Ireland in the mood for three-peat in ICC Intercontinental Cup

Ireland made an emphatic statement in the ICC Intercontinental Cup last week with an emphatic and clinical victory over Bermuda in Dublin.

Trent Johnston's team has held this title since 2005 and is clearly keen to make it three in a row as its players seem to have adapted best to the rigours of multi-day cricket. The batsmen have been digging in for the long haul and constructing big innings while the bowlers are consistently hitting the right, nagging line and length.

David Langford-Smith, who was injured in the final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006/07 in May, was back in top form this week, taking five wickets in the second innings and seven in the match as Ireland won by an innings and 146 runs.

Langford-Smith, who is famous for his flamboyant ferret-dance celebrations, removed five of the top six Bermuda batsmen in that second innings and ended with figures of 5-45. He also managed to take the wicket of form batsman Steven Outerbridge twice in the match to finish with overall figures of 7-94 in what were ideal conditions for batting.

William Porterfield and Andre Botha proved that when they got together on day one and put on 221 runs for the second wicket. Botha, the more fluent of the two on this occasion, made 122 off just 147 balls, to go with the 186 he made in a rain-affected draw against Scotland the previous week. He now averages 45.88 in first-class cricket - not bad for someone who is classed as a bowling all-rounder.

Porterfield has made the most of his opportunity since breaking into the Ireland side in 2006. He, too, boasts a first-class average in the 40s and has played some memorable innings for Ireland this year, not least 85 against Bangladesh in the ICC Cricket World Cup, 88 against Essex in the Friends Provident Trophy and back-to-back centuries in the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 at the start of the year.

Interestingly, one of those tons was against Bermuda so it seems the 22-year-old from Derry has taken a liking to the islanders' bowling.

This outright win puts Ireland second on the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 table with 29 points, five behind leader the Netherlands. But Johnston's men have one game in hand over the Dutch and will feel in control of their own destiny at this stage.

Canada and Scotland are next, level on 26 points although Canada has played a game fewer than the Scots, whose campaign so far has been dogged by inclement weather.

While Bermuda captain Iriving Romaine and coach Gus Logie will no doubt be disappointed after this defeat, all is not lost. The Bermuda under-19 team had a morale-boosting win in the Americas regional qualifying tournament for the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup last week, becoming the first side ever from that country to make it through to the finals, which will take place in Malaysia next February.

With youngsters Stefan Kelly, Rodney Trott, Malachi Jones and Chris Douglas already forming part of the senior squad, it seems Bermuda has plenty of cause for optimism.

The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now ICC's premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members' cricket schedule.

Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.

Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada earlier this year in the 2006-07 event.

The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007/08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be decided.