Ireland's cricketers bemoan lack of recognition

Ireland are demanding more respect for their astounding achievement in upsetting the odds to reach the last eight of the World Cup.

Despite containing 12 amateur cricketers in their squad, Ireland have confounded expectations by tying with Zimbabwe and beating Pakistan to qualify for the Super Eight stage.

But they are still battling for recognition among cricket’s elite and vice-captain Kyle McCallan believes it is overdue after their achievement in reaching the critical stage of the tournament.

“It’s a little bit frustrating because, before the tournament, we were told we weren’t good enough to be here,” said 31-year-old off-spinner McCallan.

“It is frustrating that, now we are here, people are saying the tournament is the wrong format and now Ireland and Bangladesh are in the Super Eights it’s going to take away from the tournament.

“That’s the nature of sport, unfortunately, and I firmly believe we have earned the right to be here and therefore we have earned that bit of respect.”

McCallan is also irritated by the claims of some critics that Ireland rely too heavily on those players who were not born on the Emerald Isle.

The squad contains four players who are not of Irish origin – captain Trent Johnston (Australia), Andre Botha (South Africa), Jeremy Bray and David Langford-Smith (Australia).

But, as a nation who were only given one-day international status last summer when they played England in their inaugural ODI in Belfast, it is perhaps understandable they need help along the way before their successful youth programmes bear fruit.

“We’re tired of these comments in the press that Irish cricket is made up of ex-pats who have come in from overseas and we’re reliant on them,” said McCallan.

“A lot of things have been written that are inaccurate that we’re dependent on these guys and I don’t think are based on our performances here – Irish cricket is pretty strong and it would be nice for people to sometimes give us the credit we deserve.

“If you take Trent Johnston and Jeremy Bray out of our side, it will make a difference, but we’re not the only side in this tournament who are reliant on boys who are not born and bred in their own country.

“The one thing they have brought is self-belief because they have been there and played at that level.

“Playing in the C&G [Trophy] last year has given us a greater exposure to high quality cricket and you can’t improve without playing people who are better than you.”

While they may be irritated at a lack of recognition, however, Ireland are not about to accept that qualification for the Super Eights is the limit of their achievement.

McCallan is confident Ireland can cause further upsets over the next three weeks, perhaps beginning with Friday’s opening match against England at the Providence Stadium.

“I believe we can cause a shock,” he stressed.

“On our day, we have some very capable cricketers.

“The problem we have had is that we have lacked some consistency, which probably comes from not being professional and not doing it day in and day out, but we’ve got the opportunity to do that now.

“I think we can cause a shock, but I’m not going to go around making predictions about it.

“We’ve always said that, if we play to our potential, and one of the other teams has a mediocre day, it’s game on.

“But we’re not naive and we’re not going to come here and be all arrogant and say we’re going to beat England on Friday because, at this stage, any of these teams are capable of winning the tournament.”