Ireland all buoyed up to tame Three Lions

When the fastest bowler Ireland has ever produced marks his run-up on this morning, most of the 10,000 spectators at Malahide Cricket Club will be willing him to fail.

For Derry-born Boyd Rankin will be wearing the red of England against an Ireland team he represented in two World Cups and three World Twenty20 tournaments. He will become the third Irish-born cricketer in the last decade to give up his Ireland career to play one-day international cricket for England, and all three will be in action when Ireland face England in the RSA Challenge ODI (10.30am).

Eoin Morgan will captain England, while Ed Joyce will represent Ireland, having chosen to re-qualify for the country of birth after poor performances in the 2007 World Cup ended his Three Lions career.