on the island, with the eyes of the cricket world watching. To go to his century by smashing his former compatriot Boyd Rankin over mid-wicket for six must have given him added pleasure. It certainly gave it to every Ireland cricket fan. His confidence this year was epitomised by his batting in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. His 288 runs were made at a strike rate of 149.2 and together with Paul Stirling invariably got Ireland off to a flying start and put the opposition under pressure. He is my Ireland player of the year.
Paul Stirling achieved his second best aggregate in a year surpassed only by his record year of 2010. His two hundreds were both made against top class opposition and he leaves an impression that he requires the stakes to be high to produce his best. Other than his hundreds his two best innings were reserved for the final group match in the T20 qualifiers against Hong Kong and against Afghanistan in the final. Ireland had to win the match against Hong Kong and Paul eased any nerves with 77 made of just 46 balls to take the initiative which would not be relinquished. For good measure he then produced a career best 4-10 with the ball. In the final against Afghanistan his 76 off 43 balls helped propel Ireland to a record T20 score and retain the title. At just 23 years old Paul has the potential to set batting records for Ireland that may never be surpassed. He deserves the opportunity to achieve this against the top teams of which he holds no fear.
Kevin O’Brien finished off his year with the ICC Associate player of the year award which was probably clinched by his performance against Pakistan. It was a year that saw Kevin reach 200 caps, 150 wickets and 100 catches. It is very likely that by the end of 2014 he will become the most capped player for Ireland. His year was one of consistency with his second best average and strike rate. He regularly batted to suit the match circumstances as his dogged 47 in the first match against UAE in November testified but he could still produce the fireworks when required as Pakistan discovered as did Hong Kong when his 27 ball 62 not out extinguished any glimmer of hope. He took 17 wickets this year with his seven wickets in the two ODI’s against Netherlands the highlight. Surprisingly he only bowled nine overs in the T20 qualifiers. His fielding seems to improve year by year and his 13 catches for the year was only equalled by George Dockrell. He also made the most crucial stop of the year against Canada off the final ball of the match.
Niall O’Brien ended his year on a high with his performance in the Intercontinental Cup Final both with the bat and the wicket keeping gloves. It helped alleviate what must have been the bitter disappointment of being dropped for the knockout stages of the T20 Qualifiers. He paid a disproportionate price for a stodgy innings against Uganda but I for one will never accept that James Shannon was a better option. Ireland have not reached the point that they can afford to have their best keeper languishing in the outfield or worse still carrying the drinks. He made crucial fifties in both matches in Amstelveen and after eleven years in green his enthusiasm remains undiminished. His batting average is second only to Ed Joyce of the twenty highest aggregate run scorers for Ireland.
Ed Joyce is the epitome of good wine improving with age. He averaged a tad under 60 with the bat despite missing out on the World T20 Tournament because of the birth of his son Sebastian. I can’t believe there has ever been a classier batsman for Ireland than Ed. Despite not picking up a bat in anger for many weeks his superb innings in the I Cup final re-emphasised that class. His innings against Pakistan referred to earlier was one of the highlights of the year. All supporters of Ireland will be praying that Ed continues to showcase his talent until at least after the 2015 World Cup. Ireland cricket will be immeasurably poorer when he plays his final innings.
Gary Wilson had his best batting average in any year for Ireland and he also kept wicket very well. My view that Niall O’Brien is the better keeper is no slight on Gary who is one of the best at Associate level. His batting was very unselfish as he always put the team first. His strike rate was his highest in his ninth season for Ireland. His batting was instrumental in the two 50-over wins against UAE in March and he followed that up with an even more crucial half century in the third group match against the same opposition in November, for which to everyone’s astonishment failed to get him the man of the match award.
John Mooney passed 150 caps for Ireland during the year and also reached 100 wickets. It was his second best year for both runs and wickets. However in a year that saw him miss out on the matches against Pakistan as a consequence of an inappropriate tweet his greatest performance in an Ireland shirt was reserved for the final match of the year. His crucial first innings was surpassed by his exhilarating bowling in both innings. In the final innings of the match and Trent Johnston unable to bowl John bowled with pace and control to seal the match and the treble.
Trent Johnston could not have envisaged that his final year of an iconic career for Ireland would finish as part of a team that became the first to win three ICC Global trophies in the same year. To win man of the match in the World T 20 Qualifying final really was the cherry on the icing on the cake. Ironically his final few matches for Ireland were more about his batting than his bowling. He finished the year with his highest ever strike rate. His quick-fire runs against Canada, in the semi-final against UAE and in the final were crucial and a reminder of his all-round skills. He could still produce opening bowling spells reminiscent of his younger days as both Pakistan and England discovered. But as he acknowledged, coming back for subsequent spells became a losing battle with his weary limbs. That he will be missed is undeniable but his transition into coaching has begun and he will continue to be a major asset to his adopted country for the foreseeable future.
This was the year that Max Sorensen established himself in the Ireland team. His 38 wickets were only two shy of George Dockrell but he had the best average of anyone taking at least 10 wickets. Max was generally the fastest bowler in the attack and his bowling as the spearhead throughout the World T 20 Qualifying Tournament played a major role in ensuring than Ireland won every game. While he got few opportunities with the bat he displayed glimpses of a talent that could see him developing into an all-rounder.
