Apart from the World Cup, did they beat any test quality team? What I mean is Kenya and Bangladesh, atleast in ODIs, have beat teams India, Australia etc outside the world cup.
So apart from beating two test nations in the most (only?) important ODI tournament, Ireland haven't done much? Well, that is true, yes, but how many ODIs have they faced test-quality oppostion in? Fewer than a dozen I'd guess. &, moreover, surely beating Pakistan & Bangladesh when it matters should count for more, not less?
And even in WC, BAN beat two test sides, where Irish beat only one side. BAN looked better even in lost matches where Irish were less convincing than them.
Brumby's been taking up my argument well while I edited my above post to include pen pictures of the team Ireland would probably be fielding today had they been a part of test cricket. They're simply an example of a team that are of a similar standard to Bangladesh- whether they're better or not i'm not sure, but there's a reasonable case for it. Yet, somehow, Bangladesh are thought to be closer to the standard of New Zealand or the West Indies than they are to Ireland and Kenya, which plainly isn't the case. Either neither Ireland nor Bangladesh should play tests, which is what I'd ideally like, or both should play tests.
Ideally neither should play tests. I agree with that. But putting Ireland in the same status as Bangladesh and Kenya are wrong. if BAN and KEN both be test sides without IRE entering the test status, it would be fair.
A few things to point out- Porterfield averages 33 in FC cricket, not 23. I'd say O'Brien is currently better than Iqbal- he's at his peak, Iqbal is a promising 19-year-old who will probably end up better (with, it must be noted, the advantage of playing test cricket for his whole career). I don't understand your case for Ashraful being more useful than Morgan- I'd say Morgan's more likely to play a match-winning knock, simply because he's better (even on raw talent, Morgan has the edge). Joyce is definitely better than Bashar too I'd say, the man was picked for an Ashes squad.
This despite the fact that Ireland destroyed Kenya by an innings in a four-day game this year and won two of the three ODIs played between the teams this year (the other being no-resulted due to rain). And also beat them in the T20 World Cup qualifier in August?
Neither are much to write home about itbt. Even so, it's worth mentioning that FC cricket in England is as hard for batsmen as anywhere. Michael Vaughan averages 37 in it.
I don't agree at all about the seam attack, and spin only comes into play in certain conditions. For that reason, Bangladesh would most certainly have the beating of Ireland at home (as they showed in ODIs last time we toured) but I'd have Ireland as favourites in matches in Ireland or England. Or, indeed, the West Indies.
So who are the big fish in that kenyan team? Senile Steve Tikolo and Ageing Thomas Odoyo. There was a time Tikolo was better than quite a number of test batsman, and Odoyo was the best non test all rounder and with Maurice Odumbe and Asif Karim in the mix. I said Kenyan side of 1996-2003, before the system fell apart in Kenya, not the current lot. And Tikolo was better than Ed Joyce, best player of your country. And Obumbe also was not much behind. Your one off examples like these baffles me. If you have followed cricket in 1996-2003, you would know that Kenya was almost there, unlike Ireland who are not yet there.
Against poor spin playing players like Irish (as their English neighbors), even on deadest tracks, it has an effect.
Don't see how you can argue the case for Kenya being more worthy of a test place on the grounds that they were better ten years ago. They were better then, we're better now, that's how sport works. We're all there or thereabouts and you can't include one without including the other.
Not sure where you get this from. I have a feeling you just pulled it out of your proverbial arse. Irish players know exactly how to deal with spin in Irish conditions. Why wouldn't they? They've spent their entire lives doing it.
Tikolo was easily the better batsman than Joyce, especially at his peak around the mid-to-late nineties.
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