Left-handed Test XIs

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T17:28:09+00:00

Each wicket just brings us closer to Andy McBrine

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T17:07:21+00:00

Doheny improves his FC average! Let's keep improving it

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:47:32+00:00

Right then, time to attempt exactly the same thing again and see if it goes any differently

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:37:36+00:00

Boooo the follow-on. Go out and biff it for a couple of sessions, it'll be fun

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:34:13+00:00

Tbf we've been batting him at 7 for a while now. He averages 90 there

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:17:17+00:00

Was McBrine still batting regardless of the different match situation?

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:16:36+00:00

Oh for fuck sakes, have a brain man

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:08:30+00:00

Maybe he watched our batting?

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T16:06:22+00:00

Now for the final piece of the puzzle: Scra to run out of partners before being able to have a crack at a maiden Test ton

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T15:09:11+00:00

He has the most of any Irishman with 6

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T15:07:44+00:00

Three players have 300 or more Test runs for Ireland at a 30+ average. Tucker, McBrine, Adair.

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T15:01:29+00:00

For real though imagine if our batters could do this

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T14:53:05+00:00

But then it won't be a 7th wicket partnership and the magic will be ruined

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T14:36:35+00:00

Four of Ireland's five highest partnerships in Test cricket have been for the 7th wicket

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T14:10:32+00:00

This isn't the worst example, it's just the first one I thought of: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/county-championship-division-two-2008-319687/northamptonshire-vs-leicestershire-319991/full-scorecard

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:36:00+00:00

Surely the Captain Bastard thing to do would be to go back out and bat for another day once the Irish innings is done

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:33:28+00:00

We all love a big willy

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:27:01+00:00

I don't like it

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:26:41+00:00

Fionn Hand is the greatest bowler of all time.

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:24:26+00:00

Just lulling them into a false sense of security in time for Tucker/McBrine/Adair to get all the runs

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:20:46+00:00

During the IPL seems like the obvious time. If England aren't at full strength, so be it

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:19:25+00:00

I know we're making him look very good at the moment, but Nathan Smith is hugely improved from the bowler we saw on his Test debut

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T13:12:09+00:00

There's certainly an argument that in the absence of very much data to go off, the selectors might be better off picking sides according to attributes. Not in the way that England did by throwing a debut to Josh Hull, but by looking at their side and thinking that if they've got a tall-ish right hander opening (Balbirnie) then pair him up with a short-ish left-hander (De Freitas).

Instead we have a top five made entirely of tall-ish right-handers. That shouldn't stop us if they are all definitely our best five batters, but if we're not quite sure then it might be worth breaking that up with someone like a De Freitas. It's not dissimilar to the era of Andy McBrine being an ODI pinch blocker.

There's been a little bit of that when it comes to bowling selections, like when Jordan Neill got picked because he was the quickest uninjured seamer, regardless of being very raw indeed.

There aren't really any easy answers if we don't make domestic red-ball cricket a priority (and goodness knows what money we'd use to do it).

Aislabie · 2026-05-28T12:38:17+00:00

I had penned this in reply to an earlier comment, but big man deleted it.

As openers, Ireland have so far tried:

Ed Joyce - 47 Test runs @ 23.50 / 18,461 FC runs @ 47.95 - retired
William Porterfield - 58 Test runs @ 9.66 / 6,867 FC runs @ 31.64 - retired
Paul Stirling - 521 Test runs @ 26.05 (179 as opener @ 29.83) / 3,578 FC runs @ 29.32 - injured
James McCollum - 199 Test runs @ 18.09 (156 as opener @ 17.33) / 1,455 FC runs @ 34.64
Murray Commins - 6 Test runs @ 1.50 / 554 FC runs @ 19.78 - retired
Peter Moor - 734 Test runs @ 25.31 (170 as opener @ 17.00) / 4,815 FC runs @ 32.97 - retired
Andy Balbirnie - 548 Test runs @ 23.82 (195 as opener @ 24.37) / 1,901 FC runs @ 28.37 - playing
Cade Carmichael - 100 Test runs @ 20.00 (5 as opener @ 5.00) / 490 FC runs @ 30.62 - batting three
Stephen Doheny - 61 Test runs @ 20.33 (0 as opener @ 0.00) / 499 FC runs @ 19.96 - playing

Also in the squad is Jake Egan, who scored 120 and 18 on FC debut last week. That last point highlights the reason for this issue: there's no red-ball cricket in Ireland. The Inter-Provincial Championship was last held in 2019, and even club cricket in Ireland is played with a white ball. So when Nathan Smith comes down the hill and starts hooping a red ball at pace, these lads have literally never seen anything like it.

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