Ireland is ready to move on up
Ireland barely broke a sweat in retaining its ICC’s world league Division One championship against Scotland on Saturday
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Ireland barely broke a sweat in retaining its ICC’s world league Division One championship against Scotland on Saturday. The result was hardly a surprise given the team’s dominance throughout the tournament, despite missing several key players. Writing in the New York Times, Huw Richards says Ireland's performance has strengthened its claim to become the world’s 11th Test playing nation.
Ireland’s usual captain William Porterfield, the hard-hitting batsman Niall O’Brien — the elder brother of Kevin — the wicket-keeper Gary Wilson and the fast bowler Boyd Rankin all missed the tournament in the Netherlands because of club commitments.
That Ireland did so well in their absence demonstrated impressive depth, in particular offering further evidence of the quality of two rising stars. Paul Stirling, a hard-hitting, heavyset batsman who will not be 20 until September, was Ireland’s highest and fastest scorer during the tournament.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo