Magnanimous England lessens Irish joy

Yes, it was a magnificent victory for Ireland, but it hasn't gone unnoticed that the air of national euphoria in a country that's had very little to crow about of late has been somewhat tempered by the unconditional magnanimity with which our win has been greeted by a generous English media. We Irish are a big people, but in so many ways we are a small people. After hurling, our second national sport is begrudgery, so it was with no small disappointment we realised, in the wake of our victory at the Battle of Bengaluru, that rather than rail against the injustice of it all, our vanquished opponents seemed genuinely pleased for us.

That aside, England's batsmen have done relatively well. It is the bowlers who are misfiring. The team will rightly tell themselves that they ran into a freakishly good innings from Kevin O'Brien on Wednesday, a classic example of a guy from one of the smaller teams coming out and playing as though he had nothing to lose. And once he was out, there was enough experience in the tail to see Ireland home.

But even allowing for O'Brien, once again England were unable to contain a batting unit. They must wish they were able to call up Chris Tremlett from the sidelines, he is exactly the kind of tall, over-the-top bowler who could do well on these wickets. Tim Bresnan has been doing a good job, and so has Graeme Swann, even though he has not been playing on pitches that have turned all that much. Michael Yardy is under huge pressure, but England do not seem to think they can replace him with another spinner without weakening their batting.