FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR AS IRELAND HOST PAKISTAN IN MALAHIDE FOR A HISTORIC GAME The resistance
In a team of 10 Test debutants, their only experience of the format comes from the one Ashes fixture Rankin played for England, writes Paul Radley
Will Ireland be competitive? Will Imam-ul-Haq be able to bear the weight of a famous family name? Will the sun make an appearance?
There are plenty of issues that will be settled when Test cricket’s newest members make a bow against Pakistan today.
The debutants
The home side will have 10 Test debutants – their only experience of the format coming from the one, ill-starred Ashes fixture Boyd Rankin played for England.
But they will not have a monopoly on first-day butterflies. Imam-ul-Haq gave a hint that he has the talent to supersede the fact he is the nephew of the chief selector by scoring a century on his one-day international debut for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi last year.
The bespectacled batsman will have to work hard to offset the accusations of nepotism that might come with making his Test bow on uncle Inzamam’s watch, but he is keen to take up the challenge. Ireland’s players may be as green as the trim on their cable-knit jumpers when it comes to playing Test cricket, but enough of them have been around the block enough times to know how to compete.
Ed Joyce will be 40 on his next birthday. The left-handed batsman will become the 19th oldest debutant in Test history. He has the pedigree of over 18,000 runs in 254 first-class games.
His recent past has been interrupted by injury, but by the looks of his fine one-day international century against UAE in Dubai in January he has clearly still got it.
He is not the only one with the capacity to impress. The O’Brien brothers, Niall and Kevin, have a history of bigstage heroics. And it will be intriguing to see how well Paul Stirling – who proved to be a master at the T10 League in Sharjah last December – can transition from being a star of cricket’s very shortest format to its longest.
The weather
It is hard not to make a balanced analysis of Ireland’s accession to Test cricket without simultaneously pouring cold water on the overall idea – both literally and metaphorically.
Actually hosting matches is a loss-leader. Cricket Ireland’s annual finances will be propped up by the revenues brought in by T20 internationals against India later this summer. The Test itself is expected to recoup only around half of the cost of staging it.
And then there is the weather. The forecast for Malahide, according to weather.com, is for 11 degrees and rain on the first day, with the sun expected only on Sunday.
The conditions
Given that international cricketers generally chase the sun, the Test could provide quite the shock for the touring side.
When Pakistan last started a Test series, against Sri Lanka in 2017, it was in September when the heat of the UAE summer was severe.
It was over 40 degrees at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and the players and umpires were the only people at the ground who were not sat in shade.
The Baltic conditions could help bridge the experience gap between the sides. A green top and cold weather may play into Mohammed Amir’s hands, but it could also help neuter the threat of Shadab Khan, who might do well to ward off frostbite in his spinning fingers.
The stats
It is well known and understandable that sides starting out in Test cricket struggle to notch wins.
Generally, they are only supported by an immature domestic first-class game.
The players struggle to adjust to the rhythm of five-day cricket. And they are playing catch up on their opposition.
In a different age, New Zealand took 44 matches and 26 years to win a Test match for the first time.
The closest sample in the modern era is Bangladesh. They took 35 matches and four years to taste victory for the first time.
And yet despite the prevailing wisdom, Ireland might be fairly well set to compete straight away, with a squad full of experience of both international at first-class experience.
If they do manage the unlikely and beat Pakistan, they would be just the second out of 11 sides to win their first Test. Australia won the first one that played, against England in 1877.