Ireland captain Angus Dunlop gambled on his spinners at Lord's yesterday but he misread a good pitch and the annual two-day match with the MCC petered out to a tame draw.

The prospect of a home win disappeared when Dunlop declined to declare Ireland's first innings overnight - as is customary in these games - and Peter Davy took advantage of some grumpy MCC bowling to score a powerful 132.

With 343 for 5 on the board and a lunchtime lead of 166, Dunlop would have risked his personal membership of the MCC if he had batted on further, but it soon became apparent that there would be no victorious conclusion to his 100th match for Ireland.

Left-arm spinner Greg Molins was carted for 37 from three overs as MCC opener Steve Dean raced to 76 off 59 balls.