STATEMENT BY BRENDAN RYAN TD
Labour TD for Dublin North
Monday, 21 March 2011
IRISH CRICKET TEAM CAN FEEL PROUD WITH THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS IN WORLD CUP
The victory for the Irish Cricket Team over Holland in what transpired to be our last game in the World Cup Tournament,
was another record breaking achievement. Requiring 307 to win, Ireland achieved it with the loss of only four wickets.
This was the fourth highest total ever achieved by a team batting second and winning in the history of the World Cup. The
first inning partnership between the Captain William Porterfield and Paul Stirling was also a record.
The Irish team as a whole can be very pleased with their performances in this tournament. It is widely accepted
that they were the most highly motivated and best fielding team in the tournament. They showed their ability, maturity,
and character in all of their games.
On reflection, the players may feel that they could and perhaps should have beaten Bangladesh, and therefore be in contention
for the next phase of the tournament. It says a lot for our progress as a cricket nation that none of our opponents
had an easy game against us. Far from it, we were competitive in every game.
Fingal’s own John-Boy Mooney showed how much his bowling has improved at international level, having taken two
Dutch wickets and been one of the best Irish bowlers on a very easy batting wicket. He is a credit to the development of cricket
in Fingal. Irrespective of what further achievements he may attain in either bowling or batting in the future, he will always
go down in the “folklore” of Fingal cricket as the batsman who hit the winning runs against our “Auld Enemy”
England in the 2011 World Cup!
By their victory over Holland, Ireland has clearly demonstrated that they are the best of the associate nations, and
a class above the tournament’s so called “minnows”. For the future of Irish international cricket,
it is important that the progress made in recent years is maintained and developed further.
In this regard, it is important that Ireland can retain their players and this can only be achieved if the ICC fully
recognises the progress that has been made by Ireland and to grant them full international status.
ENDS.
Contact Brendan Ryan at 086 821 6176
