Ireland open their World Cup qualifying campaign in Toronto today with a testing match against a USA team that includes a former Test batsman Faoud Bacchus. The 47-year-old played in Clive Lloyd's great West Indian side two decades ago before emigrating and changing his allegiance to the Stars and Stripes.
Ireland will not be daunted by the threat posed by Bacchus, having nullified him on the way to victory in Kuala Lumpar four years ago but they may find the USA a more potent force this time.
Coach Ken Rutherford refused to be drawn on his starting line-up yesterday but fast bowler Adrian McOubry is almost certain to miss out and Dominic Joyce will only play if captain Kyle McCallan fails to recover from a bout of food poisoning. The third disappointed man will be either Paul Mooney or Mark Patterson.
Scotland took a relatively easy first step when they beat a gutsy but limited Fiji side by six wickets here yesterday.
The Scots had no problem skittling Fiji out for 41 in only 20.4 overs but then lost four wickets before clinching victory in the 14th over. With the bat, however, the team that pipped Ireland to a place in the last World Cup, were far less impressive.
The top three of the 24 teams taking part qualify for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
