Cricket World Cup: The old enemy humiliated

While the outside world only sat up and took notice of Irish cricket in 2007, the game in my country is almost three centuries old. That famous victory in Jamaica, when Ireland beat Pakistan, brought a whole new audience to the game. The number of people playing the game doubled and the newspapers and radio started giving the game wider coverage.

But the win over England has taken the game instantly to a completely new level. Every single newspaper in the land featured the victory on its front page and it knocked Arsenal, Celtic and the Ireland rugby team off the main sports page too. The 5.30 pm news bulletin on TV3 opened with Kevin O’Brien’s heroic innings — a remarkable honour given that Ireland has just had a general election and a new government is about to be formed.

Ireland is a sports-mad nation — there are fewer than five million people on the island and any sporting success is warmly celebrated. Even people who haven’t a clue about cricket were dancing wildly in Dublin’s pubs. The reason the victory was so popular wasn’t just because of O’Brien’s World Cup record innings. No, the reason the Irish loved the result was because William Porterfield’s men beat the “old enemy” — England. “There’s nothing like an Ireland vs England game in any sport”, said wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien. “It’s more than sport.” Ireland’s closest neighbour occupied the island from 1169 and it was only 90 years ago that the southern part won its independence after a short war.

Relations between the countries have been peaceful for many years, although

IRA insurgents waged a terrorist war in the northern part for thirty years from 1969. England is a bigger, richer country and although many Irish people have emigrated there, there is always delight in getting one over its sports teams.

Irish papers on Wednesday invoked a 1948 football win and the 1-0 victory in the 1988 European Championships. Kevin O’Brien’s Day will be celebrated long into the future. It was a day long coming — the first game Ireland ever played was back in 1855 but we were never granted a fixture by England until 2006. Ireland has now faced England in four ODIs, with the first win coming at Bangalore.

The first reference to cricket in Ireland dates from

1730, while the first detailed account that survived concerned a match in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in 1792. That was a fascinating fixture, between the Military and the Gentlemen of the city. On the army team was a man called Arthur Wellesley, who was later renamed the Duke of Wellington, one of England’s greatest ever military commanders.

Two others who played were Robert Hobart and Thomas Brisbane — colonial officials who later gave their names to TWO Australian state capitals. Cricket continued to grow in the cities, with the Phoenix (1830) and Dublin University (1835) clubs surviving to this day. By 1850, it was the biggest sport in the country and continued to dominate for 30 years.

However, the game was closely linked to the British colonial power and when pro-independence movements took root the game suffered. Ireland has two national sports — Gaelic football and hurling (see box). When those games became allied to the popular pro-independence movement, cricket suffered further still. By the time the British left in 1922, cricket was played by a small minority in the south and then only in the big cities.

The Irish team pottered along playing friendlies against English counties and visiting teams, but it never dreamed of taking its place at the game’s top table. When BBC began being beamed into Ireland in the 1970s, it brought a whole new audience to cricket and the game grew in popularity.

Ireland’s decision to apply to join ICC in 1990 opened the door to qualifying for World Cups, although we failed to make it through in 1996, 1999 and 2003. And so the stage was set for a breakthrough, and Ireland’s famous economic miracle was responsible. Many young men from the southern hemisphere moved to Dublin to find work, and many were fine cricketers.

They also found the famous Irish colleens (our beautiful women) and four of them found wives. Aussies Trent Johnston, David Langford-Smith and Jeremy Bray, and South African Andre Botha were all key members of the team that qualified for the 2007 World Cup and all played vital roles in the Caribbean.

Jeremy Bray’s 115 in our debut fixture against Zimbabwe set up a thrilling tie while Botha’s analysis of 8-4-5-2 helped demolish Pakistan. The team was coached by Adrian Birrell. His methods proved inspiring to the Irishmen and a Super Eights place was secured.

The defeat of Bangladesh ensured Ireland broke into the ICC World ODI rankings and are currently ranked 10th. After 2007, Cricket Ireland took a major leap forward and its staff roll of two has now grown to 15. Six of the squad are contracted to the body, with eight more earning a living on the English county scene. Only one, teacher Andrew White, is not a professional.

All this was only possible, thanks to sponsors. The result on Wednesday has awoken the casual fans and the encounter with India will draw a huge audience. Sri Lankan-born Rangan Arulchevan owns Dublin’s Russell Court Hotel, is planning a mega-party on Sunday. “The game starts at 9 am our time, so people can come in and have breakfast or brunch. They can even have a drink when they get going!” he told DNA.

The audience will not be all wearing green however, and many of Dublin’s large and growing Indian community will come along. Several of Dublin’s leading cricketers are from India although none has yet made the breakthrough to the national team.

One to watch is 16-year-old Dhruv Kapoor, a teammate of Kevin O’Brien and Trent Johnston at Railway Union. Dhruv, whose father is Harish, has played for Ireland U-15.

Gerard Siggins has written three books on Irish cricket, including Raiders of the Caribbean, which he co-authored with Trent Johnston in 2007