Green Wickets | Ireland's Adventures at the 2007 World Cup

ISBN-10: 1905483333 | ISBN-13: 978-1905483334 | Liberties Press

I don’t think I’m alone here, in fact I know I’m not! It was wonderful to follow Ireland’s progress in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies. No one expected the minnows to perform so admirably, defeat Pakistan, which led indirectly to the sad death of Bob Woolmer, and make it through to the super eights. They wouldn't progress beyond the super eights but to reach the second phase was more than anyone had expected.

In celebration of their magnificent journey, a book has been produced by Liberties Press in Ireland called “Green Wickets”. Written by Ed Leahy, a reporter from Ireland and one time stand in for Liam Neeson the book is presented in a coffee book style lavishly crammed packed with match reports and sumptuous images from the tour. Buy Green Wickets Now

Only two of Ireland’s squad earned a living from cricket; Niall O’Brien and Eoin Morgan, the rest were a mixture taken from all walks of life including farmers, electricians and salesmen. The book begins with an introduction to all the members of the Irish squad by Paul Mooney, himself a member of the squad. His brother takes over the mantle when writing about Paul!

Leahy guides us through the entire extended journey both for the Irish squad and fans with match reports from all the games, the build up ahead of the tournament with a close run defeat to South Africa and a comprehensive win against Canada.

Also included throughout the book are quotes from the players, reporters and commentators, all highlighted to give a flavour of what they were thinking ahead of a match or following the result. Scorecards from every match Ireland played are included alongside match reports and player opinions ahead of the match and following the game. The book is well thought out and a wonderful addition for Irish fans and cricket fans alike.

On the morning of the infamous match of the tour, the game against Pakistan on St Patrick’s Day, Michael Holding commented that the pitch, so green in colour, had been prepared with colour in mind for the special day.

Bob Woolmer commented “It’s a banana-skin-type fixture for us, but we are aware what we have to do. I know the ICC are looking for one of the associate sides to beat one of the senior sides, and I just hope it’s not us today”. No one would know until later that day how ironic these words proved.

As you would expect this crunch game is covered in its entirety and following the conclusion a number of player comments are also included. Bob Woolmer’s last game in charge of Pakistan ended with not only the defeat but Pakistan’s failure to move to the highly anticipated second phase of the competition. The following day Woolmer was dead.

The following weeks were a blur for most of us, the media concentrating on the possible murder of Bob Woolmer detracting from the on pitch antics. Buy Green Wickets Now

Ireland's final game in the 2007 ICC World Cup was against Sri Lanka in Grenada and it ended, as expect in defeat to the eventual runners up. Five weeks and eight matches after the magical tournament began, Maharoof and Muralidaran were the main instigators in a convincing defeat.

Towards the end of the book is a small section given to the players where they can give their reactions to the tour, their highs and lows of the tournament and together with a summary and statistics section it rounds off the book nicely.

What is clearly evident from the book, the Ireland team had a wonderful time playing with the big fish for the first time. No doubt Ed Leahy enjoyed the partying too! All in all the book is a superb celebratory publication deservedly written and published following what was for most people a shock run in international one day cricket. Only time will tell if they, as an associate member, can build on this magnificent foundation.

The book comes highly recommended with an enormous amount of trivia, background information and photographs both on and off the field of play. Buy Green Wickets Now

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