ICC World Twenty20 2012 Qualifier Final

Both Ireland and Afghanistan have qualified for Sri Lanka, and Ireland have already played one match today, but hopefully the final will be a close game.  Afghanistan won the toss and decided to bat.  Live text ball-by-ball commentary here.  Adds  Or, thanks to John below, watch it live here. Afghanistan 152 for 7 from 20 overs. Update  Afghanistan made 152 from their 20 overs.  Not as high a total as they were threatening, thanks to a spirited bowling and fielding performance by Ireland.  Key moment being …

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ICC World Twenty20 2012 Qualifier Tournament

After defeating the Netherlands by seven wickets in Dubai, Ireland’s cricketers are just one win away from a final showdown with Afghanistan in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament.   Getting to the final would also secure a place in the World Twenty20 2012 in Sri Lanka in September.  To get there, though, they need to beat Namibia, who lost to Afghanistan by 47 runs in an earlier preliminary final. Namibia are also the only team to have defeated Ireland in the qualifying tournament to date.  That, however, was in …

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Ireland v England ODI

In a reduced overs innings [42 overs] Ireland restricted the Eoin Morgan led England One Day International side to 201 for 8 at Clontarf.  Morgan made 59 from 65 balls.  Ireland had won the toss and put England in to bat.  Cricinfo scorecard.  Radio Test Match Special live coverage.  Or Guardian or BBC text commentary.  Ireland require 202 from 42 overs.  Duckworth-Lewis may come into play…  Added  D/L applied to England’s total.  Ireland now require 203 from 42 overs.  Apparently they were …

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Morgan to captain England for historic Dublin game

Cricketing maestro Sachin Tendulkar narrowly missed, again, his century of centuries [lbw for 91] in the fourth, and final, test match against England as India failed to avoid a fourth defeat in the series.  And, on Thursday 25 August, the One Day version of the new top ranked Test side will play Ireland in Dublin for the very first time.  Former Ireland batsman, Dublin-born Eoin Morgan has been named as captain.  For England. England National Selector Geoff Miller said: “The squad we’re looking to take to Ireland involves …

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Tri-Nation Tournament: Scotland v Ireland

Yesterday’s opening One Day International game in the Tri-Nation Tournament in Scotland, Ireland v Sri Lanka, was a wash-out.  But today’s, Scotland v Ireland, is underway.  Scotland won the toss and elected to field.  After 11 overs Ireland are 63 for 1.  ESPN Cricinfo scorecard here.  And, thanks to PaulT in the comments, here’s the Cricket Scotland TV live coverage. Update Ireland 320 for 8 from 50 overs. Adds Scotland 323 for 5 from 48.3 overs. Scotland win by 5 wickets …

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ICC reverse World Cup 2015 decision

Yesterday, as RTÉ and the BBC reported, the ICC Executive Board approved the recommendation that there should be a qualification process for the World Cup 2015.  They also decided to reverse their previous decision to restrict the competition to 10 teams by approving a continuation of the 14 team format [10 full members and 4 qualifying associates].  For now.  The flip-side is that the ICC World Twenty20 tournaments in 2012 and 2014 will not be expanded – only 12 teams will …

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ICC Chief Executives’ Committee recommend “qualification process” for World Cup 2015

Both RTÉ and the BBC report that the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Chief Executives’ Committee (CEC) have approved the recommendation of the Cricket Committee that there should be “a qualification process”  for the Cricket World Cup 2015.  But they haven’t recommended increasing the number of teams taking part from the ten originally proposed.  From the CEC press release. ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 The CEC recommended that there should be a qualification process for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 but did …

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ODI: Ireland v Pakistan

After a disappointing performance in the first One-Day International against Pakistan on Saturday, Ireland’s cricketers won the toss and elected to bat today at Stormont.  And they’ve set Pakistan a solid target of 239 from their 50 overs.  As the cricinfo report says, A brilliant, belligerent century by Paul Stirling gave Ireland hope of levelling the two-match RSA Series in Belfast today. An ODI win for Ireland against Pakistan, a full ICC member, could have implications for Ireland’s ICC World Cup 2015 hopes. Cricinfo scorecard …

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The missing “unanimous” ICC Cricket Committee recommendation

Both the BBC and the RTÉ reports picked up on Irish cricketer Trent Johnston’s tweet following the ICC Cricket Committee meeting at Lord’s yesterday to note a further development in the ICC World Cup 2015 story.  Here’s Trent Johnston’s tweet Unanimous decision by ICC Cricket Committee to recommend to the Chief Exec Committee there be a qualifier for CWC 2015. A great result! Trent Johnston is a member of the committee, and he was present at the meeting, so there’s no reason to …

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ICC Executive Board to revisit World Cup 2015 decision

