CRICKET / News: One would be forgiven for wondering if that great umpire in the sky has it in for Ireland's cricketers, as they prepare for the three-match Intercontinental Trophy qualifying series which begins this morning at Castle Avenue.
Earlier in the week, two vital players - Paul Mooney (North County) and Peter Gillespie (Strabane) - were ruled out by injury; yesterday it was the turn of John Mooney, Paul's brother and clubmate, to be declared unfit to play because of a back strain picked up while playing against Pembroke on Wednesday.
Dom Joyce (Merrion) and Adrian McCoubrey (Essex) have replaced Gillespie and Paul Mooney and yesterday Kevin O'Brien (Railway Union) was called-up to the side. O'Brien, who has represented Ireland at underage levels, including last year's under-19 European Championships, is a useful all-rounder and had a fine match in the recent Royal Liver Cup final against North County, taking 3 for 47 and scoring two runs.
This is an important series for Ireland, with a place alongside Holland and Scotland in the European Zone of next year's new Intercontinental Cup at stake. The reason for the play-off is that Denmark finished ahead of Ireland in the World Cup Qualifying tournament in Toronto in 2001, while Ireland were runners-up in last year's European Championship in Belfast, coming within one run of over-all victory.
"Losing three leading players certainly is a blow," commented Ireland coach, Adi Birrell. "But our defeat of Hertfordshire in last week's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy match was a great boost for the squad's morale and the players won't be short of incentive this weekend."
Today's match will be followed by the second encounter at Malahide tomorrow. Sunday has been set aside as a rain day, and if necessary, the teams will meet again at Castle Avenue on Monday; play starts at 11a.m. each day. The series is being sponsored by Viking, the garden servicing firm.
The Irish Cricket Union's (ICU) new three-year sponsorship kit deal was formally announced at Castle Avenue yesterday. The Ireland men's senior squad will be supplied with Signature brand name kit, while official ICU replica clothing and merchandise will also be on sale.
Meanwhile, Phoenix have finished their WMK Leinster Senior League campaign and head the Section A table with 202 points, though in theory they still could be caught by North County or Malahide.
The Section A relegation knife hangs over Merrion, Pembroke and Railway Union. The promotion race from Section B is between Clontarf, The Hills, Rush and Leinster.
IRELAND (squad): J Molins (Phoenix, capt.), C Armstrong (North County), A Botha (North County), J Bray (Phoenix), R Coetzee (Belfast Harlequins), R Eagleson (Carrickfergus), D Joyce (Merrion), K McCallan (Cliftonville), A McCoubrey (Essex), K O'Brien (Railway Union), N O'Brien (Railway Union/Kent/W/K), E Morgan (North County/Middlesex), A White (North Down).
DENMARK (squad): Aftab Ahmed, Farooq Ahmed, B Chawla, D Christiansen, F Clokker, H Hansen, J Hansen, T Hansen, A Lambert, M Lund, C Pedersen, B Singh, S Vestergaard.
FIXTURES
TODAY - Intercontinental Trophy Qualifier: Ireland v Denmark, Castle Avenue, 11.00.
SATURDAY - Intercontinental Trophy Qualifier: Ireland v Denmark, Malahide, 11.00; WMK Leinster Senior League Section A (12.30): Merrion v Railway Union, Anglesea Road; WMK Leinster Senior League Section B (12.30): Clontarf v CYM, Castle Avenue; Rush v Old Belvedere, Kenure; North West Senior League Section 1 (1.00); Eglinton v Bready, Eglinton); Donemana v Drummond, The Holm.
SUNDAY - Leinster Senior League Section A: Pembroke v Malahide, Sydney Parade, 12.30; Leinster Senior League Section B (12.30): Leinster v Rush, Rathmines; Clontarf v The Hills, Castle Avenue; North West Senior League Section 1: Donemana v Limavady, The Holm, 1.00.
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