Behind the George Headley Stand at Sabina Park, they had brought in the kegs of Guinness. The reasonable assumption that St Patrick's Day, 80-degree temperatures and Pakistan would make folk thirsty had been well marked from Ireland's first group game, against Zimbabwe.

All this week the Irish fans have brought a gaiety to this Cricket World Cup that has struck a chord with the like-minded Jamaicans, and the 2,000 or so who turned up on Saturday for the wonder game - despite the long journey to arrive at Sabina Park - have braved a week of varying experiences on and off the field.

From the Sunset Jamaican Grande resort, where many have found lodgings, to the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica has also made an impression.

The resort, which hosted a party for players (who have been deified here) and fans on Saturday night, is picture postcard; the slums are more Mogadishu than Montego Bay.

Here cab drivers will not take fares to Trench Town, and even the promise of a tour of Bob Marley's house, a signed photograph of him and a free spliff has tempted few.

"You can smoke the ganja here but don't bring it on the aeroplane with you when you are going home," is the customary cab-driver advice.

After dark the taxis won't drive through Spanish Town, a large collection of corrugated houses and broken streets on the route between Kingston and the resort area of Ocho Rios. So few Irish fans have stopped to sample the hospitality of the Sicca Sicca Sin drinking emporium, a wood-and-corrugated-iron structure on the side of a road by the aluminium factory.

The contrasts on the pitch have also astonished - the Ulster flags, the Tricolours and the Clontarf Cricket Club colours flying prominently in the "party" side of the ground - and the next few days are seen as welcome down time before the final pool game against the hosts.

Then the noise produced by the Irish fans is expected to be challenged for the first time by the traditionally boisterous Jamaicans, who can expect to pay 6,000 Jamaican dollars (€67 or, for many, almost one-third of a month's wages) for the privilege of watching Brian Lara and company.

The mettle of the cricketers will be tested too, and the girls who ferry the trays of drink across the ground to the ever-happy Irish supporters will be back in business again.