Two steps forward, one and a half backwards

Odran Flynn (CricketEurope)



It was a year of some exhilarating highs but also excruciating lows. Remarkably both occurred in the Lords Test last July when Ireland dismissed England for 85 from just 142 balls which is Englands shortest innings at home. Yet just 48 hours later Ireland succumbed for 38 in 94 deliveries which is the joint second shortest completed innings in history.Qualifying for the T20 World Cup was also a highlight as was the first ODI series home win against a Full Member when Zimbabwe were defeated 3-0 in July. Watching, on a single camera stream without commentary, Stuart Poynter hit a six to win off the final ball in Oman against Netherlands, was a surreal highlight.While the Ireland bowlers delivered against England, they also suffered mightily in a T20I in February when Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani put on a 236 opening partnership for Afghanistan which is the highest ever for any wicket in T20Is while the team total of 278-3 is also the world record.It didnt get much better in May in Clontarf when the Ireland bowlers conceded an ODI record 365 run first wicket record partnership to John Campbell and Shai Hope of the West Indies which was just 7 runs short of the world record for any wicket.However, by the end of the year there was a significant step forward in the transition of the Ireland team towards a modern, progressive and genuinely competitive outfit.There is, of course, still a lot of work to be done but at least there are positive signs that there is a real desire to achieve the necessary changes. Implementing these changes will require the management abandoning the policy of giving too much of the benefit of the doubt to out of form players.There were 39 matches played during the year- 2 Tests, 14 ODIs and 23 T20Is and in addition an ODI against Bangladesh and 2 T20Is against Zimbabwe and Netherlands were abandoned without a toss.Seven players made their Ireland debuts in 2019. Shane Getkate debuted in the first match of the year against Oman with James McCollum and James Cameron-Dow getting their first caps within three days of each other in ODIs against Afghanistan in Dehradun.Mark Adair got his first call up in the England ODI in Malahide on a cold day on the 3rd of May. The other three debutants were all capped in T20Is. Gareth s first game was against Zimbabwe in Bready on 12th July while his cousin David Delany and Harry Tector both took to the field against Scotland on 17th September.In addition, both Lorcan Tucker and Josh Little, who had previously been capped in T20Is in Bready in September 2016, made their ODI debuts alongside Mark Adair against England.The priority for 2019 was qualifying for the T20I World Cup in Australia in October 2020 and that objective was achieved despite some shaky performances in the recently completed Qualifier in the UAE. Without doubt the introduction of the new caps re-energised an Ireland team whose fortunes in this format had flagged considerably in recent years.However, a crucial change was made last February in Oman when, to the delight of those of us who had been campaigning about it for a considerable time, Kevin OBrien was moved up to open alongside Paul Stirling. It is particularly significant in that it was Stirlings first game as captain, deputising for Gary Wilson who had eye issues.The outcome of the change has resulted in Stirling (748 runs) and OBrien (729) having the first and second highest aggregates in all T20I s not just in 2019 but in any calendar year in the history of the format. Their respective strike rates were 140.6 and 155.4. It also took the pressure of the batsmen following behind as Andrew Balbirnie had the fifth best aggregate of 2019 with 601 runs at a strike rate of 143.8 and the seventh best in history.The opening partnership accounted for 864 runs during the year at an average of 37.6. Paul Stirling and Kevin OBrien put together 736 of those runs while, when Stirling rested an injury in the Tri series in Malahide in September, Gareth Delany joined OBrien to add 128 runs in three games.The biggest difference was in the impact of the powerplay. Prior to this year Ireland had rarely taken advantage of the six over period which most other countries have seen as a vital factor in setting or chasing totals. Now Ireland is up there with the best. In 23 matches in 2019 from an aggregate of 137 overs, (the first match against Zimbabwe in July was rain reduced with a powerplay of 5 overs), Ireland scored 1266 runs. This equates to a run rate of 9.24 per over and an average powerplay score of 55.4 for the loss of 1.2 wickets.In that Tri-series in Malahide the two highest powerplays of the year were achieved by a combination of OBrien. Delany and Balbirnie with scores of 85-1, 76-1 and for good measure in the third match the