Cricket: Two of Ireland's newcomers to the international scene Kenny Carroll and William Porterfield effectively booked their place for next year's ICC World Cup in the West Indies yesterday with strong performances against the MCC at Lord's.
Carroll and Porterfield, with 90 and 110 not out respectively, will almost certainly mean they have done enough to be included for the trip to the Caribbean next March.
It was Porterfield's debut century for Ireland in his first season playing senior international cricket and it came at a reasonable pace - off 125 deliveries - and included eight boundaries. Porterfield came in with the score at 29 for 1, Jeremy Bray having been dismissed for 12 by Josh Marquet, and put on a fine 173-run partnership for the third wicket with Carroll.
Dubliner Carroll, although he got his Ireland career off to a shaky start at the recent European Championships, where he scored just two runs in as many knocks, was determined to make amends yesterday. Unfortunately, he was run out 10 short of a maiden Ireland century.
Ireland put on a considerable total of 341 for 4 off their 50 overs (Kevin O'Brien 44).
In reply, the MCC were dismissed for 244 as 49-year-old former England Test captain Mike Gatting top scored with 90. With 41-year-old former Essex and England player John Stephenson, 39-year-old former Nottinghamshire and Surrey batsman Darren Bicknell and other elderly members coupled with Ireland under-19 international Gary Kidd, this was not a crack MCC team.
The best of the Irish bowling came from David Langford-Smith with 3-49, Andy White 2-12 and John Mooney 2-33 as Ireland rightly put their opponents to the sword, winning by 97 runs.
But the real test for Ireland on this mini-tour to Britain will start on Thursday, when they take on Scotland in the four-day InterContinental Cup at Aberdeen. A win there will put them in a very strong position as they seek to defend the title they won in Namibia last year.
Scoreboard
IRELAND
K Carroll run out 90
J Bray b Marquet 12
W Porterfield not out 110
K O'Brien c Friend b Hutchinson 44
D Langford-Smith lbw Marquet 8
P Gillespie not out 13
Extras (3b, 19lb, 36w, 6nb) 64
TOTAL (for 4, 50 overs) 341
Fall: 1-29, 2-202, 3-290, 4-313 DNB: G Wilson, A White, P McCallan, J Mooney, P Mooney.
Bowling: Marquet 10-0-53-2, Hutchinson 7-0-57-1, Friend 10-0-60-0, Stephenson 3-0-27-0, Hatwell 10-0-51-0, Kidd 9-0-60-0, Bicknell 1-0-11-0.
MCC
D Bicknell c Wilson b O'Brien 32
A Akram c sub b Langford-Smith 21
M Gatting c Carroll b McCallan 90
H Williams run out 12
T Friend c Bray b Langford-Smith 34
J Hatwell c Wilson b Langford-Smith 8
J Stephenson c P Mooney b J Mooney 9
A Patterson c and b White 10
G Kidd b J Mooney 0
J Marquet c O'Brien b White 1
P Hutchison not out 6
Extras (4b 4lb 10w 3nb) 21
TOTAL (all out, 43 overs) 244
Fall: 1-54 2-89 3-132 4-199 5-212 6-223 7-236 8-237 9-237.
Bowling: P Mooney 10-0-68-0, Langford-Smith 10-0-49-3, O'Brien 5-0-35-1, J Mooney 6-0-33-2, McCallan 10-1-39-1, White 2-0-12-2.
Ireland won by 97 runs.
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