Time for a Guinness
Angus Fraser recounts watching Ireland's defeat of England from Lord's, the mood in the home camp and the experience of witnessing history being made from the home of cricket
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Angus Fraser recounts watching Ireland's defeat of England from Lord's, the mood in the home camp and the experience of witnessing history being made from the home of cricket. Read more in the Independent.
As O'Brien connected with the initial few balls he faced, everybody thought his efforts would amount to nothing more than a defiant gesture. Strauss would have thought it only a matter of time before the Dubliner slogged one up in the air. As his innings progressed, however, and the text messages of "Are you watching this?" began to flash around, concentration on work began to diminish. For a while you relent but then, suddenly, you make a decision – "I've got to watch this".
James Lawton, in the same newspaper, puts Kevin O'Brien's innings in perspective - the influence of his family, taking to cricket when the youth in Ireland was drawn to other sports and the approach he adopted when all seemed lost.
Also, time for another Test series in the calendar for England? The Independent's editorial has more.
In the Daily Telegraph, Derek Pringle says England's shock defeat was an accident waiting to happen.
More in the Daily Telegraph - the newspaper rates England's defeat as one of sport's greatest upsets.
Simon Briggs catches up with those who've seen Kevin O'Brien play and develop his cricket, and not many are surprised with what he achieved. More in the Daily Telegraph.
All isn't lost for England, says Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail, but the defeat was a huge wake-up call that should spur them to work on their weaknesses.
Kevin Mitchell, in the Guardian, calls Ireland's victory a "seismic event that shredded English complacency bordering on arrogance."
In the same newspaper, Andy Bull pays tribute to the man who spent last season playing club cricket for Railway Union but inflicted on England one of their most shocking defeats.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo