Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ireland's 11 heroes who beat England at the Cricket World Cup

Ireland pulled off one of the shocks of the Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru, but who are the Irish heroes?

Ireland's players celebrate their three-wicket victory over England at the World Cup. Photograph: INPHO/Sportzpics/Aman Sharma

William Porterfield

26 years old 46 ODI caps.
The opener from Northern Ireland was awarded the captaincy in 2008, after Trent Johnston stepped aside. Porterfield, who signed for Warwickshire in October after three seasons at Gloucestershire, won the 2009 ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year, after averaging 46.8 and guiding his team to nine wins in 11 games. One of two men to score more than 1,000 ODI runs for Ireland, the other being Kevin O'Brien.

Paul Stirling

20 years old 25 ODI caps
The Belfast native, who made his debut in 2008, is already scoring at an average of 39 and his knock of 177 against Canada last September is the highest ODI score for Ireland. The right-handed batsman signed a three-year deal with Middlesex in December 2009 after coming through their youth ranks.

Ed Joyce

32 years old 2 ODI caps (plus 17 for England)
Nearly four years after last taking the field for England, the Sussex batsman became eligible for his native country again for the World Cup. Four of Joyce's siblings have represented Ireland in the sport - brothers Gus and Dominick, and twin sisters Isobel and Cecilia represented the Irish women in the 2005 World Cup. He also appeared in Ireland's inaugural ODI – on the English side, with brother Dominick facing him.

Niall O'Brien

29 years old 42 ODI caps
Another to keep it in the family, the Northants wicketkeeper's father Brendan played 52 times for Ireland between 1966 and 1981. His sister is a member of the Irish hockey team and his brother, Kevin, bats at six. The older O'Brien is yet to score an international century but his top score of 72 came in Ireland's 2007 World Cup win over Pakistan.

Gary Wilson

25 years old 26 ODI caps
Wilson has been playing for Ireland since 2004 when he appeared at the Under-19s World Cup. He is equally comfortable in front of or behind the stumps and is Surrey's reserve wicketkeeper.

Kevin O'Brien

26 years old 54 ODI caps
Before his record century against England, the allrounder had reached the milestone once before with 142 against Kenya. O'Brien, who had a season with Nottinghamshire in 2009, averages 38 with the bat and 30 with the ball for Ireland and is the country's highest run scorer, with 1,486, and the second highest wicket-taker, with 43. Alongside his then captain Trent Johnston, O'Brien saw Ireland home in their victory over Pakistan in the Caribbean. Made his debut in Ireland's first ever ODI against England. Plays his club cricket for the Railway Union Cricket Club in Dublin and has a central contract with Ireland.

Alex Cusack

30 years old 32 ODI caps
The Brisbane-born carpenter has never played for a county side and plays his club cricket for Clontarf. A medium-pace all-rounder, Cusack went to Ireland to join his brother and to play a season of club cricket in 2005 – he had an Irish passport. He made his one-day debut two years later, winning the man-of-the-match award for hitting 36 and taking three off 15 against South Africa. He met his wife while in Ireland and married her in December 2008.

John Mooney

29 years old 31 ODI caps
The all-rounder who struck the winning boundary against England has history against them, having taken the wickets of Marcus Trescothick, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood on his debut against England. The Dubliner has qualified as an electrician since the last World Cup and plays Gaelic football in his spare time.

Trent Johnston

36 years old 49 ODI caps
The veteran Australian quick, the oldest member of the Ireland squad, was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, and played state cricket alongside Mark Taylor, Michael Slater and Brett Lee in the late 1990s. Johnston first played club cricket in Ireland in 1995 and returned for four more seasons, meeting his wife Vanessa, and qualifying for an Irish passport. As Ireland captain in 2007, he hit the winning six against Pakistan.

George Dockrell

18 years old 18 ODI caps
Dublin-born leg-spinner made his Ireland debut at 17, and played a key role in Ireland's World Twenty20 campaign last year, taking three for 16 against West Indies. Missed last year's ODI against Australia to sit his school exams. The following month, a week short of his 18th birthday, Somerset offered him a two-year contract.

Boyd Rankin

26 years old 25 ODI caps
Ireland's leading wicket-taker at the 2007 World Cup, the 6ft 8in paceman from Londonderry comes from a family of cattle and sheep farmers. Rankin, who says he models his game on Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose, was scouted at 19 by a number of counties and Derbyshire signed him for the 2007 season. He now plays for Warwickshire.

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