Qualifying automatically would be 'the greatest achievement' says Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie

Ireland kick-off their journey to the 2023 Cricket World Cup today in the first of three Royal London One-Day Internationals against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, writes Oliver Thorpe.
Ireland's Andrew BalbirnieIreland's Andrew Balbirnie
Ireland's Andrew Balbirnie

The series is the first in the newly-formed ICC Cricket World Cup Super League – a competition comprising of the top 12 teams in the world and the Netherlands.

Ireland captain, Andrew Balbirnie, believes that if his side can qualify through finishing in the top seven then it’ll be the biggest feat in the team’s history.

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“Qualifying automatically would be the greatest achievement by an Irish cricket team in my opinion,” said Balbirnie.

“It’s going to be super tough; we’re going to have to play really good cricket and we’re going to need some big performances consistently.

“Now that the fixtures are going to be backlogged, you’re going to be in high-pressure situations every couple of months against the best teams in the world. We’re going to strive to get into that top seven and if that doesn’t happen, then we re-plan and go in the qualifiers (a sperate tournament in 2022).”

England’s World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan, thinks that this Irish side has what it takes to cause upsets on their road to India 2023.

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“There always are [upsets],” said Morgan. “That’s why we play sport. If everyone knew the result all the time, we wouldn’t watch it, we wouldn’t play and it wouldn’t be as popular. Sport is never as sure as people think.

“Having watched Ireland play at the beginning of the year against the West Indies, they posed a lot of questions and the result of the series probably didn’t reflect the performance throughout.

“They (Ireland) will be very much up for it. Having had two sides pull out of tours, they’ll be looking to cause an upset and win the series.

“The most important thing for Irish cricket is that they play as many fixtures as they can. Naturally, guys will get better. A group of young players need to be playing cricket; you can’t just have them sitting on the sidelines.

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“It’s great that they’re getting more fixtures, but you can always give more and more,” added Morgan.

Ireland named two uncapped players in their 14-man squad – Curtis Campher and Northern Knights batsman, Harry Tector. Both may feature today.

Tector scored back-to-back half-centuries in the two warm-up matches and Balbirnie has been taken aback by his approach to the series and his preparation.

“It’s hard to believe that he’s 20 years old and hasn’t played an ODI before the way he’s carrying on in the nets and around the group. He has been very impressive. He’s very cricket intelligent and is someone that will be in this Irish side for a lot of years to come.

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“He’s got the world at his feet, he can play all sorts of shots around the ground, but he also has that nouse to know when he needs to dig in and bat properly. He’s an exciting prospect and gives us that extra edge in the field as well.”

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