No time to sulk - Trent Johnston

Profiles / Editor / 10 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

Trent Johnston told his Ireland team-mates to pick themselves up and look ahead following their World Cup drubbing by New Zealand.

The Irish made a genuine fist of their Super 8 clash against the Kiwis in Guyana but an eventual batting collapse saw them slip to an emphatic 129-run defeat at Providence Stadium.

"We have to keep improving and while we did well with the ball in the early stages, our batting was not quite what we are capable of," admitted Johnston.

Johnston praised the efforts of brothers Kevin and Niall O'Brien, who added 75 for the fourth wicket, and added: "When you consider the kind of bowling they were up against, they really did well.
"While they were at the wicket, anything was possible. We were hoping that they could take us well into the 50 overs and see what happened from there."

Johnston also said his players could learn lessons from Bangladesh's shock victory over South Africa.
"They were not playing particularly well in the Super Eight but took their opportunity when they got it. If they had so many bad games and rebounded the way they did, then there is every possibility that we can find the right opportunity and if conditions go our way, we will capitalise on them."

Ireland next face in-form Australia in Barbados on Friday but are not fancied to cause a World Cup upset and can be backed at 34 in the Match Odds market, with Ricky Ponting's men the overwhelming 1.02 favourites.
Ireland are not expected to make any further progress in the Caribbean and can be backed at 100 in the Reach Semi-Final market.