Criticism spurs Ireland in quest for more upsets

Kyle McCallan, the Ireland spinner, is fed up of hearing critics say they have no right to be in the Super Eights. After being the surprise of the group phase with a win over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe, Ireland are now under increasing scrutiny to prove they should be in the second stage.

"I am reading so many comments at the moment, saying Ireland shouldn't be in the Super Eights," McCallan said. "No matter what you do, people are trying to knock you down. They are saying we have qualified on the basis of one performance.

"Hasn't everyone? England lost to New Zealand. They are only in the Super Eights because they beat Kenya. They're all motivating factors for us to go out and perform another upset."

Ireland get their chance to prove they belong in the second round when they face England in Guyana on Friday. It will be the second match between the teams in nine months after England won by 38 runs last June.

"We were disappointed at how we bowled against England in Belfast," McCallan said. "They haven't got Marcus Trescothick, who got a big hundred against us, albeit they now have Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, but we didn't disgrace ourselves in that match and we'll take that experience into Friday's game.

"They've lost Harmison from that attack and while we cannot be overly-confident going into the game, we can realistically compete with them. Having heard what we've heard about the pitch here, apparently it suits the slower bowlers so I hope that they will play the pace bowlers. It will come on to the bat and make for faster scoring.

"The guys have coped with the quicker bowling rather well and if we can hit the ball down the ground in the middle overs, we should get more runs. The batters know what they have to do."