Birrell confident despite late arrival

Ireland coach Adrian Birrell has defended his decision to bring his team to Nairobi less than 48 hours before their ICC World Cricket League opener against Scotland.

The 15-man Irish squad touched down in the Kenyan capital on Sunday from Port Elizabeth, leaving them only one full day to acclimatise.

Birrell said: "It was deliberate to play as much as we could in Port Elizabeth because I knew the facilities would be first class - world class.

"So we've come having all the facilities tailored to our needs. If we came here I knew we'd share with other countries. We were able to practise every day we wanted to practise, all day if we wanted to.

"It was a deliberate choice to come in as late as possible before the tournament. I don't know if we were last here, but we were here only yesterday (Sunday) and it was very deliberate." Birrell is confident his side will be able to cope with the Nairobi heat after their preparations in South Africa, but admits playing at 5,000 feet above sea level without having specifically trained to do so is a gamble.

"Certainly we've had hot-weather training," he said. "For the heat we'll be very well prepared. For the altitude... it is a risk, and results will determine whether that was a good choice or not. "It's gone very well. Obviously with my connections I was very confident the facilities we'd get would be first class - that's why we went.

"We've had a lot of practise and I'm very happy with how preparations have gone." Skipper Trent Johnston echoed his coach's sentiments about preparations having been very professional.

He said: "The preparations have been first class. There hasn't been an Irish team go about a tournament like this before.

"We're quietly confident. Last time we played Scotland we beat them pretty comfortably - by about 100 runs.

"We will not take it lightly, but we're confident we can continue our run against Scotland." Johnston has taken a knock to the finger he broke in the Intercontinental Cup final, but accepts it's just something he'll have to live with.

"It's going to be like that for the rest of my playing days so it's something I have to put up with." He joked: "We've been speaking about trying to hide me in the field somewhere, so we'll discuss that tomorrow! No, I'm 100% other than that."

Like Birrell, his Scotland counterpart Peter Drinnen is delighted with how the build-up to the tournament has gone.

The Scots have been away from home since early January and have had plenty of time in the country prior to the competition, having competed in a tri-series against Kenya and Canada earlier this month.

Drinnen said: "I am very, very happy with how we have prepared for this tournament. "This is the longest tour in Scotland's history and has been very good for us.

"We were fortunate to have a tour to Bangladesh and although on the outside it might have looked like a difficult series for us, it was incredibly beneficial.

"We learned how to play in difficult conditions.

"The tri-series in Mombasa was excellent for us. It was incredibly challenging - I don't think you could play in more difficult conditions than we experienced there.

"This tournament is excellent preparation for the World Cup and the World Cup is hugely important to us. We are doing what every team does now and that is focusing on this tournament and more specifically, our first match."

Skipper Craig Wright is relishing the encounter with arch-rivals Ireland. "We always enjoy playing against Ireland," he said. "We have an extremely good relationship with them although we are two very competitive teams and sometimes that boils over on the field.

"We often play our best cricket against Ireland - they are a team that has improved a great deal in the last three or four years, without a doubt.

"We are two pretty evenly matched teams and tomorrow should be another good game."