OPINION
Follow UsThe result for Ireland in the T20 International (T20I) series against India was not all that surprising, especially given how poor they have been since the end of the T20 World Cup 2022. In the mega event though, Ireland showed glimpses of their potential, beating eventual champions England in the competition. But since then, it has not been smooth sailing for the side.
Following the World Cup Qualifiers earlier this year, Andy Balbirnie stepped down to pave a new era under Paul Stirling. While Ireland qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024 with their performance in the European Qualifiers, which included Scotland, Austria, Jersey, Germany, Denmark and Italy, not in a particularly convincing manner, they have not found any answers to their lingering issues otherwise either.
Their middle-order consisting of Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher and George Dockrell have collectively failed to make it count on numerous occasions. Campher on more than one occasion has been their saviour in recent times.
Since the end of the T20 World Cup last year, Campher has scored 215 runs at 35.83 and a healthy strike-rate of close to 130, while the other Irish batters between 3-6 are not even close to matching him. In fact, Campher alone has scored as many fifties (1) as the rest of the batters in that position combined.
Going one step further, if you look past the European Qualifiers, the Irish middle-order has been one of the worst after T20 World Cup final last year.
The openers too have not been great, for that matter. Against full-members since T20 World Cup 2022, the Irish openers, Stirling and Balbirnie have collectively scored at an average of 20.3 and lost a wicket once every 15.4 deliveries, which is the worst after Afghanistan for whom the corresponding numbers are 14.1 and 14.7 respectively.
They did breathe a sigh of relief when Balbirnie scored 72 off 51 in the second game, but such was his luck that he did not find any support from the other end whatsoever.
Also, if they are not going to use George Dockrell’s bowling AT ALL, they have a couple of decent options on the bench. Among those include Gareth Delany and handy leg-spinner and a basher with the bat, and also Andy McBrine, who although was not part of the squad, has batted high up the order and has chipped in with his off-spin as well.
Dockrell did not bowl a single bowl in the two matches of this series against India, and had the third match gone ahead as planned, we would have either seen Dockrell sit out or might have sent down a few overs.
As far as the bowling department is concerned, Joshua Little has been extremely disappointing for them. Little finished 2022 as the second-highest wicket-taker with 39 scalps at 18.92. In fact, from the start of 2022 till the beginning of the T20 World Cup, Little had 28 wickets at 19.60. He was also Ireland’s best bowler in the tournament, picking up 11 wickets, including a hat-trick against New Zealand.
However, there are good signs for Ireland. They now have a fully fit Craig Young, who with his twin strikes in the first T20I against India almost won his side the game. Not to forget, Mark Adair (22), Ben White (15) and Barry McCarthy (14) have been Ireland’s leading wicket-takers since the end of the mega event last year, and in a way have made up for Little’s poor form. However, imagine how potent this attack would become if Little too joins the party!
Ireland, who are not playing in the upcoming ODI World Cup, do not have anything significantly big to look forward to. Yes, they play three ODIs against England before the start of the World Cup, but with the T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies next year, they really need to up the ante, especially in terms of their key players finding form. It has pretty much gone south for Ireland in the last nine months or so.
