Cricket One-day internationalNever has Irish cricket seen the like. Some 8,000 people watching a game live; the annoying but otherwise harmless Barmy Army singing everything from Jerusalem to Danny Boy in the stand; a 100-strong posse of media personnel; and above all, Ireland playing England in a full one-day international (ODI).
No matter that their big stars, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, took no part due to injuries, or that England won the game - this event transcended the result. And thankfully, the Irish put together one of their best performances of the year, eventually falling just 38 runs short.
Andre Botha batted well for his 52, as did Andy White (40) and Kevin O'Brien (35) when perhaps the English had taken their foot off the gas. But this was a much-improved display by an Irish side who showed again they are capable of mixing it with the best.
"It was a huge day for us," said captain Trent Johnston. "The biggest day in Irish cricket history and I was very happy with the performance of my lads today," he said.
Last time Ed Joyce played at Stormont last July he scored a century for Ireland against the United Arab Emirates in the ICC Trophy. So it must have been a strange feeling for him striding out to the middle alongside Marcus Trescothick in England colours to face the bowlers he once called his team-mates. He didn't last long, however. Having scored 10 he skied a short ball from John Mooney and was well caught by Kevin O'Brien at square leg.
O'Brien then struck with his first ball (a long-hop loosener that Andrew Strauss smashed to the waiting Botha at backward square leg). Not many bowlers can say they took a wicket with their debut delivery in ODIs.
David Langford-Smith (3-63) and John Mooney (3-79) were the other wicket-takers as only Trescothick really dominated the bowlers. He hit a run-a-ball 113 before holing out to Paul Mooney on the long-on boundary. With the bat, Ireland fought hard and when they were 52 for 1 off nine overs, anything could have happened as Steve Harmison and the rest of the England attack looked rusty. But in the end, England chipped away and ground out a result.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND
M Trescothick c P Mooney b J Mooney 113
E Joyce c O'Brien b Langford-Smith 10
A Strauss c Botha b O'Brien 4
P Collingwood c Johnston b J Mooney 10
I Bell c Joyce b J Mooney 80
J Dalrymple c P Mooney b Langford-Smith 17
G Jones not out 20
G Chapple c O'Brien b Langford-Smith 14
L Plunkett not out 3
Extras (10lb, 1nb, 18w) 29
TOTAL (for 7, 50 overs) 301
Fall: 37, 60, 92, 234, 258, 264, 285
DNB: S Mahmood, S Harmison
Bowling: Johnston 10-2-59-0, Langford-Smith 10-0-63-3, J Mooney 10-0-79-3, O'Brien 10-0-47-1, P Mooney 5-0-17-0, McCallan 5-0-26-0
IRELAND
D Joyce b Harmison 0
J Bray c Collingwood b Mahmood 22
A Botha b Collingwood 52
K McCallan c Jones b Harmison 24
P Gillespie c Joyce b Collingwood 0
T Johnston c Collingwood b Harmison 5
A White c Jones b Bell 40
K O'Brien c Plunkett b Bell 35
D Langford-Smith st Jones b Dalrymple 12
J Mooney not out 30
P Mooney not out 11
Extras (5lb, 7nb, 18w) 30
TOTAL (for 9, 50 overs) 263
Fall: 10, 60, 118, 121, 127, 135, 209, 210, 235
Bowling: Harmison 10-0-58-3, Chapple 4-0-14-0, Plunkett 10-0-48-0, Mahmood 7-0-21-1, Collingwood 5-0-36-2, Dalrymple 9-0-50-1
England won by 38 runs
