As Niall O’Brien left Saxton Oval wearing a look of deep contentment, he might have reflected on the contrast with his Ireland debut when, on 29 August 2002, his side were defeated by Berkshire in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. Now O’Brien, with an effervescent unbeaten 79, had helped Ireland cruise past their target of 305 against West Indies.
Nominally the result qualifies as an upset but that is more a reflection of the archaic structure of international cricket than the quality of the Ireland and West Indies teams. For all the delight with which Ireland celebrated their triumph – they might yet be grateful to have a nine-day wait before their next match – this result shocked no one. “Ireland are known to win those big matches and they’ve caused a few upsets in ICC events,” the West Indies’ Darren Sammy said after his team had been humbled.
This did not feel like the classic underdog result characterised by a dodgy pitch, as was the case when Ireland toppled Pakistan in Jamaica in the 2007 World Cup, or a player enjoying the game of his life, as in Kevin O’Brien’s evisceration of England at Bengaluru in 2011. Rather it was a victory for a side who appeared better drilled, more confident and better versed in the cricketing fundamentals. Ireland seemed to mock a cricketing structure that has restricted them to only nine ODIs in the past four years against Test-playing nations and yet has the chutzpah to contract the size of the next World Cup to 10 teams on the grounds that, according to the International Cricket Council’s chief executive, David Richardson, only eight sides are “competitive”.
So even this triumph was played out against the backdrop of a cricketing world that appears not to care about Ireland. “You don’t see any other sport cutting teams in their top competitions,” lamented the victorious captain, William Porterfield. “You’re taking away opportunities for a lot of nations to get to World Cups and get to where they want to be, and develop the sport in their country through publicity and everything, so it is frustrating.”
Ordinarily the grisly domain of cricket administration would be a world away from the concerns of locals in Nelson but for a day this idyllic embodiment of small-town New Zealand turned green. Before the tournament Ireland grumbled they had not been awarded any fixtures in Melbourne, Perth or Sydney, where they has a huge expat population. Nelson might be a placid town of 45,000 but it still engendered a swell of Irish support: green shirts outnumbered maroon ones by several times and chants of “Come on you boys in green” and “Ole, ole, ole” greeted every run as Ireland raced towards their target.
Until a late-afternoon jitter – four wickets for 18 runs – Ireland’s chase had been a blissful cruise. The tone was set when the West Indies captain bowled the first delivery of Ireland’s innings. A man of promise prematurely elevated to leadership by dint of the failings of the elder generation, Jason Holder rather resembles a cricketing William Hague. It is doubtful that Hague could have delivered a worst first ball: starting wide and veering even wider, it bounced past the slip fielders to go for five wides.
The moment rapidly became a metaphor for West Indies’ ragtag bowling display. The sight of Lendl Simmons, the second cousin of the Ireland coach, Phil, offering up his slow-medium pacers as West Indies sought a way back into the match spoke of Caribbean cricket rapidly discovering unimagined new nadirs.
While Simmons had earlier combined with Sammy to add 154 belligerent runs for the sixth wicket, the application of the top order was lamentable as West Indies slipped to 87 for 5. “If we continue to play like that we won’t be here for long,” said Sammy who, along with the Ireland all-rounder John Mooney, has been fined 50% of his match fee after accepting a Level 1 offence of swearing audibly during the contest.
The contrast with Ireland, for whom Andy McBrine celebrated his World Cup debut with the sharp run-out of Darren Bravo from cover, did not have to be spelt out. It was in the top order batting, however, that West Indies were most exposed. Where West Indies veered unhealthily between reckless attack and passive defence, a breezy confidence underpinned Ireland’s chase from the moment Porterfield creamed a six over fine leg in the second over of the innings. While Paul Stirling’s 92 brimmed with controlled aggression and Niall O’Brien powered Ireland to final victory, Ed Joyce’s 84 was the fulcrum of their chase.
Four years ago, Joyce made an identical score in Ireland’s defeat by West Indies. This innings came in 39 fewer balls, a mark not only of West Indies’ decline but also the flowering of Joyce’s game. He has always possessed a fine technique and languid shot-making ability but his game has gained new panache, as a straight lofted six off Sammy showed. In the ease with which Joyce combined with Stirling and then Niall O’Brien, it was impossible to avoid the sense of a coming force besting a power in decline.
Whether that transpires will be determined more by the ICC boardrooms in Dubai than playing performance in the World Cup, the mere fact Ireland now boast three of the five highest run chases in World Cup history illustrates their relentless harassment of cricket’s cosy cartel.