OPINION
Follow UsAny other time, four of Harry Tector’s last five innings would have ended up in a match-winning cause, but all of them, unfortunately, have ended up in heartbreaking losses for Ireland. All this is part of a steep learning curve, not just for Tector but also for the entire Irish team, who seem to have turned a corner this year. The results of late – the T20Is against India and ODIs against New Zealand may have not gone their way, but it will only make them a stronger unit going forward.
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Tector’s ability to remain calm, his elegant strokeplay and his temperament that too at such a young age gives the impression that he is more than ready to step up to the big leagues. If you think Tector has been in top form only in the last few matches for Ireland, you’d be wrong. In a team of Stirlings and Balbirnies, Tector has been the most consistent batters for Ireland, since making his debut three years ago.
Only Paul Stirling (956) and Babar Azam (1,083) have scored more runs than Tector (856) in the World Cup Super League – one of the pathways for direct qualification for the 2023 50-over World Cup – a league that consists of 13 teams. This year alone, Tector has scored three fifties and a couple of centuries in six ODI innings.
His form is testimony to the way he has performed in the domestic circuit, having scored 171 runs at 85.50 from four innings in 2022. However, even before that, he had shown his class in the ODI series against South Africa, Zimbabwe and West Indies, against whom he scored a combined six fifties from nine innings. His feat included three continuous fifties against West Indies – a series Ireland won 2-1 – after many players including Balbirnie missed out due to COVID-19.
Even in T20Is, after going seven continuous innings with single-digit scores, he has roared back to form just in time to help Ireland qualify for the T20 World Cup, with crucial knocks against Germany (24*), Oman (35) and UAE (50) in the final.
However, a big score eluded him. After two impressive batting displays in the T20Is against the No. 1 ranked India, Tector finally had his moment in Dublin. He brought up his maiden international century for Ireland, only this time, it was against the No. 1 ranked ODI side, New Zealand. A few days later, he doubled his tally.
The Tectors are well-renowned in the Irish cricket fraternity. Like Harry, his elder brother Jack and younger brother Tim have all led Ireland at the Under-19 World Cup. While Harry led in 2018, Jack and Tim led in 2016 and 2022 editions. Harry is also seen as a future captain of the senior Irish side, given the fact that he led the Wolves recently on their tour of Bangladesh at the age of 21.
Ireland have come agonizingly close to winning games in the recent past. In the past year, they have won ODI series against West Indies and Zimbabwe, while they also won a 50-over contest against South Africa as well. This is a much-improved Irish side, who had a poor run in the T20 World Cup and before that also, lost an ODI series against Netherlands, now seem to be a settled unit.
While the results may not have gone their way, they are heading in the right direction. Ahead of the series against India, head coach Heinrich Malan has mentioned in an interview with Cricket.com how big these matches are going to be for Irish cricket. They have lost all their five matches since, but the experience the team would have gathered from them could prove to be invaluable.
Young guns like Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Josh Little, Curtis Campher and Gareth Delany are central to Ireland’s immediate and future success. This mixed with experienced pros like Stirling, Balbirnie, Craig Young and George Dockrell among others, it’s a wonder as to why Ireland are not able to get over the line more regularly.
Tector was more than a handy off-break bowler in his Under-19 days. In fact, in the 2018 edition of the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand Tector was the leading wicket-taker for his side with eight wickets at an economy rate of under four. With the bat, he scored a century in their final game against Namibia, finishing with 216 runs at 36.
However, at the senior level, he has bowled just once in 57 games. With Simi Singh, Delany, Ben White and on a few occasions Andy McBrine and Stirling rolling their arms over, the off-spin option of Tector is something Ireland did not consider. As a result, the 22-year-old has been allowed to focus completely on his batting and that is paying off.
Many across the world have already termed Tector as the next big thing to emerge out of world cricket. Given what we have seen of him in this series against New Zealand and over the last year or so are clear indications of a talented cricketer who has made a promising start to his career.
Tector has got everyone’s attention and with the spotlight on him, will he sink or swim? Only time will tell.
