Porterfield very excited about Ireland’s future

Ireland had a disappointing finish to the World Cup as they lost a close game against The Netherlands on the final day of the group stages and missed out on qualification for the Super 10 stage of the competition.

Nevertheless Porterfield believes it was just one of those days where the Dutch’s batsmen led an assault to see them in the end win by six wickets and in doing so knock Phil Simmons’ side out of the Bangladesh tournament.

“It was frustrating from our point of view, because we played two and a half good games of cricket,” he stated.

“We beat Zimbabwe then UAE, before a very good first half against Holland and you have to give credit to them as well for the way they came out and played, they struck the ball pretty cleanly on such a big ground.

“Obviously we didn’t bowl as well as we would have liked but as I said they played a few good shots and it was just one of those things, where it’s pretty hard to put your finger on it.

“We knew they were going to come out swinging and I think it was just a case that it came off for them, they had a few balls early on which just flew over fine leg and even in the first over (Peter) Borren top edged one when doing a sweep and it just flew a couple of yards away from the sweeper and if those things go your way it could be a complete different story.

“I honestly feel because they had absolutely nothing to lose I think that played into their favour and while we could have done a few things slightly differently, which happens after every game, I don’t think the defeat needs too big a post-mortem.”

The 29-year-old believes the next few months are exciting times leading up to the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and he believes young players like Andrew McBrine, Stuart Thompson and Craig Young in particularl will have gained valuable experience from their time in Bangladesh.

“It’s less than 12 months away to the start of the World Cup, so it’s a big year like any World Cup year, there’s a lot of preparation and competition for places, but it’s going to be an exciting time,” he added.

“All the young lads who were in the squad did very well, you look at Andy McBrine, Craig Young and Stuart Thompson, obviously Andy and Stuart played in the games as well, with Andy playing in two of them I think it was a good experience for them.

“What they have gained over that eight week period, starting off in the West Indies, will be a great experience for them.

“Andy came into the side when we were in the West Indies and the way he bowled against quality oppositions was super. In his first game he bowled pretty much seven of his ten overs to (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, so it showed his maturity and what he’s got at that young age.

“He showed that he could keep his nerve, bowl in power plays and bowl at crucial stages of games, he showed that throughout not only at the World Cup but also in the warm-up games he opened against Bangladesh and as I said he did very well in the West Indies, so that obviously bodes well for the future.

“Stuart Thompson has also come in and taken his chance as well, yes he didn’t get to bowl many overs but what he showed with the bat is that there’s great times for ourselves moving forward.”

Last year the Killyclooney man lost a good portion of his bowling attack after duo Boyd Rankin and Trent Johnson retired from Irish cricket, nevertheless Porterfield feels upbeat about the future.

“Losing Trent and Boyd in the same year was obviously a big blow for us, but it just shows that we have moved on and haven’t really looked back.

“Yes they have been fantastic players for us, but as soon as they left the squad that was kind of it.

“Tim Murtagh has come in and he has done very well for us, you also have Stuart Thompson and Max Sorensen who did well and Craig Young has shown a lot of potential when he was away with us, the coaching staff was impressed with what he had to offer, so hopefully he can keep learning and keep moving forward throughout the season as he has the potential to be a big player for us over the next 12 months.”

The former Donemana man believes the work being down behind the scenes by Cricket Ireland will in the long term be rewarding and he also feels that cricketers throughout the country and particularly in the North West need to buy into what is happening.

“Obviously in the North West there has never been a shortage of talent, it’s just how we nurtured that, but the lads have to buy into that as well and I think that is starting to happen more and more now.

“Everyone is showing their commitment which is needed, now only from Cricket Ireland in terms of a structure point of view, but also both on and off the pitch. From the players point of view I think there’s a lot more commitment being shown now and lads are reaping the benefits from it.

“I think there’s a lot of opportunities now for young lads who are coming through. You can get contracts and stuff and I think people are starting to see that now, that there’s going to be a future in cricket now.

“It’s great to see that things are starting to go into place and as I have said the North West has always had that potential, so it’s great that the chances are now going to happen for any player who had real potential and puts in the hard work.”

Recently the International Cricket Council gave Ireland and other Associate nations good news, after they have been offered the chance to compete for the right to achieve Test status.

The winners of the next Intercontinental Cup have been granted a play-off against the bottom-ranked full member, with ‘promotion’ to the Test elite at stake.

“It’s obviously something we have been working towards and you look as a whole what Cricket Ireland has been doing over the last eight to ten years and there’s no reason why we can’t progress that even further,” he explained.

“The ICC have given us a path way now that if you win the Intercontinental Cup, you have got a two game home and away series to gain test status, so it’s out there in front of us and we know what we have to do.

“Yes we don’t know how the Intercontinental Cup is going to be run structure wise just yet, but it gives us a clear path way towards getting to what we have always wanted.”

There really isn’t any rest for full-time cricketers nowadays, as within a few weeks of getting knocked out of the World Cup in Bangladesh, Porterfield was back playing for his county side Warwickshire, something which he was happy about.

“Yeah it’s straight back in, but it’s what you want, back playing cricket and being out there on the pitch.

“The more cricket we play the more you learn and it’s a game that you can always keep learning and evolving in every game you play, so it’s great for ourselves and we’ll be looking to keep moving forward.”