Birrell hopes to sign off in style

Adrian Birrell was preparing for an emotional day as he takes charge of Ireland for the last time before returning to his native South Africa.

The coach and his team will return to great acclaim – whatever happens in their final World Cup Super Eight match against Sri Lanka today – from a campaign which has seen them secure a place in the International Cricket Council’s one-day rankings for the first time.

Victories over Pakistan and most recently Bangladesh have seen to that – and for 46-year-old Birrell, the Caribbean campaign is a source of significant pride.

The former Eastern Province leg-spinner has chosen to move on – but that would not stop him having mixed feelings today.

“It’s a feeling of sadness, in one way,” he said.

“It’s been a long journey, and an enjoyable and satisfying one. It’s about to come to an end. But I’m ready for that end as well.

“I probably will be quite emotional, being the person I am.”

Birrell sees his four-year association with Ireland as the culmination of a cricketing career which has not always delivered as he hoped.

“It means a lot to me, and I think people will forgive me for being emotional,” he said.

“It’s mainly a sense of great pride that I’ve achieved what I’ve achieved.

“I’ve said before many times in my career that I’ve felt I’ve underachieved as a player and a coach – and never really got the just rewards.

“But I think now cricket has paid me my dues. That is the way I really feel.”

Success over the past month has not come without much endeavour, stretching back to the start of Ireland’s three-month plus winter away from home – when they arrived in South Africa to begin their preparations on January 7.

Birrell is certain it has all been time well spent.

“We laid the foundations of our success in Port Elizabeth, where we trained, and didn’t receive the rewards [in the World Cricket League Division One] in Nairobi,” he said.

“We were pretty unlucky there. But we had trained really hard and put in the hard yards needed for the journey ahead of that.

“When I look back I can attribute a lot of our success to that training programme.”

Ireland captain Trent Johnston, today vowing to produce a performance to send Birrell off in style, already has something significant to celebrate – in the shape of that ICC ranking.

His team, who will not debut on the table until after the conclusion of the World Cup, have a big summer ahead of them too – with a Friends Provident Trophy campaign about to start and an Intercontinental Cup final against Canada next month.

Reflecting on the ICC accolade, Johnston said: “It’s phenomenal and a hell of an achievement for these 15 guys, our coaching staff and Irish cricket.”