George Dockrell got the most wickets during the year with 40 which also saw him pass 150 wickets for Ireland. Given that he is only 21, fitness and form permitting should see him become Ireland’s highest ever wicket taker. He bowled superbly throughout the T20 finals although arguably his best spell of the year was against Pakistan in the second ODI when he bowled three overs in the batting powerplay conceding just 4 runs. His biggest disappointment of the year must be his uncharacteristic performance against England when he was unable to maintain the pressure after the early batting collapse. But he will have many more opportunities at the top teams and he will come out on top more often than he loses. He also has a fine record in the outfield where he was top joint catcher with 13 pouches.
Tim Murtagh had his first full season in Ireland colours and he ended the year with 20 wickets. His year was highlighted by his opening spells against Pakistan and particularly England. On both occasions his use of the new ball left the batsmen groping at air and gave hope of famous victories. When Tim ripped out James Taylor’s stumps to leave England reeling at 48 for 4 the roar from the packed stadium was one of the moments of the sporting year. With Trent Johnston retired Tim will be under pressure to produce telling spells when the shine disappears from the ball.
In a year disrupted by injury Alex Cusack still took 20 wickets with the ball although his batting faded away. When fit he was still generally the go to man at the death. The penultimate over in the tied match against the Dutch kept Ireland in the game. His experience also shone through in the T20 final against Afghanistan when he picked up two wickets and conceded just 18 runs in three overs.
Of the rest Stuart Poynter showed real promise with both the bat and the gloves while John Anderson delivered when playing in whites and may well be the heir apparent to Andrew White in this format. Andrew became joint highest capped player in the I Cup final but as he no longer seems to be in the limited over equation he may be a while before he gets the chance to break the record.
Eddie Richardson will be challenging Alex Cusack for his place and hopefully there will be a dogfight for the available seam bowling spot. Craig Young and Stuart Thompson both looked as if they could develop given dedication. In my view the best prospect is Graeme McCarter if he can add a couple of yards of pace and his coaching stint with Craig McDermott will go a long way to determine his future.
Batting Statistics
| M | I | NO | R | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 | C | ST | RO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W Porterfield | 22 | 24 | 3 | 1073 | 127* | 51.10 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 3 |
| P Stirling | 23 | 26 | 0 | 821 | 115 | 31.58 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| K O’Brien | 24 | 26 | 6 | 714 | 84* | 35.70 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| N O’Brien | 18 | 18 | 2 | 625 | 126 | 39.06 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 3 |
| E Joyce | 11 | 12 | 2 | 595 | 155 | 59.50 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| G Wilson | 20 | 19 | 6 | 471 | 84 | 36.23 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| J Mooney | 19 | 18 | 5 | 325 | 63 | 25.00 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| A White | 8 | 9 | 1 | 276 | 62 | 34.50 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| J Anderson | 4 | 7 | 0 | 268 | 127 | 38.29 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| T Johnston | 21 | 17 | 6 | 263 | 62 | 23.91 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| S Poynter | 3 | 4 | 0 | 128 | 63 | 32.00 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| J Shannon | 7 | 8 | 0 | 109 | 35 | 13.62 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| M Sorensen | 19 | 10 | 5 | 104 | 31 | 20.80 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| A Balbirnie | 2 | 3 | 0 | 63 | 38 | 21.00 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| G Dockrell | 22 | 9 | 8 | 44 | 14* | 44.00 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| S Thompson | 3 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 27 | 21.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T Murtagh | 17 | 3 | 1 | 33 | 23* | 16.50 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| A McBrine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 21 | 21.00 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A Cusack | 16 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 15 | 5.00 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| E Richardson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| G McCarter | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C Young | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bowling Statistics
| O | M | R | W | Ave | BB | ER | 10i | 5i | 4i | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G Dockrell | 252.3 | 50 | 850 | 40 | 21.25 | 6-39 | 3.37 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| M Sorensen | 175.1 | 27 | 669 | 38 | 17.61 | 5-37 | 3.82 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| T Johnston | 182.4 | 35 | 723 | 25 | 28.92 | 4-25 | 3.96 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| P Stirling | 105.2 | 9 | 481 | 22 | 21.86 | 4-10 | 4.57 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| J Mooney | 104 | 17 | 354 | 20 | 17.70 | 5-36 | 3.40 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| A Cusack | 84 | 6 | 441 | 20 | 22.05 | 3-21 | 5.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T Murtagh | 99.5 | 15 | 466 | 20 | 23.30 | 4-24 | 4.67 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K O’Brien | 102 | 10 | 436 | 17 | 25.65 | 4-13 | 4.27 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| C Young | 30.1 | 7 | 110 | 6 | 18.33 | 4-53 | 3.69 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| G McCarter | 18 | 8 | 30 | 5 | 6.00 | 3-13 | 1.67 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S Thompson | 41.3 | 4 | 159 | 3 | 53.00 | 2-20 | 3.83 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A Balbirnie | 10 | 2 | 30 | 2 | 15.00 | 1-5 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E Richardson | 11 | 0 | 54 | 2 | 27.00 | 2-39 | 4.91 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Shannon | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1-0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Anderson | 7 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 13.00 | 1-3 | 1.86 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A White | 16.2 | 2 | 79 | 1 | 79.00 | 1-22 | 4.84 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A McBrine | 7 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 0-21 | 3.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 |