Ireland look to back up rankings

CRICKET:HAVING REASSERTED their dominance of the four-day game by gaining a place in the Intercontinental Cup final, Ireland now aim to back up their ranking as the 10th best side in one-day cricket in a six-match Tri-Nations series in Nairobi, starting with a clash against Zimbabwe today.

Zimbabwe are one place below Ireland in the ICC rankings, while 12th-placed Kenya also take part in a series where sides will face each other twice before the top two teams meet in the final tomorrow week. Ireland last met Zimbabwe at last year's World Cup, with the game ending in a thrilling tie that started off Ireland's fairytale stay in the Caribbean.

The African side have played just 11 One-Day Internationals since, winning one against West Indies, and they will be without three of their more talented players for the series.

Wicket-keeper Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams declared themselves unavailable due to disagreements with the board of Cricket Zimbabwe, while Vusi Sibanda has not recovered from a hip injury.

They will also have to deal with reacclimatising after taking part in a Twenty20 tournament in Canada, which only ended last Monday. Ireland have no such worries after their stunning victory over Kenya that put them into a third straight Intercontinental Cup final.

Phil Simmons's side are firing on all cylinders right now, with three batsmen having recorded centuries in that encounter, while the bowlers performed a minor miracle in capturing 20 wickets on a flat pitch that was set up for a draw. World Cup skipper Trent Johnston makes his return to the ODI action for the first time since the 3-0 series loss in Bangladesh back in March, with Simmons likely to name an unchanged line-up from the one that recorded victories over Namibia and Kenya in the last two weeks.

IRELAND (Squad):W Porterfield (Gloucestershire, capt), A Botha (North County), P Connell (North Down), A Cusack (Clontarf), P Eaglestone (Strabane), T Johnston (Railway Union), K McCallan (Waringstown), J Mooney (North County), K O'Brien (Railway Union), N O'Brien (Northants, wkts), A Poynter (Clontarf), B Rankin (Warwickshire), R West (Civil Service North), A White (Instonians), G Wilson (Surrey).