score was 62-2.On eight occasions the team managed a minimum of 62 runs, five times they were in the fifties and only twice did they fail to reach 40. Oddly enough one of those two occasions was in Irelands penultimate group match in the World Cup Qualifier against Jersey when, they only managed 38-1 in the first six overs despite eventually reaching their target of 106 with 36 balls to spare.The only other time that Ireland came up short of forty was in Dehradun in February when they could only muster 37-2 against Afghanistan in a five-wicket defeat.Given the extremely positive starts in such a high percentage of matches it would be a reasonable assumption that Ireland would have had a much better % win ratio than 56.5%.That they didnt is partly explained by the fact that in all the non-powerplay overs Ireland averaged 115 per innings for the loss of 5.8 wickets. This equated to 8.24 runs per over. In fairness that is not a bad run rate and would in a full 20 over innings realise some 165 runs. Indeed, Irelands full innings run rate for the year was 8.56 which equates to 171 runs per innings. However, too often Ireland lost momentum at key times in innings. Despite good starts Ireland failed to average more than 7 runs per over on seven occasions outside of the powerplay while losing 50 wickets.Bear in mind that Ireland is a Full Member with more resources than any Associate yet all but five of the T20Is this year were against Associates. In those five matches against fellow FMs ,3 against Afghanistan and 2 v Zimbabwe, Ireland only triumphed once.The harsh reality is that especially in this format there is no room for conservativism and reacting to events. The successful teams dictate the agenda, as Ireland did when they dominated the Associate landscape.Unfortunately, this is no longer the case and the lack of creative leadership is a major factor in this decline. At international level teams cannot afford to carry passengers but, sad to say, while Gary Wilson continues in this team Ireland will not realise its full potential. His strike rate as a batsman invariably puts those who bat with him or who come after him under pressure. In 2019 his strike rate was 95.36 which was the lowest of all nineteen players who were capped this year other than David Delany, Boyd Rankin and Craig Young. Of the fifteen players with a better strike rate only five faced more balls than his 151.The reality is that this is not a one-off year for Wilson. He is 45th in the all time run aggregates in T20Is with 1239 runs at a strike rate of 104.55. Only one other player in the top 120 of that run aggregate list has a poorer strike rate and that is Sri Lankas Dinesh Chandimal with 800 runs at 104.43. However, 97% of Chandimals innings were against FMs while that was only 26% in Wilsons case.There are many examples of Wilsons inability to consistently score at an acceptable rate which led to Ireland coming up short. A prime example was the defeat to Zimbabwe in Bready in July. Stirling, who two days earlier had demolished the same opposition with an unbeaten 36 ball 83, was out to the first ball of the match.Astonishingly Wilson came in at number three and proceeded to use up 48 deliveries (40% of the entire innings) to score 47 runs. He also failed to score from 40% of the deliveries that he faced. The rest of the batting line up managed 124 runs at a strike rate of 172 so it could not be argued that it was a difficult batting track.Zimbabwe chased down the target with 20 balls to spare. Effectively Ireland were some thirty runs short and its not hard to figure out were those runs were lost. Yet, after the game Wilson declared that he was happy with the batting performance.Wilsons appointment to the captaincy to replace his good friend William Porterfield was met with a fair degree of surprise among those who follow the fortunes of the Ireland team. It is true that he had been captain of the Derbyshire side in the Big Blast but the press release accompanying his appointment used a strike rate of 131 for Derbyshire as part of the justification of being given the Ireland job.While Wilsons strike rate was over a two-season period Pauling Stirling has had a strike rate of 149 over a ten-year period and is rightly regarded as one of the top players in the format. If he wasnt considered good enough to captain Ireland in 2018 why then was he appointed as Wilsons replacement in the early part of the year when the latter was unavailable? The reality is that Stirling is one of, if not the first name on the team sheet, while Wilsons place should not be guaranteed.The Ireland rugby team after years of success had a very poor 2019 culminating in a disastrous World Cup campaign. It is generally recognised that several players continued to be selected for at least a year too long and this was a major factor in the downturn in their