Madam, - In his column of October 23rd Fintan O'Toole writes that in the Cricket World Cup "Ireland got routinely thumped, but pulled off a surprise victory over Pakistan".
Mr O'Toole is misinformed. Ireland, as well as beating Pakistan, tied with Zimbabwe and qualified from their group to the Super Eight stage. In the Super Eights, Ireland beat Bangladesh, and went very close in three exciting games with England, South Africa and New Zealand. The only games the team lost heavily to in the tournament were against the eventual finalists, Australia and Sri Lanka.
All of the games Ireland played in their first ever World Cup Tournament were against test nations. Their overall performance was remarkable especially as they were the only team whose members had to phone home to their employers requesting more time off when they qualified for the Super Eights. - Yours, etc,
TOM PRIOR, President, Irish Cricket Union, Park West, Dublin 12.