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Molins should be on that plane to the World Cup

Cricket Column: This week will present the last chance for players to make an impression on the selectors ahead of next year…

James Fitzgerald
Tue Aug 15 2006 - 01:00

Cricket Column: This week will present the last chance for players to make an impression on the selectors ahead of next year's World Cup; the squad that will carry Ireland's hopes to the West Indies will be named next week.

In truth, of the 15 players who will be on the plane to the Caribbean, it would seem at least 14 are already identified in the minds of the national coach and the other selectors.

Today Ireland take on the MCC at Lord's and then on Thursday they start a four-day ICC InterContinental Cup match against Scotland at Aberdeen, while the A team will play their Scottish equivalents at Ayr in a three-day game.

The entire team picked for the InterContinental Cup match, with the obvious exception of 12th man Conor Mullen, will undoubtedly (barring injury) be in Adrian Birrell's World Cup squad, leaving four spaces for members of the A team to fight for. In theory, anyway.

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But in practice, Eoin Morgan, who is not involved this week because of commitments with Middlesex, is certain to be included and it is probable Birrell already knows who the other three will be, so in many ways what happens on the field this week is irrelevant.

It is this column's opinion that as well as the 11 who will take the field at Aberdeen, Morgan, Boyd Rankin (who is also unavailable this week) and Kevin O'Brien will also be selected. The only position possibly still up for grabs is that of extra opening batsman to cover or replace Jeremy Bray and the in-favour William Porterfield, who are both shoo-ins.

It would seem Kenny Carroll is in pole position despite the fact he has scored just two runs in his first two caps for his country, which he won at the recent European Championships.

Carroll's club form has been incredible this season, a fact backed up by the 107 he scored last weekend in Railway Union's unsightly destruction of Munster Reds, his fifth century of the year.

There are only really three possible candidates for his position. Dominick Joyce has served Ireland well over the last five or six seasons but unfortunately it looks like his goose is cooked after a prolonged barren spell with the bat.

Gary Wilson is a favourite of Birrell with his can-do attitude, athleticism, excellent fielding and free scoring. But it is unlikely his all-round capability will be deemed a match for Carroll's sheer weight of runs.

Jason Molins, in this column's opinion, is the man for the job. He has proved over many seasons opening the batting for Ireland he has the ability and temperament to succeed at the top of the order against quality bowling. Admittedly he has not been scoring as he can in the last 12 months or so, but a 79 for Phoenix in the WM League on Sunday may be the springboard he needs to score heavily as he leads Ireland A in Ayr.

Birrell, however, seems to have a mental block when it comes to Molins and is always quick to point out his deficiencies, of which, I will admit, there are more than one, particularly in fielding and general fitness.

But if I was going to bet on who would make more runs in the World Cup, Molins or Carroll, my money would be on the former.

Does the national coach want an established performer who will probably score runs but will also be slower in the field and might even break down or an unproven, inexperienced but clearly talented batsman whose fielding and fitness are not in question?

IRELAND (v MCC, Lord's): K McCallan (Waringstown), A Botha (North County), J Bray (Eglinton), K Carroll (Railway Union), P Gillespie (Strabane), J Mooney (North County), P Mooney (North County), K O'Brien (Railway Union), W Porterfield (Rush), D Langford-Smith (Phoenix), G Wilson (Civil Service)

IRELAND (v Scotland, Aberdeen): T Johnston (Clontarf), Botha, Bray, Gillespie, McCallan, J Mooney, P Mooney, N O'Brien (Kent), Porterfield, Langford-Smith, A White (Northants). 12th man: C Mullan (Railway Union).

IRELAND A (v Scotland A, Ayr): J Molins (Phoenix), C Armstrong (North County), Carroll, A Cusack (Clontarf), D Joyce (Merrion), G Kidd (Waringstown), K O'Brien (Railway Union), A Riddles (Limavady), G Thompson (Lisburn), R Whelan (Railway Union), Wilson.