‘Test status may be too soon for us’

FOR his first match for Ireland in 1965 against the MCC at Lord’s, Dougie Goodwin took time off work and travelled overnight with his teammates in London by boat and train. ‘We got bunks on board, Gerry Duffy, Donal Pratt, who was captain at the time, Stanley Bergin and myself,’ he recalled. ‘When we went to get the train in Liverpool, we were looking for our seats, only to told that a carriage had been taken off. I suggested we sit in the restaurant car only there wasn’t one. ‘As you couldn’t hop off at Crewe and risk not getting back on in time, we were a hungry lot when we got to London!’ At Lord’s, Goodwin’s first involvement was with the bat. He walked through the Long Room aware of the sense of history and occasion. ‘Lord’s was a huge thing for me. Every cricketer in the world wanted to play there,’ he said. ‘I think Alec [O’Riordan] was batting at the other end and I tried to have a mow at something and he wandered down the wicket and said, “these boundaries are too big, you won’t be able to hit them over them.” I steadied up then.’ So what of Ireland’s chances against Pakistan? ‘When we beat England in the World Cup (2011); we had a very good team then. I don’t think the team now is as good. ‘With the right coaching set-ups, which they’re doing, in a couple of years the team should get better. ‘They’re going to face some very good teams. I think it (Test status) may have come too soon but what’s the use in waiting around? Let’s embrace it.’