Joyce & OBrien Motivated By Ireland Test Status Goal

Ireland's quest for Test status continues this weekend as they play their third match in the ICC InterContinental Cup against Papua New Guinea in Townsville.

The Irish are currently in second place in the table - six points behind leaders The Netherlands with a game in hand.

Back-to-back double centuries from Ed Joyce has helped Ireland gain maximum points from their opening fixtures against UAE and Namibia, but the veteran left-hander admits it's a tall order to make it three double hundreds in a row.

"I don't think you can ever set your sights on getting a double hundred in any game. All you can do is set yourself up for a long innings and hope that it comes. It's not impossible to score three in a row, just highly improbable!"

The Bray native outlined just how seriously Ireland are taking the tournament, prioritising it ahead of 50 and 20 over cricket.

"In my opinion this is the most important competition at the moment for us," said the 37 year-old.

"With the decision by the ICC to go with 10-team World Cup's in the two shorter formats, gunning for test cricket now becomes doubly important for Ireland."

Ireland have been acclimatising in Australia and played a two-day game against a Queensland XI earlier this week. Joyce admitted there were signs of rustiness in the camp, especially in the batting department.

"Our performance, especially with the bat, against the Queensland Select X1 wasn't good enough but this can often happen with the first hit out after a long break. My feeling is that we will be much the better for those two days of match practice when we face Papua New Guinea.

"We've had decent facilities to use which is the most important thing. Everyone has worked hard especially on the fitness side of things. We'll certainly need it as the heat and humidity here in Townsville is about as oppressive as I've ever experienced. The pitch looks good and if it's anything like the nets, it should be a good contest between bat and ball."

It's a step into the unknown for Joyce, who has never played against Sunday's opponents.

"I've never played against Papua New Guinea in any competition so it'll be new territory for me. The boys say they're a very competitive, boisterous side with a lot of talent so we'll need to be at our best to beat them."

The Irish ranks have been bolstered by the return of Boyd Rankin and Joyce was clearly delighted to have the giant Bready man back in the ranks.

"It's fantastic having the big man back and he's fitted in seamlessly. It's like he's never been away. Boyd gives our bowling an extra dimension.

"There aren't many in world cricket that get his steep bounce at that pace. When he's bowling well, he's incredibly difficult to combat. He will compliment our attack perfectly. Nets haven't been much fun though!"

Niall O'Brien echoes Joyce's sentiments about having Rankin back in the Irish set-up.

"It's wonderful having Boyd back in the team. He is a very good friend of mine and is a real threat with the ball. He offers variety to our attack and there aren't many batters who relish facing him."

O'Brien will have his eye on making a record equalling seven centuries in the tournament. The combative left-hander has six to date - only Kenyan legend Steve Tikolo is ahead of him.

"I personally love the InterContinental Cup. I want to win this tournament again and then help us gain Test status. It would be a dream come true.

"I have a good personal record (1262 runs at an average of 63.10) and I am very keen to continue that moving forward."
O'Brien acknowledged the challenge that they face from Papua New Guinea.

"PNG are a dangerous side and have beaten us a couple of times in T20 cricket so we will be doing our homework on them and making sure we cross every t and dot every i in our preparations."

The conditions may well be a significant factor in the contest, with O'Brien admitting they were the most oppressive he'd encountered.

"The heat here in Townsville is unreal and probably the hottest place I have played cricket In. The ground itself looks very good and I expect conditions to be similar to Brisbane in terms of the pace of the pitch. We weren't at our best in the Queensland game, but it gave us a chance to dust off the winter cobwebs."

Ireland are the defending champions, and have won the competition four times, losing only two games out of 34 since the competition started back in 2004.

Ireland's match versus Papua New Guinea starts on Sunday at 00:00 GMT.

IRELAND (from): W Porterfield (capt), A Balbirnie, G Dockrell, E Joyce, A McBrine, T Murtagh, K O'Brien, N O'Brien, S Poynter, B Rankin, P Stirling, S Thompson, G Wilson, C Young.