Irish ready for action after soft draw with Australia

Not even the use of a "supersopper" on the outfield at the MAC Stadium in Madras yesterday could save Ireland's opening World Cup match against Australia from being called off. After four inspections the umpires ruled that the pitch was too soft for play and the match was declared a draw, with each team receiving three points.

"It really could never have gone ahead because the ground was very wet," said Irish vice-captain Catherine O'Neill. "The wicket itself was all right but the ground around it was soaking - we tried it out but a couple of the girls slipped over so it would have been just too dangerous. It's all very frustrating, we've been in Madras for five days now and we've been more or less hotel-bound."

There is, however, some good news on the weather front at last. "It's looking good for our match against Denmark tomorrow (also in Madras) - it was very hot today and it's drying up nicely, so we should get to play," said O'Neill. This tie could turn out to be Ireland's crunch Group A match.

Denmark cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Pakistan yesterday in Mysore and with England, Australia and South Africa favourites to finish in the top three in Group A, Ireland and Denmark are expected to battle it out for the last quarter-final place.

England opened the defence of their World Cup title with a seven-run victory over the South Africans in Hyderabad, in a match reduced to 20 overs after a four-hour delay due to rain. Both teams' physios appealed for the match to be called off because of the condition of the outfield but, with the game being screened live on Indian TV, the umpires ruled it should go ahead.

Despite the frustrations of the past few days, O'Neill says that spirits are high in the Irish camp and they remain confident of winning a place in the last eight of the tournament. "It was great to pick up three points against Australia, even if we never got to play. The Denmark match is huge for us now and we're all so eager to get playing that we'll go out with all guns blazing against them - we're really looking forward to the match."

Until now the squad has been restricted to circuit training in the hotel conference room, where they have also worked on their ball skills. Any accidents? "No, we haven't broken any windows or any lights . . . yet. The Australians have already broken a light on the eighth floor, out of sheer frustration - they whacked a ball down the corridor and smash! The Irish, I can assure you, are behaving themselves."

Meanwhile the "will-they-won't-they replace Canada" saga surrounding the Bangladesh team has finally come to an end with confirmation that they will not now take the place of the Canadians (who were forced to withdraw for financial reasons) in Group B of the tournament.

While the Bangladeshis' decision leaves the tournament lopsided, with just five teams competing in Group B, it came as something of a relief to the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI), which is already struggling to raise enough funds to meet the expenditure of hosting 11 countries.

Despite securing a last-minute sponsorship deal with Hero Honda the WCAI is still some way short of meeting the expenses of hosting the event, a situation made worse by the disappointing sales of advertisements and hoardings at the various World Cup venues.

Today's Fixtures

Group B: New Zealand v The Netherlands, Ghaziabad; Sri Lanka v West Indies, Delhi.

GROUP A

England - 1 1 0 0 6

Denmark - 1 1 0 0 6

Ireland - 1 0 1 0 3

Australia - 1 0 1 0 3

South Africa - 1 0 0 1 0

Pakistan - 1 0 0 1 0