Simmons looking for historic treble

December 3rd 2013 by Cricket Ireland | International

Trent Johnston with Ireland's first InterContinental Cup in 2005.

Ireland look to crown historic 2013 by adding the InterContinental Cup to the World Twenty20 and World Cup Qualification trophies

PHIL SIMMONS is backing his Irish charges to complete an historic treble as they prepare to face fierce rivals Afghanistan in the ICC InterContinental Cup final next week in Dubai.

With the 20 and 50 over World Cup Qualifying trophies already in the bag, Ireland will hope to finish an already successful 2013 on a high note.

“This team continues to improve and grow and their appetite for trophies and World Cups shows no sign of waning,” said Simmons. “That hunger and energy is still there and there’s a healthy competition for places which keeps everyone in the squad on their toes.”

“This is the one trophy that’s currently missing from our cabinet at the moment, and the squad is keen to rectify that.”

Ireland, under the tutelage of Simmons and his predecessor Adi Birrell have dominated Associate cricket since 2005, winning no fewer than eight global competitions in that halycon period.

The InterContinental Cup was Simmons first major trophy with Ireland, as they completed an emphatic innings win against Canada at Leicester inside two days back in 2007.

“That win was special for me as it came at Grace Road, where I had such happy memories, including winning the County Championship. We defended it against Namibia the next time, but a combination of the weather and a loss to Afghanistan in Sri Lanka meant we missed out the last time.”

Ireland as group winners need only a draw in the five-day final to regain the trophy, but Simmons is not entertaining any thoughts of negative cricket.

“We’ll be playing our usual brand of postive cricket, although maybe not to the same extent as Saturday! (Ireland scored 166 runs in an hour in the T20 contest, going on to finish on 225 for 7 - the fourth highest T20 score of all time in any form of cricket).

There is an added incentive for Ireland in that the game will mark the swansong for the colossus that is Trent Johnston, who will take the field for the 197th and last time in the shamrock of Ireland.

The 39 year-old, the competition’s leading wicket taker with 88 victims at 16.19, is one of only two players with a hat-trick of medals - Andrew White being the other.

“The guys want TJ to go out on a high, as we all know how much this final means to him. If he plays like he did at the weekend, then it shouldn’t be a problem!” said Simmons.

“There’s a lot of first-class experience in our ranks. Whitey is back and he has a phenomenal record in this form of the game, while we’ll also have Ed Joyce back following the birth of his second son.”

White is Ireland’s leading scorer in InterContinental Cup history - his 1502 runs at 60.08 putting him above Andre Botha (1352), Niall O’Brien (1155) and skipper William Porterfield (1122).

Merrion all-rounder John Anderson is the only other player who didn’t feature in the Twenty20 competition. He has had a successful 2013 in the tournament, scoring his maiden Irish century in the win against The Netherlands in July.

John Anderson comes into the squad.

Action from the Global Cricket Academy ground in Dubai gets under way each day at 10am.

InterContinental Cup final v Afghanistan at GCA, Dubai, December 10-14 (10am)

IRELAND
William Porterfield (captain) (Warwickshire), John Anderson (Merrion), George Dockrell (Somerset), Trent Johnston (YMCA), Ed Joyce (Sussex), John Mooney (North County), Tim Murtagh (Middlesex), Kevin O’Brien (Railway Union), Niall O’Brien (Leicestershire), Max Sorensen (The Hills), Paul Stirling (Middlesex), Stuart Thompson (Eglinton), Andrew White (Instonians), Gary Wilson (Surrey).