O'Brien ton helps Ireland shock England

Brilliant Ireland Shock England

bbc.co.uk

I sometimes wonder what it is that makes me so anti-English. Some of my best friends are English or live in England. I have several English relatives - my dearly beloved brother married an English woman and my equally dearly beloved sister lives in Derbyshire. Most of the people who read this blog are English. And yet every time I see a headline like that one up there it fills my heart with joy.

There is an element of patriotism - living on a wee island like this we rarely get to savour sporting success. It is also partly because little Ireland took on the mighty English at a game the English invented and won. I imagine it also has something to do with having a preference for the colour green over blue. But mainly I just like it when England lose at something - especially to the Irish.

They've not done anything to deserve my vitriol. Okay, they didn't exactly behave particularly well towards the Irish in the 18th Century - or various points since; they could have probably conducted themselves better to put it mildly. But mass evictions, national persecution and a decidedly cruel stance during famines aside - they've never done anything to me personally.

But here I am, grinning like a loon. All because I watched England take an unassailable lead in a cricket match - only to have it assailed by a courageous bunch of amateurs in green. As I watched Ed Joyce - the man who had been Irish, only for the English to poach him, only to become Irish again when the Englanders grew bored of him, rack up 32 runs I smiled. As I watched Kevin O'Brien score the fastest century in World Cup history (113 off 63 balls; he hit the 100 mark on his 50th delivery) I positively beamed; and when John Mooney smashed the ball for four to win the match with five balls to spare I was delirious. And I don't even like cricket that much.

Forgive me my unjustifiable prejudices. I accept I have them and shouldn't - but I just don't get to air them very often.

Anyone know the rules of cricket?

Why did no one tell me that taking the cricket teams meant sacrificing your classroom? Why did no one tell me that I wouldn't be able to move in an already cramped space for bags covered in logos like Gunn & Moore, Slazenger and Kookabura? Why did no one tell me how much it hurts when you hit your shin off a cricket bat sticking up from behind the table? Why? Why? Why?

Ireland's Foreign Legion

Today Ireland will walk out to meet England in the Super 8 stage of the Cricket World Cup in Guyana. It's incredible to think that Ireland have managed to make it this far - to be in the top 8 teams in the World Cup is a phenomenal achievement. But this game against the English is special for one particular reason. Opening the batting for England will be a left hander Irishman called Ed.

Ed Joyce was born in Dublin - and the last time I saw him play it was for Ireland. I can't help thinking its a shame he won't be pulling on the green today - we'd stand a much better chance if he was. I don't blame him; if I was given the option of playing for more money at a much higher level I'd be a fool to turn it down. Still, I think it's a shame.

Of course Ed isn't the first, nor will he be the last, non native to play for England. They've had Scottish captains, welsh wicket keepers and at this World Cup they have players from Kenya (Jamie Dalryple) and South Africa (Kevin Pietersen & Andrew Strauss.)

It surely makes it difficult for the so-called smaller countries to compete with the top test playing nations if those nations cream off the best talent. It stands to reason that, say England had Ireland's best 4 players, they would stand a good chance of beating them every time. I understand why it happens. I just think it's a shame.

Of course Ireland are no saints themselves in this respect. The Irish team were up playing a match in Limavady a year or so ago and I went across to meet some of them at training. I think I heard two Irish accents all day. Their World Cup squad reads like this: Trent Johnston (Australian), Andre Botha (South African), Jeremy Bray (Australian), David Langford-Smith (Australian) but then we have Kenneth Carroll (Irish), Peter Gillespie (Northern Irish), Kyle McCallan (Northern Irish), John Mooney (Irish), Paul Mooney (Irish), Eoin Morgan (Irish), Kevin O'Brien (Irish), Niall O'Brien (Irish), William Porterfield (Northern Irish), Boyd Rankin (Northern Irish) and Andrew White (Northern Irish.) The difference is that the Irish have taken criticism about their foreign imports - from English pundits! Anyone notice a hint of hypocrisy anywhere there?

