The Irish are OVERRATED

[TapsC]

I have been saying this for a while. All I heard was how their batting was so strong and they got amazing bowlers and their guys play county cricket etc. Not only did they perform so poorly today, I was looking at those batting averages(they mostly play associates as well) and I think 3 guys were over 30. How do you think they would do playing against S.A. India Australia NZ etc?

I saw these guys live in 2015 in Harare and they played just like how they played today. They are not a bad team but let's not always look at our negatives and their positives. They have a long way to go. Scotland are actually playing much better at the moment.

I will say this one more time. The best of the rest is not necessarily better than the worst of the best. Just like Afghanistan their arrogance of thinking they can just pitch up and deliver yet we were worried everyday has led to their downfall.

Best moment for me was Williams on the stump mic when Rankin at number 10 I think walked out to bat yelling " he is going to hit it on the roof!"

You guys had me so worried and believing that these guys are much better than they actually are.
(Side note: post proudly sponsored by Glenfiddich )

[sloandog]

(Side note: post proudly sponsored by Glenfiddich )

[sloandog]

Well I massively overestimated the Irish bowling attack. I couldn't believe how slow Tim Murtagh was bowling (70-73mph) and their 'best' bowler Barry Mac looked bang average.

They haven't had a lot of new players in that middle order for some time now, and that's slightly worrying surely from their point of view.

[Kriterion_BD]

Their form has been atrocious since the 2015 WC. Before that they had done fairly well.

Their form in the lead up to this game had also been good. They succumbed to the pressure.

[eugene]

Well I massively overestimated the Irish bowling attack. I couldn't believe how slow Tim Murtagh was bowling (70-73mph) and their 'best' bowler Barry Mac looked bang average.

They haven't had a lot of new players in that middle order for some time now, and that's slightly worrying surely from their point of view.

And here I was copping flak for rubbishing the Irish attack. They are going to struggle in tests big time with that attack.

[Kriterion_BD]

And here I was copping flak for rubbishing the Irish attack. They are going to struggle in tests big time with that attack.

The Irish will do well [for a new nation] in Tests for 3 reasons. Firstly, they've got the best and longest perperation for a new Test nation in a long time with all their County exposure. Secondly, their batting is still quite strong which will keep them in the game longer. Thirdly, with all the rain they get during the cricket season, Ireland will draw a lot of matches.

By comparison, Afghanistan will threaten Bangladesh's record for batting incompetence. It will be interesting to see how badly they do with the bat. However, their bowling is strong, especially the spinners and they will win a few Tests, which Ireland won't. But the Irish will have a lot more draws.

[aydee]

They are going to struggle in tests big time with that attack.

Ireland is somewhat wetter than UK and NZ. So accurate medium pace can be effective. Away? Massively short of bowling.

[TapsC]

The other big issue for Ireland is that their team is old. They are in a similar situation where their main guys cannot possibly get any better but county cricket I guess will make them better at the longer format.

For me the key to test cricket is having a lethal bowling attack. Teams like the proteas will always back themselves to win a test because their bowling unit is that potent. Afghanistan have a bowling unit which can be absolutely lethal in the spinning conditions. I don't think anyone in the world could survive 20 overs of spin against Rashid Khan without giving away an opportunity to get them out.

[Googly]

You could tie a sheep up on the boundary?

[foreignfield]

Whatever happened to George Dockrell?--a few years ago I though he would torment us for the next decade. I was very surprised he wasn't picked today, given our weakness against SLA; but then he hasn't picked up a wicket all tournament. I'm not following county cricket much these days but I think he never really established himself at Somerset?