Just a year and three days after Ireland's first - and so far, only - defeat of an English county in competition, newly-appointed captain Angus Dunlop will be hoping that lightning, as it were, will strike twice at Castle Avenue, where his team takes on Glamorgan today, starting at 11.0. But that heady success against Middlesex will not be easily repeated against the reigning English county champions.
Only five of that history-making Ireland side remain in today's 13man squad - Dunlop himself, Derek Heasley, Kyle McCallan, Paul McCrum and Andy Patterson. The role played then by Hansie Conje will be filled today by Neil Johnson, signed up as Ireland's overseas player for the Benson & Hedges campaign and also by Sion Mills as the North West club's professional.
It should not be forgotten that though Cronje scored an undefeated 94 in the defeat of Middlesex, the man of the match , or "Gold" award went to the ebullient Decker Curry, whose whirlwind 75 laid the foundation for victory. Unhappily, Curry is yet again absent, and surely the Irish Cricket Union could come to some sort of financial arrangement to help him overcome his, er, business commitments.
In the equivalent match at Cardiff last year, Glamorgan won by six wickets, despite a top-score of 85 from Cronje and an unbeaten 31 from Dunlop. Glamorgan's skipper Matthew Maynard made 50, while Robert Croft - who, with Mark Ilott of Essex was fined £1,000 for an unseemly shoving match in Wednesday's abandoned B & H match at Cardiff - contributed a useful 43.
It will be interesting to see how Johnson - a left-hand bat and right-arm fast-medium bowler who scored two County Championship centuries for Leicestershire last season - fares out today. This time last year, against Middlesex, Ireland were full of match-practice after playing in the ICC Trophy in Malaysia; there is no such advantage this time around, and it's hard to visualise anything other than a comprehensive victory for Glamorgan.
Ireland (from): A Dunlop (YMCA) capt, O Butler (Old Belvedere), G Cooke (Limavady), J Davy (Pembroke), M Dwyer (The Hills), R Eagleson (Carrickfergus), D Heasley (Carrickfergus), N Johnson (Sion Mills), E Joyce (Merrion), K McCallan (Cliftonville), P McCrum (Armagh), J Molins (Carlisle), A Patterson (Cliftonville).
Glamorgan (from): M P Maynard (capt), G P Butcher, C A Cosker, P A Cottey, R D B Croft, A Dale, S P James, P Parkin, M Powell, A D Shaw, S D Thomas, S L Watkin, Waqar Younis.
