Photo Credit: Cricket Ireland
Ahead of the second One-Day International against England at Trent Bridge, Ireland wicket-keeper batter Lorcan Tucker was speaking about confidence levels within the squad, his recent Caribbean Premier League stint and the special nature of ODI cricket.
Dublin-born Tucker, 27, is set to make his 45th ODI appearance on Saturday, and is in a confident mood ahead of the two upcoming fixtures:
“We’re playing pretty good cricket at the moment, we’re feeling pretty confident, and it’s great to get to a new ground and see some dry conditions. We’re at full strength, so we’ve got everyone we need to put in some good performances.
“We’re at the start of a new four-year cycle, so we have a long time to prepare for the next World Cup. It’ll be an exciting time as we’re looking down new avenues in our ODI cricket.
“As for England, we didn’t want to pay too much attention to their squad as they always put out good teams. The strength and depth of English cricket at the moment is incredible – they are all strong players and they’re playing great cricket. We’re reasonably familiar with some of them, but they have a lot of new faces as well that we haven’t played against, so I think it’ll take a little bit of adapting for us as a team, but we can’t to get out there and play some cricket tomorrow.
Tucker has just returned from playing in the Caribbean Premier League:
“It was a new and exciting experience. You get access to such experienced people and experienced cricketers, and that’s always refreshing to get these new ideas, new opinions, especially on yourself and how your game might improve and grow over the next few years. It was brilliant.
“Franchise cricket is very exciting, and I think will be interesting to see how the balance with international cricket emerges over the next few years. There’s so many opportunities out there for players like me and for players in our team, which is brilliant. It gives everybody that new level of exposure that wasn’t there before.”
About not qualifying for the World Cup next month in India, he said:
“To be honest, it feels like everybody else is preparing for a party that we’re not invited to, which is tough. But it is what it is. We didn’t play well enough in Zimbabwe. I think we have to accept that, and we’ll just be looking on.”
Asked about why Tucker holds ODI cricket up as special, he said:
“It’s interesting because there’s only one World Cup every four years – that’s what makes it special. T20 cricket often rolls around a lot and there’s a T20 World Cup every two years – it has a faster nature to it, and there is so much T20 cricket played in general. So, I think ODI cricket provides a different, more considered perspective on the game, that’s why it’s so special.”
THE SERIES
After a wash out at Headingley (Leeds), the last two matches are at Trent Bridge (Nottingham), and the Seat Unique Stadium (Bristol).
• 20 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 1st ODI (Match abandoned)
• 23 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 2nd ODI (Trent Bridge; start 11am)
• 26 September: England Men v Ireland Men – 3rd ODI (Bristol; start 12.30pm)
All three matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in both Ireland and the UK.
THE SQUADS
Ireland
- Paul Stirling (capt), Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woerkom, Craig Young.
England
- Zak Crawley (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Sam Hain, Will Jacks, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Phil Salt, George Scrimshaw, Jamie Smith, Luke Wood.
