Useful things to know about our new national game
Cork-born soccer legend Noel Cantwell (1932-2005), who captained Manchester United's 1963 FA Cup-winning side, played seven times for Ireland's cricket team. Essex, having seen him making 47 runs against the touring New Zealand side, offered him professional forms. Cantwell turned down the offer, saying that he didn't want to spend his whole year in England.
In Sion Mills, Co Tyrone, Ireland bowled the West Indies out for 25 on July 2nd, 1969. Malahide's Dougie Goodwin and Old Belvedere's Alec O'Riordan - who is the father of professional rugby scrum-half Brian - were the heroes of the day against a side which included the great Clive Lloyd and Clyde Walcott. Ireland would repeat the result in Stormont in 2004.
Middlesex and England's Mark Ramprakash - 2006 winner of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing - wouldn't have been surprised by Ireland's eye-catching displays. "In 1998, when I was with Middlesex, we bowled first against Ireland and a left-hander [Decker Curry] lashed 80-odd ," said Ramprakash last May. "His day job was in a slaughterhouse and he lived up to the billing. He hammered our attack into neighbouring gardens. We lost badly. Then I went back with Surrey [in 2004] and lost again."
Six Nations rugby referee Alan Lewis scored 34 runs in the aforementioned victory for Ireland over Middlesex. The Ireland side was captained that day by the former skipper of South Africa, the late Hansie Cronje, who top scored with 94. Cronje was later implicated in a match-fixing scandal with South Africa and tragically died in a plane crash in 2002.
Irishman Ed Joyce, currently starring for England, helped Ireland qualify for this tournament and also played Junior Schools Cup rugby with Presentation College, Bray and later Greystones RFC before concentrating on a career with the bat.
Ireland all-rounder Andre Botha, who has been living in Ireland since 1994, completed bowling figures of eight overs, four maidens, five runs for two wickets (8-4-5-2) against Pakistan last weekend. This propelled him into ninth place in the top 10 all-time best one-day international bowling figures.