Irish Cricket 2023

KevIRL

What's the weather forecast like? Will it save Sri Lanka from inevitable defeat?

Drifter100

Well done the top order

Proper test batting for once, good application and concentration. Lets see if we can drag it out to mid afternoon or beyond on day 2

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120510589#Comment_120510589

It's a lot better when he's scoring runs and not talking waffle, today was very positive, I agree with this post, I wonder do the ever re watch the interviews and cringe, I know there are only so many words you can use, but it was extremely repetitive

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120515210#Comment_120515210

It is actually forecast to rain tomorrow but only around 3:00 local time, and the next few days appear similar, so there may be lots of overnight rain, but the ground dries up really quickly, so it may not have as much of an impact as the pre match predictions

Strumms

great turnaround by Ireland, at 43/2 I was a little worried but to get to 319/4 is impressive stuff…

they owed that performance to themselves and by proxy irish cricket….

Paul Stirlings injury has been put down to cramps I’m reading……so maybe after some rest, food and plenty of liquids he’ll resume his innings. He was going well. Be great if he could score a century…. 26 runs needed…

KevIRL

Stirling gets his ton. Now has centuries for Ireland in all formats of the game

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517642#Comment_120517642

Great stuff, going well

KevIRL

399/6 at lunch

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517644#Comment_120517644

Was out straight away, shouldn't have said anything, 80/2 in that session, not too bad, would br happy with 480, hopefully

Guildenstern

500 should be the target and while it's still achievable, this is test cricket and it may end up 420 all out.

Great to see Ireland set a high score first innings in a Test. While it may not be a match winning score, although it still could, more often than not it at worst gives us a draw.

Objectively though, tests have a tendency to move in different directions over the 5 days. Let's see how this develops.

KevIRL

450 up for no further wicket loss

KevIRL

Ton for Campher

Mysterypunter

Lovely ton for Campher, well deserved and well compiled, every batter who passed 20 has got to 80, great batting effort

TrueDub

Century for Campher - great batting from him and from Ireland in general.

Interesting to see that the people who love to pile on when Ireland struggle are nowhere to be seen here this morning...

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517934#Comment_120517934

Of course they are and will be - great batting effort by us, ridden our chances and taken advantage of bad balls. What's been heartening is to see several partnerships built, two centuries and could easily have been a third. What's on now? Get past 500 and declare if necessary to leave us a good 30 overs to bowl at them?

KevIRL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517932#Comment_120517932

Except McBrine

So far....

Mysterypunter

474/7;McBrine out, played well for 35, including a lovely straight 6 off Jayasuriya

KevIRL

Pity, I would say that means we wont end up declaring. Hopefully can get over the 500 mark with just the tail enders plus Campher left. No hurry either, keeping SL out in the middle for another 20-25 overs would be great.

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517946#Comment_120517946

Not sure if the bowlers can exert enough pressure, maybe not declare, and bat on as long as possible, time will not be an issue, if they take wickets they still have plenty of it, you would have to be wary of batting second time around and getting skittles, so while it's going well keep at it.

Mysterypunter

Campher out to a great slip catch for 111, 476/8

KevIRL

Campher gets a nelson

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120517952#Comment_120517952

Crowed him OK, at the time I meant the batters who were out, when I cursed him he fell soon after

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518061#Comment_120518061

David Shepherd would have been leaping about

Mysterypunter

492, very good total

KevIRL

Yep v good indeed. All batters bar white got at least one boundary. Pity they didn't get to 500. But would have to hope that at worst they don't lose from here

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518190#Comment_120518190

Shouldn't, but depends on the fielding effort, still a good batting wicket, fingers crossed

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518236#Comment_120518236

We'll have a good idea by close of play I think. If we are thinking of winning, a couple of wickets would be handy to put them under pressure. But you'd think that if we bowl reasonably well and field well enough and don't fall apart quickly in second innings that we'll get at least a draw from here. If we lose from here, it will be our own fault.

wicorthered

The key to bowling on these pitches is keeping it tight and making the batsmen work for their runs. Already Ireland have already given away 8 boundaries in the first 11 overs. Not a single maiden over with the new ball. Sri Lanka have flown to 50 under very little pressure.

The next step for this team is learning to control the run rate on batting pitches. Make batsmen make mistakes, don't serve up poor balls and make it even easier for them.

Sri Lanka are the ultimate flat track bullies. Their batsmen struggle anywhere outside Sri Lanka. If you bowl well to them their not great, but if you bowl poor they'll punish you.

Strumms

Nice total set with the bat...

Our bowlers not putting any real pressure on their batsmen though...

Mysterypunter

Sri Lanka untroubled at 81/0, 411 behind, keep at it and Ireland could still exert pressure

Mysterypunter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518442#Comment_120518442

Absolutely right, the fell apart against swing bowling in New Zealand, ran ghem close in one test, but outplayed completely in other games

VillaMad

Super effort over the past two days with the bat all the while remembering that these guys are playing in relatively unfamiliar conditions at over 30 degrees heat and also with very little experience of red ball cricket.

The mindset to go from limited overs cricket to this must have been quite difficult to adjust and Campher for example has probably come nowhere close to facing over 200 deliveries in one innings before. So, to have that mindset and concentration throughout the team for almost 2 days was a superb effort.

Unfortunately the pitch currently is too easy for batting and Sri Lanka should have the same joy that Ireland got in their innings. Ireland without Little don't have any x-factor with the ball and nothing to get the Sri Lankans worried about. The trouble with this is that if Sri Lanka post a similar score and get to 500 or so, that will leave Ireland with a difficult second innings on probably Day 4, where they can't win and the pitch may start turning then which would make things a whole lot different.

