The Blarney Army have done it again
Ireland have been here before: in 2007 it was Pakistan, while in 2011 it was England who suffered at the hands of the boys in green.
But this time it was different.
Why? Because if you had asked anyone close to the Irish team they would have said that they were confident of beating the West Indies.
In fact they would have said that they should beat the West Indies.
For them this wasn’t a giant-killing or an upset.
It was a match in which they executed their tactics perfectly and secured a comfortable victory. Job done. Onto the next match.
But for others around the world, for whom the very mention of the West Indies brings to mind players such Michael Holding and Viv Richards, Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose, to see Ireland as victors on the scoreboard registers as a shock.
Here is some of the reaction from cricket writers and ex-players around the world …
Nick Hoult, cricket correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, summed up what appeared to be the mood within the Irish squad:
‘It was said before the match it would not be a shock if Ireland beat West Indies but what did come as a surprise was the ease with which it was achieved.
‘When Ireland beat England in the last World Cup they celebrated wildly but this time it was a low key, professional response by a team that can no longer be satisfied with one big win. They are aiming for the last eight.’
Wayne Martin of Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
‘The Irish have a history of Cricket World Cup upsets. The list has included a tie with Zimbabwe as a qualifier in 2007 before beating Pakistan and Bangladesh ahead of a stunning three-wicket final-over win against England in 2011.
‘But Monday’s pulsating four-wicket win over the West Indies in their pool B clash at Nelson’s Saxton Oval was arguably the best of the lot as they spectacularly added another top-tier nation to their trophy bag.’
The great Michael Holding told Wisden it is time the ICC rewarded Ireland for their displays but putting them among the world’s leading nations in the Test and one-day arenas:
‘It’s about time Ireland get recognition [from the ICC] for what they are doing. If they continue to linger around the lower regions of world cricket they’ll continue to lose good cricketers. Morgan left Ireland to play for England because he saw brighter prospects. England are a Test playing nation and are a world-renowned team.
‘Ireland need to be recognised now. They are playing good cricket and it’s about time they get the recognition otherwise they’ll keep losing cricketers.
‘I should certainly think [they’ll qualify]. I think they’ll beat Zimbabwe. Whether they’ll beat one of the higher ranked teams I’m not too sure. I would think they have an outstanding chance of going on to the quarter-finals.’
Simon Mann of BBC’s Test Match Special had a wry take on the outcome …
So no upset in Nelson after all. Ireland beat West Indies quite comfortably.
— Simon Mann (@Cricket_Mann) February 16, 2015
While The Daily Telegraph’s Paul Hayward paid tribute to the sporting contribution of the whole nation …
Irish sport is amazing, really. Cricketers beat West Indies, rugby union strong, over-achieve in football.
— Paul Hayward (@_PaulHayward) February 16, 2015
‘Fearless and brilliant’ – the words of BBC’s Jonathan Agnew
https://twitter.com/Aggerscricket/status/567210451264499712
https://twitter.com/Aggerscricket/status/567212291985129472
While former England captain Michael Vaughan seemed to enjoy being in Nelson to witness the game first hand …
Fantastic… The Irish are at it again… #GuinnessOclock #ICCWorldcup https://t.co/bZsIHBvrpY
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 16, 2015
http://instagram.com/p/zJxEI3m_iE/
And, finally, when one of the greatest bowlers ever to pick up a cricket ball is describing you as ‘brilliant’ you know you must be doing something right…
A great win by @Irelandcricket over the @westindies A brilliant effort to chase down 304 & did it with 4 overs to go #CWC15
— Glenn McGrath (@glennmcgrath11) February 16, 2015
