 The one-off ODI between Australia and Ireland will be played at Dublin.
It will be a huge exposure for a team which has applied for Test membership and
needs to probably start winning games against the lesser teams more regularly
and perform rather well against the stronger ones like Australia, even if they
were to lose.
Click for Live Score Card of Ireland Vs Australia
For Australia it will be like a warm-up. A dress rehearsal for the rest of
the tour. The rest of the tour will see them play five ODIs against England
and a couple of Tests against Pakistan, and they will do well to adjust to the
conditions by getting this, almost friendly-like game against Ireland.
This will also be a chance for the Aussies to try out Steven Smith in an ODI
and see how he goes about his business. The other couple of new players in the
side are Josh Hazelwood and Tim Paine. Hazelwood is a pace bowler who
got a nod when Mitchell Johnson pulled out and decided to treat his elbow, whereas
Paine is a replacement wicket-keeper for Brad Haddin, who seems to be
suffering from symptoms of a tennis elbow. Paine will be well known from having
toured India earlier, as a full time wicket-keeper and opening bat when Haddin
had suffered from another injury in 2009.
The Australians should not change things around too much. Shane Watson
and Shaun Marsh should open the innings, with the likes of Clarke, Ponting,
White and Hussey to follow. Paine will be the wicket-keeper, who will be followed
by a spinner and three pace bowlers. The question now is who will be the spinner
and which of the three pacers will play.
To me, Steven Smith deserves a chance, while Bollinger, McKay and Harris will
be the three faster men who should make it through to the playing eleven.
From the Irish perspective, it will be a good exposure to a lot of them. While
Ireland has been playing in some T20 tournaments, it would have been a long
time since they featured in a fifty over games against a side of repute. With
the World Cup less than 10 months away, it will do Ireland no harm to play such
sides.
William Porterfield will lead the team, while Niall O'Brien will be one of
their most important batsmen-cum-wicket-keeper. He has had postponed a surgery
to just play in this game, and will do well to lead his side with the bat. Ireland
will gun at an upset, but most importantly, will look at playing a good brand
of cricket altogether.
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