2nd T20 International: Ireland vs England, Friday September 19th, 1.30pm, Malahide Cricket Club, live on TNT Sports and BBC Five Live Sports Extra
Once more unto the breach.
Such a militaristic Shakespeare reference might be a bit dramatic. Yet Ireland would be forgiven for feeling wary of another barrage after Wednesday’s display by the England batting line-up secured a comfortable victory for the visitors.
Speaking before the series, captain Paul Stirling acknowledged that confidence was not the order of the day. This wasn’t a trio of games to necessarily win, but rather to build developmental positives as Ireland begin their run into February’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
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With that in mind, that Ireland’s blueprint for batting success bore fruit at this early juncture of the run-in was a victory of sorts. England’s bowling attack underperformed, but to score 196 against such an experienced group can only be a positive omen.
Ireland elevated Harry Tector up the order from number four to three not that long ago. It was the first time in this experiment that he passed 50, an unbeaten knock of 61 showing the value of arguably Ireland’s best true batter facing as many deliveries as possible. “There’s a stat that if Harry faces 30+ balls, he gets a lot of runs,” explained Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan.
Tector’s acceleration alongside Lorcan Tucker, who also brought up an impressive half-century, paced Ireland’s innings well. Of his six T20I half-centuries, this was Tector’s second highest strike rate. There was some chatter that they could have gone harder earlier, given the English threat to come, but the bigger issue was Ireland’s start.
If Ross Adair and Paul Stirling found more scoring options early doors, Ireland’s plan would have been executed perfectly; start fast, have Tector and Tucker marshal the middle overs, explode at the death.
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” acknowledged Malan. “We do have that blueprint, people coming at the back end. We scored 60 odd off the last five overs, going at a rate of 12s. Could we maybe have pulled the trigger a bit earlier?
“It [the powerplay] wasn’t easy, they bowled nicely and changed things up quickly. The message came back that the pitch was a little two-paced. Ross didn’t get us off to the start we would like to, as he has in the past. Hopefully he can keep doing that in the future for us.”
Adair is a fascinating case study of Ireland’s development system. A late bloomer as an international cricketer given his previous rugby career, he never availed of English county cricket akin to his opening partner Paul Stirling. Nor did he emerge as a result of Ireland’s pre-Covid First Class system, as did Tector and Tucker.
He looked what he is on Wednesday, the least experienced international in Ireland’s top four. Yet he is undoubtedly the most powerful. When one of his favoured strokes came off, dancing down the pitch and making room to access the off side, he punished England quick Jamie Overton. A towering six into the hospitality tent was one of the more impressive boundary shots on the day.
When it didn’t come off, though, he looked out of sorts. He was beaten for pace by deliveries short and full. A mistimed pull clattered into his grill. Dot balls were a regular, his score at one stage reading 11 off 17. On radio commentary, former Ireland batter Ed Joyce said that “it’s not his job to be 11 off 17.”
Ireland undoubtedly back Adair to come good. We all remember his devastating hundred against South Africa last year. Like the rest of his team-mates, he hasn’t played at this level since June. Unlike his peers, Adair doesn’t have a meaningful body international experience to lean on. This conversation will die down very quickly if his determined aggression pays off on Friday.
Such a critique is, in the grand scheme of things, nitpicking at a solid batting display. It will be intriguing to see if Malan’s comments asking for an earlier acceleration lead to a debut for Ben Calitz, Ireland’s new hard-hitting left-hander. He was picked in this squad due to his ability to hit spin. Yet he didn’t make the XI against an England side packed with quality spin options.
Ireland’s prospects of recovery hinge largely on their bowling. Critical analysis of their inability to stop England’s onslaught would be harsh, given the absence of their best new ball option – Mark Adair – and their quickest bowler – Josh Little. Malan still asked the question if Ireland could have been more defensive in their plans, given the quality of batting surface provided.
Barry McCarthy and Craig Young are experienced enough to adapt. Matthew Humphreys surely won’t bowl as wide with the new ball. The one potential change is to swap out Graham Hume, his skillset not suited to a flat pitch, for Jordan Neil, an inexperienced yet quicker bowler.
Given England’s strength and Ireland’s depleted attack, such tinkering may well be a mere exercise in damage limitation. While T20 is a variable beast, provided the rain stays away, a reasonably familiar script from game one is to be expected.