fortunes.While a few new players have come into the cricket team there are still players being selected on past reputations and some of those reputations were less than stellar.The current state of the T20 situation is one of progress and potential for the future. It must be led by a positive captain, not one who wins the toss in the semi-final of the WT20 Qualifier and bowls first because he feared Netherlands ability to chase down a target. Even worse he defended his decision afterwards and said he would do the same again despite all the evidence in the tournament that you bat first in Dubai.There is a very thin line between arrogance and desperation and Wilson is close to the line. He is a professional cricketer; this is his livelihood and he cant be blamed for wanting to play for as long and as often as he can. He must realise that he is under pressure and that his form over a long period of time is well short of what it needs to be. Management statements suggest that the new players want Wilson around for his experience. If asked, which players new or otherwise, are going to say that they dont want him? He is the captain and has a major influence on whether they are selected.The reality is that there are quite a few experienced players in the squad, all of whom are actually worth their place in the team on merit. The fact that he is the most experienced wicket keeper should not be enough on its own to retain him. T20I cricket has plenty examples of specialist keepers losing out to better batsmen who are competent with the gloves. Indeed, earlier this year in the Zimbabwe ODI series Wilson was left out for Lorcan Tucker and Ireland won the series 3-0 and Tucker batted well and apart from two dropped catches kept well.Those responsible for making the decisions on the Ireland team can not afford to compromise its potential by continuing to justify decisions which have now turned out to be wrong, irrespective of the reasons that caused them to make those decisions originally.The importance of Stirling, Balbirnie and OBrien to Irelands cause is well illustrated by their dominance of the run aggregates across all formats. Stirling (1516 runs), Balbirnie (1314) and OBrien (1146) were miles ahead of the next best, William Porterfield, who accumulated 340 runs. However, the now former captain didnt play in any T20Is.It is also fair to say that given the preponderance of T20I matches (59% of total matches) and the record of the top three players it was difficult for other batters to get a lot of opportunity in the shortest format. However, both Gareth Delany (310 runs at a S/R of 155) and Harry Tector (233 at 132.4) conclusively proved that they are well capable of being key players in the years ahead.The bowling was dominated by a veteran and a new kid on the block. Boyd Rankin, one of the heroes of 2007, snared 47 wickets this year. 23 of those wickets came in T20Is at a remarkable economy rate of 7.13. Yet Rankins efforts were surpassed by Mark Adair who sent 48 batsmen back to the pavilion in five less matches. His T20I stats are superb as he headed the charts in all categories  27 wickets, E/R 6.57, S/R 13.96 and average of 15.3. For good measure he also got 152 runs with the bat at a S/R of 128.8.In addition to his runs, Gareth Delany was joint third best wicket taker in T20Is with his leg breaks and googlies accounting for 16 victims at a very acceptable E/R of 7.38.George Dockrells career is at a crossroads. Irelands leading spin bowler of the last decade is no longer the potent force that he once was. While his 26 wickets across all formats was bettered only by Adair and Rankin, they cost 36.5 runs each compared to 21.25 and 25.51 for the two men above him. Indeed, it is fair to say that his batting is a major factor in him retaining his place on so many occasions. His total aggregate of 333 runs was fifth best overall and he was able to provide some stability in the lower middle order in the longer forms of the game. Crucially Dockrell is still only 27 and if he can rediscover consistent form with the ball, Irelands third highest wicket taker with 287 wickets can go on to set a target that would be difficult to overtake.While we are aware of Tim Murtaghs importance to red ball and 50 over cricket, the scale of that importance will only really become apparent next summer when the Lambeth veteran is no longer able to pull on an Ireland shirt. His ability to both get people out and stem the runs during the powerplay has often kept Ireland in the 50 over game.Remarkably this now 38-year old produced his best Ireland bowling figures in both red and white ball cricket this past summer. His 5-21 in 10 overs against Zimbabwe in July in Stormont were bettered just 20 days later when his 5-13 on the first morning of the Lords Test helped create one of the most sensational days of achievement in Ireland