Narrow loss to leaders lifts mood for finale

CRICKET - IRELAND v NORTHAMPTONSHIRE:AHEAD OF today's final Friends Provident Trophy outing against Northamptonshire at Castle Avenue (noon), Kyle McCallan, the Ireland skipper, took time out yesterday to reflect on Monday's dramatic one-run defeat to Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The Waringstown player led Ireland on his 183rd appearance for his country and was left with mixed feelings after Kevin O'Brien's epic knock of 93 not out brought the side so close to a second county scalp in the competition this season.

"I think we did very well from the position we were in to only lose by one run, but it's amazing how you can find one run when you look back over the course of our batting, bowling and fielding displays," remarked McCallan.

"We had a great start with both bat and ball, but I don't think we coped that well when (Adam) Voges and (Samit) Patel put us under pressure. And when we batted we got bogged down in the middle of the innings.

"It's very encouraging that we are going away to Trent Bridge to the leaders of the county championship, a team vying to get out of the group, and putting up a good performance with such a young side.

"But in saying that, I think the days of Irish cricketers being happy losers in this competition are long gone and there's a degree of frustration among the team."

O'Brien has been asked by the Middlesex coach Toby Radford to join the ex-pat community at Lord's for the summer, but the 24-year-old first wants to get one over on elder brother Niall, who put Ireland to the sword in the away fixture.

"I'm looking forward to it; I've played against him a couple of times and been on the receiving end so hopefully I can reverse that tomorrow," said Kevin.

With qualification still on the cards, the Steelbacks have named a strong line-up that includes the South Africans Andrew Hall and Johann van der Wath, who both missed the eight-wicket victory at Wantage Road.

Fintan McAllister made a fine debut with the gloves against Notts, and the Ireland coach Phil Simmons may be tempted to hand the Bready batsman Chris Dougherty a start today, making him the fourth player (fifth including Ravi Rampaul) to make a debut in the competition this year.

There was one blip on Ireland's return to Dublin Airport yesterday when Rampaul took some time clearing the passport desk. Maybe they had not heard of the fast bowler's three-wicket haul against Notts, but considering the inclement weather that greeted Ireland's return, it's hard to fathom how an immigration official believed the Trinidad native wanted to spend any longer than was absolutely necessary in this country.

The forecast for Rampaul's last appearance in today's clash is also poor, but Simmons could brighten the mood by asking his fellow islander if he's at a loose end at the same time next year.

IRELAND SQUAD:K McCallan (Waringstown, capt), A Cusack (Clontarf), C Dougherty (Bready), P Eaglestone (Strabane), T Fourie (Railway Union), J Hall (Waringstown), G Kidd (Waringstown), F McAllister (Rush, wkts), K O'Brien (Railway Union), R Rampaul (Overseas), P Stirling (Cliftonville), R Strydom (North County), A White (Instonians).

NORTHANTS:S Peters, N O'Brien, N Boje (capt), D Sales, R White, R Wessels, L Klusener, A Hall, J van der Wath, J Louw, J Brown.