A few weeks ago I’m sure that some of the Irish sports journalists who were sent to Jamaica to cover the ICC World Cup were happy enough to be packing their sun block and t-shirts for a brief holiday and sending home a few quirky reports on our team of part timers and amateurs. Well a few days, a draw and a win and the tragic death of the coach of the team that Ireland beat and that has all changed.

RTE to be fair seem to have committed a lot of resources to following Ireland in the World Cup. On their website you can read the diaries/blogs of one of the journalists, John Kenny and a fan, Ed Leahy. Lots of Irish bloggers have been brushing up on their over rates, power plays and the like. And you can watch the highlights of the Pakistan match including the performance of the Blarney Army on Youtube.

As someone who has followed cricket since I was 12 I probably would have thrown a eye to the coverage on Sky Sports but the last few days have turned into compulsive viewing as the team of part timers and two professionals faced down Pakistan and won. Bring on West Indies (ah we haven’t a hope there – but that is what I said before the Pakistan match) and bring on England in the super 8’s.

For the Irish Cricket Union themselves, well they do not seem to have their own website – this seems to be some sort of european cricket portal that the ICU are part of. Well I would suggest they get their act together or someone gives them a dig out because the next time Ireland play a home match against a professional side from the UK the queue for tickets will be out the door and round the corner. There might be a few youngsters turning up to try out for some of the local sides in the coming months too as they try to follow the steps of Ed Joyce who is one of the few Irish born players earning a crust at the game.