da aviator aposta： Captain Trent Johnston refused to put any pressure on his side, saying that they’d just go out and enjoy the Super Eights
da 888： Dileep Premachandran in Guyana29-Mar-2007
Ireland will undoubtedly be boosted by the return of Trent Johnston © Getty Images
An Irish bookmaker has announced that an old barrel of Guinness will be burnt and the ashes collected in an urn that can be used as a trophy for all future matches between Ireland and England. That particular version of the ashes may never enjoy the prestige of the fragile urn that was once in the possession of the Bligh family, but the very fact that such an idea has come up should give you some idea of the pride that’s at stake when two entities separated only by the breadth of the Irish Sea go head-to-head at the new stadium in Providence on Friday.Having turned over Pakistan a fortnight ago, Ireland won’t fear anyone and they will undoubtedly be boosted by the return of Trent Johnston, who missed the encounter against West Indies with a rotator-cuff injury. Johnston’s tidy medium-pace and lower-order hitting are integral to Irishhopes, and he showed with a stunning catch against Pakistan that he’s noslouch on the field either.By this time, Johnston and his team were supposed to be back in Ireland,reflecting on their first taste of the World Cup. The West Indies gameshould have been Adrian Birrell’s last in charge, and Phil Simmons, theformer West Indies opener, would have been engaged in planning for thefuture.The future right now is a golden one, with six Super Eights matchesagainst the best that world cricket has to offer. Johnston called it ahugely exciting time, before thanking the employers who have given most ofthe players extra time off. “We’ve had lots of phone calls to make to ourbosses back home and they’ve all been outstanding and we can’t thank themenough,” he said, a feeling no doubt echoed by Kyle McCallan, who stood inas captain for the West Indies game.McCallan is a teacher, and has had to ask his headmistress for an extramonth off after the dramatic tie against Zimbabwe and the stunning upsetof Pakistan sealed Ireland’s place amongst the game’e elite. Johnstonrefused to put any pressure on his side, saying that they’d just go outand enjoy the Super Eights, as they had the three group D games, when thevociferous support from the travelling Irish inspired them to theirgreatest feats.They’ll probably have a full squad to pick from against England. Rest hasallowed the torn fibre in Johnston’s shoulder tendon to heal, and DaveLangford-Smith, his fellow Australian, is also putting the pain of backspasms behind him. Being the joker in the Super-Eights pack doesn’t faze Johnston one bit. Onthe contrary, it’s a tag that he appears to relish. “They would think theyhave two easy points and we are happy about that,” said Johnston, lookingat how the other teams might view his Johnston reiterated his mantra of performing well in all three disciplinesbefore saying that “the fielding has been outstanding”. In Jeremy Bray,Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien – the latter two have represented Middlesexand Kent – Ireland have the batsmen with the potential to score big runs,and they’ll no doubt take encouragement from the meeting last June whenIreland managed 263 in response to England’s 301.Being the joker in the Super-Eights pack doesn’t faze Johnston one bit. Onthe contrary, it’s a tag that he appears to relish. “They would think theyhave two easy points and we are happy about that,” said Johnston, lookingat how the other teams might view his. “Maybe they’ll be relaxed in theirapproach, and that’s the incentive we need to spring an upset like we didagainst Pakistan.”On a pitch where the bounce could be variable, the biggest danger forEngland might be Boyd Rankin, soon to be under Mike Hendrick’s tutelage atDerbyshire. A cattle-and-sheep farmer from near Londonderry, Rankin hascorrected journalists who have put his height down at 6’7″. Apparently,he’s an inch taller, with size-15 feet to boot, and his ability togenerate good bounce at lively pace will pose questions for the Englandtop order.”It would be one hell of a party,” admitted McCallan when asked about thepossibility of victory in a match that also brings with it centuries ofpolitical baggage. “We are going ball by ball, we need to be realistic andat the end of the day, we’re concerned only about what we can control.”If he and his mates need any omens, it was just over 15 years ago thatrank outsiders Zimbabwe knocked over England in a thrilling game in theAustralian country town of Albury. The decisive factor in that game wasthe bowling of Eddo Brandes, a chicken farmer who blasted out five wicketsas England fell nine short of a meagre total of 134. Anything a chickenfarmer can do, a sheep farmer can do better? And what better incentivethan an urn that might give off the flavour of Guinness?
