A Presidential Diary Part 18

December 12th 2013 by Robin Walsh | International

Cricket Ireland President Robin Walsh gives us his latest update, this time at the end of Day 2’s play in Dubai.

Whether it’s been a good day or a bad one, there’s no more quiet place than the team coach as it winds its way back to base through the relentless teatime Dubai traffic.

Day one was a bad one - Ireland well below par and bowled out for 187,  Afghanistan 81 for 3 in reply.

Day two was a good one. Ireland stormed back to bowl Afghanistan out for 182; an unbroken century partnership between Ed Joyce and Niall O’Brien ensured a good night’s sleep all round and day three starts 164 ahead with eight wickets standing.

Yet hardly a cheep on either of the two half hour journeys and hardly surprising given the taxing nature of the working day.

It’s up at around 6am and before breakfast a visit to the team room for tests at the hands of the strength and conditioning coach Brendan Connor and physio Kieran O’Reilly. First on the agenda urine samples and weigh ins to gauge any levels of dehydration, if needs be, put right by varied level of fluids and a change of diet. Next up, the daily “wellness” questionnaire - sleep well?

Mindset? Aches and pains? Any problems are fed to coach Phil Simmons and skipper William Porterfield. It’s all serious stuff - on the field of play heart rates are monitored, distances covered by each player and speeds are measured. But then this is a serious team, backed up by highly skilled backroom staff.

The coach leaves for the ground at 8am in good time for a warm-up before the 10am start - ahead lie 96 overs in a temperature nudging the 90s. Then the coach back to base with an ice bath behind them or a pool session in front of them.  Little wonder not a word on the coach on either day - although you could actually sense in the silence which was a good day and which was a bad day.

There are but a handful of spectators at the quite excellent ICC Academy nestling beside the magnificent main stadium which, by contrast, will open its gates later tonight to allow thousands to watch the Twenty20 international between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

They may be few but their commitment to the Ireland cause is intense. Gerry Murphy is one such serious enthusiast, the founder chairman of Dundalk Cricket Club and travelling from the border town specially to see Trent Johnston’s last game. He’d seen the great servant play in those memorable World Cup victories in Jamaica and Bangalore - “and there was no way I was going to miss his last game. Great man”.  Gerry talks with equal passion about cricket in Dundalk; two sides now in the Leinster League, the 1st XI starting life in Leinster Division 10 in 2009 and this year finishing third in Division 8.

Pleasant company too in Mayo man Tony Doherty and his Galway-born wife Bernie, all the way from North London where they’ve lived for some years now.  There’s not much that Tony doesn’t know about this Ireland set-up, a veteran also of those World Cup wins over Pakistan and England. Terrific support, flag on display.

And what about the remarkable Rajan Sharma, born in New Delhi and now the young manager of one of the main department stores in the shopper’s haven that is the Mall of the Emirates.

He tells me if India played Ireland tomorrow he’d support Ireland. Unprompted he rattles off the full names and dates of birth of the squad as well as the number of caps of each player Impossible to stop him talking about Kevin O’Brien and he left the day’s play the very, very proud possessor of a picture with his hero. 

That’s it after two days. Time to take a break until the result is known. And when that happens let’s hope to a less quiet coach.