cricket history. That he could produce these figures in the first session on his home ground will never be forgotten although his 99 runs for the year, which gave him the third highest aggregate in Tests this year will no doubt have produced a wry smile.William Porterfield was under severe pressure for most of the season and but for back to back ODI fifties in May- the first time he had reached that milestone since March 2018, he would surely have lost his place. If he hadnt been captain, it is difficult to see how he could have survived. He has now relinquished the leadership and will be reliant on good form with the bat to retain his place in the team.Without question he has been an outstanding leader of Ireland for the past 11 years. His strategic ability was recognised throughout the cricket world as was his superb fielding. While he never had the free-flowing batting style of an Ed Joyce or Andrew Balbirnie, there has never been a grittier batsman in an Ireland shirt. Hopefully he can regain some consistent form because he could still be a significant asset to a developing team.Of the other players who played in a significant number of matches in the year there were mixed fortunes. James McCollum has shown the capacity to inherit Porterfields grittiness and his two back to back half centuries against Zimbabwe in July, opening the batting with Stirling, also demonstrated that he possessed a good range of scoring shots.Lorcan Tucker also showed that given a run of games he could deliver on his potential. He got that run in 3 ODIs against Zimbabwe, when he was selected ahead of Wilson, and got 87 crucial runs at an average of 43.5 with a strike rate of 92.55. He still has work to do on his wicketkeeping but if he can improve that by 15% then he is in a strong position to become a regular in the team.Stuart Poynter, Stuart Thompson, Shane Getkate and Simi Singh all had their moments but never were consistent enough to secure a regular place. Thompson didnt play in any ODIs and while he picked up 6 Test wickets he failed miserably with the bat. In the T20Is he played in 13 of the 23 matches and had a couple of decent knocks while also taking 10 wickets. However, an economy rate of 8.43 always had him under pressure to retain his place.Poynter has played his last Ireland match for the foreseeable future as he has opted to stay with Durham although he has said that Ireland never offered him a new contract. He had an excellent opportunity to establish himself in the team at the start of the year in Wilsons absence but failed to take it. While his glove work was adequate, he didnt fire with the bat apart from the aforementioned winning six against Netherlands.Getkate showed glimpses of a real ability with both bat and ball but was never able to produce an outstanding performance that kept him to the forefront of the selectors mind. But like quite a few others he has time on his side and with more opportunities, and there should be plenty in 2020, he can still become an established member of the squad.Simi Singh was probably the strangest case of all. Despite proven ability with the bat he never really got going. In fairness, particularly in T20Is he regularly came in the final few overs and had to hit out from ball one. He took 3-15 against Oman in February but failed to strike in his next six T20Is and his only game in the World Cup Qualifiers was in the final match against Namibia when he produced a player of the match performance of 3-25. With a lot of younger players emerging Simi is going to have to continue to produce performances like that if he is to be on the flight to Australia next October.David Delanys figures dont look anything special on paper. In his 9 T20Is he took 8 wickets at an average of 27.75 with an economy rate of 7.79. However, these figures belie his real impact. He has genuine pace, delivering balls in excess of 90 MPH. On several occasions his shear pace unsettled set batsmen but injury in the latter stages of the tournament removed a crucial weapon from the Ireland attack. With more experience and an injury free spell he is going to be a vital element in Irelands attack going forward.Andy McBrine had the best economy figures for Ireland this year. He only conceded 3.79 RPO from 73 overs. This facet of his game will continue to keep him in the frame should Ireland decide on a defensive strategy in ODIs. However, in T20Is he hasnt figured since March 2017 as Gareth Delany is an attacking option and provides infinitely more with the bat. Dockrells batting ability has also pushed McBrine down the pecking order.Josh Little started his season with a bang when he shook up the England batting line up at Malahide. Unfortunately, his form fell away, but he is also young enough to bounce back and there is always a place for a pacy left armer in an Ireland squad.James Cameron-Dow had