Ireland somehow need to prise wickets out tomorrow.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120518775#Comment_120518775

Yep, it has the potential to be a very intriguing match.

Mysterypunter

Sri Lanka dominating this session at 165/0, need to apply the brakes

wicorthered

One maiden in 46 overs. That's just not good enough.

The selectors have made the mistake lots of teams make in Asia. They've loaded up on spinners simply because the pitch is spinning. They haven't considered the fact that the spinners they picked aren't good enough and won't take wickets regardless of how much spin is on offer. They should've went with another seamer and tried to keep some control. Humphries and White are just cannon fodder and offer no threat.

Mysterypunter

Karunaratne out just on the lunch break after an opening stand of 228, 6 Sri Lankan tons, and they have only lost 7 wickets in the series

InsideEdge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120521713#Comment_120521713

And where do you think we could conjure up this extra seamer? Josh Little is playing in the IPL and Barry McCarthy is injured, either of these two may have made a difference but they are not available. I find it pretty incredible that there is so much negative comment on this team. The simple fact is that we don't play multi-day cricket in this country and having a team that can be competitive at Test match level with so little experience is a bonus, particularly when playing in Asian conditions.

I'm old enough to remember when Sri Lanka were given Test status and it took them a long time to work themselves up to a position where they could consistently compete with the other Test nations. A quick look at the stats show that Sri Lanka took 14 Test matches and nearly four years of playing before they won their first game.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120522041#Comment_120522041

I'm sure the vast majority of people who look in here take an interest in Irish cricket and wish the team the best. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't look at each match on it's merits and discuss both the bad points and weaknesses as well as the successes.

It's clear in this innings that we have little cutting edge or threat in the bowling dept, it's not negative to point that out. And dropping catches doesn't help either. If only fan boys post just how great we are, it'd also be meaningless.

Mysterypunter

342/1 now, 150 behind

wicorthered

Kane who has test experience could've played. Mayes is in the squad, he could have been given a go. My point is White was picked because he was a spinner not because of performances. Nothing in his two previous games suggested he would do anything different than what he's currently doing.

Look back at my posts. Nowhere have I said they should be winning test matches. The defeat against Bangladesh was a brilliant performance. I've consistently said they need time to develop. Needing time to develop is different to picking the wrong team though. Ireland's bowling strength has always been seam bowling. Ok they won't run through Sri Lanka but maybe they'd keep it tighter and force mistakes. They should've tried something different this game

Finally times have changed from when Sri Lanka first played tests. Back then test cricket was the pinnacle. Now for most if not all teams it's an after though.

Furze99

Anyway, what's happening here? What's the read? Their No3 is scoring a run a ball, the total is being whacked away. There are 40 overs left today going currently at 5 an over.

They could hit 600 easily and declare tomorrow morning. Their spinners were beating the bat in our first innings, but we haven't replicated that as much. Going to require a big effort from us to bat out tomorrow and a good portion of the last day in order to force a draw.. anyone else hazard an idea?

wicorthered

Realistically Simi Singh should be playing. He has a lot more experience of both sub continent and first class cricket. He would've offered some control and protected the two young guys that have been completely thrown to the wolves here. How can you make your first class debut in an away test match in Asia.

wicorthered

I'd imagine at some stage this pitch will deteriorate and spin square. We'll need a really exceptional batting performance on day five for a result

Mysterypunter

Looks like not much prospect of play for the remainder of day 3, 357/1, need more matches obviously and dubious team selection maybe, but a limited pool of players available

Strumms

357/1 is the SL response.

So that’s really any chance of a victory and levelling up the series out the window. Pity…

Healthy enough run rate for the Sri Lankans, just under 5. A couple of their batsmen with strike rates in the upper 80’s…

Our best bowler was Campher, took the solitary wicket and was our second most economical bowler. I wonder why he only bowled the 12 overs ? Maybe something to do with the heat, hopefully not carrying an injury…. He’s only gone 24 so you think he’d have more in the tank even on a warm day. His mighty effort with the bat may have influenced his captain’s thinking.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120523044#Comment_120523044

If we can get a good draw from this game, I think that will be success. And a move in the right direction as regards test playing.

VillaMad

It was the day that was feared and with the pitch been pretty much the same again it was easy for Sri Lanka. McBrine offers a little bit of control with the run rate but White and Humphreys were completely out of their depth which again is not wholly surprising considering their lack of experience. Awful drop by Balbirnie as well would have helped on as difficult day as you can get.

Sri Lanka, I would imagine weather permitting, will bat until tea tomorrow and aim for 600 or so and then hope to get a few of the top order out before the close of play. Another very difficult day ahead tomorrow.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120523796#Comment_120523796

It'll be interesting to see what SL do, assuming weather allows two full days play. They need to put up sufficient runs quickly, declare if necessary, aim to bowl us out and then knock off any runs that might be needed. But all a matter of balance. If they bat too long, gives us more incentive to drop anchor. Too soon and we could have a good thrash and leave them a tricky chase to win. Only immediate way for us to put some control on our own destiny is to start bowling a lot tighter and restrict them as long as possible. Anyone else?

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120515210#Comment_120515210

Slogfest now.. one way traffic. They're all lining up for centuries and double tons!!

Methinks it's now us hoping the weather will deteriorate again today and tomorrow :)

Mysterypunter

599/2, and I thought the opener who got the 205 looked like a walking wicket probably in New Zealand or England but that's the difference in home conditions for Sri Lanka, thought this might happen, but maybe not this badly, still looks like a draw to be fair, but lots can happen late in high scoring matches.