|
Abu Dhabi: Defending champions Ireland will be looking to grab full points against UAE in their four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup cricket match, which starts today at the Zayed International Cricket Stadium.
Led by Trent Johnson, the Irish squad had two solid sessions of practice at the Zayed Cricket Academy grounds over the last two days, under the watchful eyes of coach Phil Simmons while the part-time bunch from the UAE, who are likely to be at the receiving end in this longer format of the game, look short of practice.
Though Saqib Ali, the UAE skipper has recently won a closely-contested affair with Lashings World XI, that was in a Twenty20 match and this four-day affair will certainly put to test the patience and temperament of the hosts, who rarely get to play matches longer than the 50-over contests.
Determined effort
While the UAE are placed seventh out of eight teams in this ICC event, Ireland are in fourth place behind Kenya, Namibia and The Netherlands. But the Irish have played only two matches and will be determined to get another win under their belt while the UAE will be playing for pride.
Ireland will miss the services of their lanky paceman Boyd Rankin while their under-19 skipper Greg Thompson and Paul Stirling join the team after the recent World Cup in Malaysia.
"This is a new game and we will treat our rivals with respect. They have some very good players but I feel we have a strong side and will be able to put it across them," said Johnson.
"We will be playing for the first time in about nine months, but we have the experience to overcome that. The weather here will also be a challenge but we can cope with it," said the Irish skipper, whose side defeated the UAE last year.
Strong fight
Most of Saqib's team members have all excelled in the shorter version of the game, they have played their initial cricket in the sub-continent and are keen to put up a strong fight.
"We still have two more matches and we do have the capability to win. Ireland is a strong side, but we also have some very talented individuals. Most of our team members have been playing well in the domestic tournaments and I am hoping we can put up a good showing," said the NMC player and UAE skipper.
UAE: Saqib Ali (captain), Arshad Ali, Khurram Khan, Nigel Fernandes, Shadeep Silva, Fahad Al Hashemi, Shoaib Sarwar, Sameer Zia, Zahid Shah, Naeemuddin Eslam, Ahmad Raza, Mohammad Aman Ali, Obaid Hameed, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Rashid Khan, Qasim Zubair and Abdul Rahman.
Ireland: Trent Johnston (captain), William Porterfield, Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Philip Eaglestone, Thinus Fourie, Gary Kidd, Dave Langford-Smith, Kyle McCallan, Eoin Morgon, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Paul Stirling, Reinhardt Strydom and Greg Thompson.
|