a great start to the year. He starred in the Wolves tour of Sri Lanka and got 5 wickets in four ODIs. He then got a wicket with his third ball in Test cricket. However, while he got appreciable turn, he bowled too many boundary balls. While Ireland could play two or three spinners in the sub-continent that was never going to happen on home soil and Cameron-Dow missed out.Craig Young burst back into contention late in the year when he took 13 wickets in 10 T20Is. While he had an economy rate of 8 his strike rate of 15.69 was bettered only by Adair. If he stays fit Young can still be a viable contender especially in the shortest format.Barry McCarthy and Peter Chase were only bit players and it was sad to see their fortunes ebb. They still have the capacity to bounce back but they must feel, particularly McCarthy, that they were more harshly judged than others who are regulars in the squad.With so many matches in 2020, a good spell of form in the Inter-pros and club cricket will determine who will join the class of 2019 in competing for an Ireland shirt.Without doubt the Wolves programme proved an ideal steppingstone to the senior squad. The one day wins against full strength Bangladesh and Zimbabwe sides was a key factor in the elevation of several players. There are many other talented players under Pete Johnsons wing and his ability to get the best out of the next generation augurs well for the future.*****The appointment of Andrew Balbirnie to the captaincy of the Ireland Test and ODI sides is a very welcome development. He has big boots to fill but his performances with the bat, especially over the past two years, has firmly established him as the rightful successor to Ed Joyce as Irelands classiest batman. He has a presence at the crease that only the best possess, and his cool-headed demeanour will be a decided asset in developing his leadership skills.The key thing is that he is unquestionably worth his place in the team across all formats and the pressure of constant worry about his place is not something he should be concerned with. This should also give him added confidence in his captaincy. All Ireland cricket lovers must wish him well.*******Coverage of cricket nowadays is very often through a streaming system as the major TV companies only concern themselves with the big events in the game. Having watched a lot of cricket this year through You Tube I feel very qualified to judge the standard of streamed cricket.I can say without hesitation that we are very fortunate that Cricket Ireland are streaming so many matches and that the production standards of HBV Studios are unmatched by anything I have seen this year. The cricket knowledge and professionalism of Heatley Tector is a distinct asset in the success of the venture. Cricket Ireland would do well to tie HBV to a long-term contract so that they can further enhance the system such as the addition of more cameras and on-screen technology.The viewership during the Malahide tri-series was well into 7 figures with many tuning in from all over the world especially in Asia where quality cricket is always in demand. The commentators have developed their skills and Andrew Leonard, in particular, loses nothing in comparison to many of the so-called big names on mainstream coverage. Long may it continue.********Thanks to an invite from Ger Siggins I was delighted to be a guest at the recent celebration of the 50th anniversary of Irelands famous win in Sion Mills against the West Indies in 1969.The event was organised by the Association of Sports Journalists of Ireland who honour a different sporting event each year. Fortunately, the current President of the Association is Paul Lennon of the Daily Star who is also a cricket lover and he decided that that the 1969 team deserved the recognition. He was also a fine host and the Croke Park Hotel looked after everyone very well.It was good to meet up with several members of that team including the two men Alec ORiordan and Dougie Goodwin who bowled the West Indies out for 25. A very youthful looking Michael Reith, who made his debut that day, was also present as was Ivan Anderson. All those players would be very distinct assets to Ireland were they 50 years younger. There have been few better batsmen than Anderson in Ireland cricket history while ORiordan would not be found wanting with ball in hand or in a strategic battle.Warren Deutrom spoke as did former Cricket Ireland President Robin Walsh who was his usual erudite and witty self. Ger Siggins conducted a Q and A segment with the four guests of honour.It was also good to catch up with several Phoenix members such as Michael Halliday, Stan Mitchell, David Ensor and David Pigot Junior who were all very helpful to me when I was President of the club in 1991-92.Hopefully there will be other commemorations of Ireland cricket success in the future.