Sod’s law dictates that rain was always going to have a say at some point in Ireland’s summer calendar.
With just nine days of men’s international cricket pencilled in between May and September (the women have eight), fans already felt short changed.
That the rain ruined any hopes of a result on Friday afternoon in Clontarf and with Sunday’s forecast threatening the series finale, all involved are underwhelmed.
With such a barren schedule to sell the top level of the sport to the Irish public, Cricket Ireland always ran the risk of rain ruining their already limited product.
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West Indies did manage to bat for 50 overs before the heavens opened. After the visitor’s head coach Darren Sammy called their Wednesday performance “timid”, many predicted a response. Still, nobody saw Matthew Forde’s record performance coming, equalling 50-over cricket’s fastest half-century at 16 balls.
Josh Little bore the brunt of the Caribbean onslaught, Forde launching Ireland’s left-armer for four maximums in one solitary over. Little went short, Forde went long over the Clontarf scoreboard and into the houses.
Liam McCarthy suffered too, his attempted wide yorker ploy leading to a pair of lost balls. Tom Mayes didn’t escape punishment either.
In a way, the rain was Ireland’s friend. They would have needed to break their record chase to haul in the West Indies’ total of 352-8. With the odds not in their favour, they probably would have taken a rain-affected draw which leaves the West Indies needing a win on Sunday just to level the three-match series. Yet with the volume of cricket they had this summer, they probably wanted to get out as much as anyone.
The good news from Ireland’s effort with the ball was McCarthy – before Forde got hold of him. Pegged as a rare bowler with pace who can give Ireland something different in the middle overs, he took three wickets in the thankless part of the game, his first international scalps.
West Indies captain Shai Hope nicked one which just left him after starting to look dangerous. Keacy Carty also nicked off after an impressive century. Forde’s fun was ended by a searing McCarthy yorker at the death.
Barry McCarthy stuck to his good new ball form when finding Brandon King’s edge, adding a second later on, while George Dockrell continued his bowling renaissance with another dismissal.
Most of this preceded Forde’s ludicrous onslaught. Ireland were poor – they either bowled without an apparent plan or an inability to execute when tactics did become clear.
Clontarf being a small ground certainly aided Forde’s cause, but his display was still one of brutal beauty. The neighbours may well disagree. It’s only a shame the West Indies didn’t get back out to secure the win his performance deserved.
