Trent Johnston says Ireland not yet ready for Test cricket
The most experienced Ireland cricketer and former captain Trent Johnston has said that his team is still not ready for Test cricket.
Ireland created history by defeating England by 3 wickets in a Group B match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011 in Bangalore on Wednesday. After this huge upset, there are growing calls to give Ireland Test status as they had also defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the
2007 edition of the tournament.
Johnston, who was the captain of the Ireland team in the ICC World Cup 2007, feels that Test cricket would be a big jump for the Irish cricketers and the need of the hour for the International Cricket Council and Cricket Ireland is to develop a proper structure
of domestic cricket in the country.
He feels that playing more first-class cricket would help the Irish cricketers to develop their game, however Johnston said that Ireland should be given more opportunities to play limited overs cricket with top cricketing nations.
“I think Test cricket is probably a good while away. We need to get things set up back in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ireland-c751, the infrastructure and first-class setup and that sort of stuff. But one-day cricket and Twenty20, definitely, I think we proved yesterday that we can mix
it with those guys,” the former Ireland captain said.
Johnston feels that unity and team spirit are the strengths of the Ireland team and they really enjoy their cricket in all the circumstances. In his opinion, Ireland rarely gets an opportunity to play against the tougher opponents and there should be more
matches against the big teams.
The all-rounder added, “We want to mix it with the big boys. We want to play those guys 10 or 20 times a year. We just go out there and enjoy each other's success. I think that's the biggest thing, we go out there as a team.”
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