Uppercut
Request Your Custom Title Now!
We're looking at Porterfield and O'Brien opening the batting. Arguably the best opening partnership in Associate cricket history. Paul Stirling at 3 promises a hell of a lot too.
The number 4 spot was originally Eoin Morgan's, so it's become a bit of a problem area. Andre Botha played there recently for us but he'll be 35 by the time the World Cup comes around. Alex Cusack has given it a go too, but he's a bits-and-pieces man, certainly not the quality you want at 4. As much as Morgan didn't perform especially well for us, particularly in big games, his absence does leave a pretty sizeable hole.
Can't complain about the number five spot, Kevin O'Brien can do that job for sure. Hopefully he'll go from strength to strength now he's playing for Notts, but when I saw him play recently the only thing he'd picked up there was Samit Patel's figure. There must be a bloody good Indian place near Trent Bridge. But he's a quality player, and he'll come good. Once he finds form he's a key player for us.
John Mooney and Gary Wilson are the candidates for batting at 6, and neither are very convincing. They don't really have the aggression to bat there, while Wilson wasn't any better when he opened the batting. It's strange, because a couple of years ago it seemed we'd got a player that would be a quality player for years, but he's not progressed as we'd have hoped. The middle/lower order remains a concern.
Big Trent seems like he's going to go on forever, and the tail looks strong with players like McCallan, West, White and Cusack all at least handy with the bat. Apart from Trent, they do all need to work on their slogging a bit though.
The bowling's grown into a pretty strong unit. If Trent can carry on at the standard he's been bowling, he and Rankin will be as good an opening bowling partnership as you could hope for. Regan West's been bloody awesome recently too, I'm only hoping he's not peaking between tournaments.
The other strength of the bowling is that there's a lot of options (the flip-side to having the middle order filled with bits-and-pieces men). Any one of White, Cusack (specialist death-bowler), McCallan, Kev O'Brien and Botha can turn in a useful spell with the ball, so you'd hope there'd be a few good contributions in between (although another 5/2 off 8 overs from Botha might be too much to ask). The concern is that there isn't really an up-and-coming man, and the depth isn't there if someone like Rankin reverts to type and breaks down.
So all in all I'm pretty happy with the side at the moment. Certainly the best team we've ever had, much better than the successful team in 2007. But we seriously struggle on subcontinental tracks so the fact that it's in India will probably prevent a repeat. Also, and I hate to pursue the point too heavily because it's really starting to cast a shadow over Irish cricket as a whole, but the one disappointment is that there's a huge Morgan+Joyce-shaped hole in our middle order.
The number 4 spot was originally Eoin Morgan's, so it's become a bit of a problem area. Andre Botha played there recently for us but he'll be 35 by the time the World Cup comes around. Alex Cusack has given it a go too, but he's a bits-and-pieces man, certainly not the quality you want at 4. As much as Morgan didn't perform especially well for us, particularly in big games, his absence does leave a pretty sizeable hole.
Can't complain about the number five spot, Kevin O'Brien can do that job for sure. Hopefully he'll go from strength to strength now he's playing for Notts, but when I saw him play recently the only thing he'd picked up there was Samit Patel's figure. There must be a bloody good Indian place near Trent Bridge. But he's a quality player, and he'll come good. Once he finds form he's a key player for us.
John Mooney and Gary Wilson are the candidates for batting at 6, and neither are very convincing. They don't really have the aggression to bat there, while Wilson wasn't any better when he opened the batting. It's strange, because a couple of years ago it seemed we'd got a player that would be a quality player for years, but he's not progressed as we'd have hoped. The middle/lower order remains a concern.
Big Trent seems like he's going to go on forever, and the tail looks strong with players like McCallan, West, White and Cusack all at least handy with the bat. Apart from Trent, they do all need to work on their slogging a bit though.
The bowling's grown into a pretty strong unit. If Trent can carry on at the standard he's been bowling, he and Rankin will be as good an opening bowling partnership as you could hope for. Regan West's been bloody awesome recently too, I'm only hoping he's not peaking between tournaments.
The other strength of the bowling is that there's a lot of options (the flip-side to having the middle order filled with bits-and-pieces men). Any one of White, Cusack (specialist death-bowler), McCallan, Kev O'Brien and Botha can turn in a useful spell with the ball, so you'd hope there'd be a few good contributions in between (although another 5/2 off 8 overs from Botha might be too much to ask). The concern is that there isn't really an up-and-coming man, and the depth isn't there if someone like Rankin reverts to type and breaks down.
So all in all I'm pretty happy with the side at the moment. Certainly the best team we've ever had, much better than the successful team in 2007. But we seriously struggle on subcontinental tracks so the fact that it's in India will probably prevent a repeat. Also, and I hate to pursue the point too heavily because it's really starting to cast a shadow over Irish cricket as a whole, but the one disappointment is that there's a huge Morgan+Joyce-shaped hole in our middle order.