Trent is married to an Irish girl with two Irish kids; Jeremy Bray has lived in Ireland as long as I can remember, as has Andre Botha. People are welcome to their own opinions but in a small way it motivates us even more, particularly the guys born and bred in Ireland to show they can compete at this level.
Kyle McCallan - Ireland's Vice Captain

I think that England should remember where their two best batsmen come from. How would they like to be playing these games without Joyce and Pietersen? In my mind if an Irish team (even one with three Australians and a South African) can beat an English team (even one with two South Africans, a Kenyan and an Irishman) then there will be no shame in it whatsoever.

If you're an English or Welsh cricket fan look away now

Oh joy, oh celebration.I’m almost crying with anticipated sporting joy. Is it because Northern Ireland have qualified for the European Championships? Has my mate Warren got himself a wild card for Wimbledon? Have I recently become the youngest special needs teacher to sail across the Atlantic? No, no and no. I am typing while listening to the England Cricket team capitulate to a series whitewash in the Ashes. They have just been bowled out in their second innings. Glenn McGrath has just taken the last English wicket and Australia need 46 to winI think they might just do it. Just a hunch.

Please don’t think I am an A-OBE (Anyone but England) and I’m not just bitter because the Irish aren’t very good at cricket, or many other sports – I think my dislike for English sporting teams is entirely justified. Let me tell you why.

Living in Northern Ireland, I imagine, is similar to living in Scotland or Canada or New Zealand. We all suffer from big neighbour syndrome and our media tends to be owned by companies from that neighbour. This means that we, in the UK, have to listen to a disproportionate amount of news about the English teams. In the summer it was the English in the soccer world cup – funny how things quietened down markedly after the game against Portugal. Then from, oh October until now it has been the Ashes; the only occasion hyped earlier than Christmas. Our television stations, our newspapers, our radio waves… all saturated with jingoistic cricket coverage.

So you’ll forgive me if I allow myself a little sigh of happiness at the way that coverage went from pride to nervousness to hope to defiance to despair to anger… and now to humiliation. It’s a true pleasure that Americans, Australians and English can never fully understand, watching the mighty falling after so much posturing. I think it’s worse for the English because I think they really believed they were the best team in the world after a fluky Ashes win eighteen months ago. The government quickly handed out honours (for no charge) to everyone involved and the nation cooed over images of drunken young men trying to do interviews whilst remaining standing (but it’s not really binge drinking if it’s celebrating. It’s not a pathetic sight – its endearing.)

We shouldn’t really be surprised; England have form. Think back to 1966. It was glorious, wasn’t it? “Some people are on the pitch…” The highlight of the sporting century. What happened in the next World Cup? What has happened in every World Cup since? I wasn’t born in '66 so I don’t remember the media coverage in the aftermath, but I was around when the English Rugby team won their World Cup – I do remember the gloating and the months of boasting… and I remember what happened to English Rugby soon after – and since. They flopped. The Soccer team peaked and then flopped – the Rugby team peaked and then flopped – so it’s only right that the cricket team do the same.Last night I sat up listening to Geoffrey Boycott becoming more and more confident that that England were going to win this test. He predicted that the England captain would take the new ball and knock the last few Australians out for 20 odd runs. 100 runs later I could hear him choking in the background as the Aussie tail end showed the English how to bat and Shane Warne got the highest score in the match. Boycott has done nothing but whinge for the past month and it was lovely to hear him silenced.

The actual players just showed much more respect and sportsmanship when they formed a guard of honour for the Australian batsmen as they came out for the final innings. If only the media could follow that example and lose with dignity then I might find myself taking the English side more often, I might have more sympathy for that spoilt brat Andrew Murray and I might not laugh every time I watch the English lose in the Six Nations.

For now as I watch Matthew Hayden score the final run to win by 10 wickets, I can do nothing more than pay homage to Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer. I wish them a happy retirement. They have been incredible sportsmen in a truly great team and they have taken cricket to new heights of professionalism – but more than that, they saved me from weeks of 12 page glossy Ashes pullouts and interviews with drunken Englishmen.