As the BBC reports, the International Cricket Council President, Sharad Pawar, has requested the ICC Executive Board to revisit the decision to exclude Associate and Affiliate Members of the ICC, including Ireland, from the Cricket World Cup 2015.  From the ICC statement …after receiving representations from the Associate and Affiliate Members of the ICC, the ICC President Mr Sharad Pawar has decided to request the ICC Executive Board to revisit the issue in Hong Kong in June. Mr Pawar said: “I …

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 “will comprise the existing 10 Full Members”

As the BBC reports, at the ICC Executive Board meeting at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai on 4 April 2011 it was agreed that The Executive Board confirmed their decision made in October 2010 that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand and the ICC Cricket World Cup in England in 2019 will be a 10-team event. The Board agreed that the 2015 World Cup will comprise the existing 10 Full Members, however, they gave notice …

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ICC World Cup 2011: Quarter-finals

The dust has settled on the final games of the opening stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 –  Zimbabwe defeated Kenya by 161 runs and the West Indies collapsed against India when in a commanding position. The group tables are now complete and the line-up for the knock-out quarter-final stage is as follows. 23 March Pakistan v West Indies, first quarter-final, Mirpur (d/n) Play starts 0830 GMT 24 March India v Australia, second quarter-final, Ahmedabad (d/n) Play starts 0900 GMT 25 March South …

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ICC World Cup 2011: Ireland v Netherlands

Ireland’s final game in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is underway.  Ireland won the toss and decided to field.  The Netherlands have set a big total for Ireland to chase with ten Doeschate making 106 run from 108 balls.  ESPNCricinfo over-by-over commentary. Netherlands 306 all out from 50 overs. Target 307.  Ireland innings Porterfield c Buurman b Cooper 68 (93 b 10×4 0x6) FoW 177 for 1 from 27 overs Stirling c Kervezee b Seelaar 101 (72 b 14×4 2×6) FoW …

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ICC World Cup 2011: Ireland V South Africa

A must win game for Ireland today against South Africa if they are to have any chance of making it through to the knock-out stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. You can pick up the live radio coverage here, along with the BBC over-by-over text commentary.  RTÉ coverage here. ESPNCricinfo commentary and scorecard here. Ireland won the toss and decided to field. And a good start for Ireland. South Africa innings Amla c Dockrell b Rankin for18 (17b …

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ICC World Cup 2011: India V Ireland

After Ireland’s stunning win over England on Wednesday, today they face India at Bangalore in their third match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.  India won the toss and decided to field.  BBC scorecard here.  ESPNCricinfo over-by-over text commentary and scorecard. Ireland currently 165 for 6 from 39 overs. Stirling bowled Khan for 0 from 1 ball. FoW 1 for 1 from 0.4 overs Joyce caught Dhoni bowled Khan 4 from 5 balls.  FoW  9 for 2 from 2.3 …

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“They can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Terrific Ireland.”

Whether you’re gloating or, like Alan, you somehow missed my ‘excited’ live-blogging of the match [*ahem* – Ed] enjoy the highlights from the final 17 overs of Ireland’s historic win over England in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Group B match yesterday. [While you can… – Ed] As the Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell says What happened in a half-filled Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday was not just the finest day in the history of Irish cricket. It was, certainly, a result and a …

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The Irish #cwc2011 gloating begins

I’m trying to work out whether Geoff Boycott’s use of the word “leprechauns” constitutes some kind of racist slur or whether it’s the self-adopted nickname of the mighty Irish cricket team following their historic victory over England in the #cwc2011 Cricket World Cup. Perhaps one follows the other? In the meantime, Philosophy Football (who diversified into Cricket for The Ashes) have a t-shirt already for the burgeoning market of Irish cricket aficionados. They’re offering £5 off for orders placed in …

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ICC World Cup 2011: Bangladesh V Ireland

The Ireland cricket team open their ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 tournament today against Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Bangladesh. Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat. Concern about the Bangladeshi openers may have been justified, but a discplined Ireland managed to bowl them all out for 205 runs, in 49.2 of the 50 overs. Ed Joyce will be hoping for a successful return to the Ireland side in the innings to come. Bangladesh 205 all …

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Third cricket club targeted by vandals

A third cricket club in County Londonderry has been targeted by vandals in the past week.  The playing surfaces of a number of pitches have been destroyed in the attacks. Police said they have not yet established whether there is a link between the three attacks, but have asked people who live near sports grounds to watch out for any suspicious activity. Pete Baker

World Twenty20: “Just play on. Jesus, it’s only rain.”

At the Guardian’s sports blog Dara O’Briain reflects on the outcome of the most important sporting event of the week – the rain-affected World Twenty20 clash between Ireland and England. From the Guardian blog Well, where do we begin? Generations of division; the Dark Burden of History; all this to be finally addressed with the use of willow and ball. Or it would have been, but there was some rain and according to the rules, that meant England went through. Now, …

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