This was fun. The Irish have waited forever to play here in whites, and when they get to, they don’t fluff up. They’ve done perfectly well to control their nerves, and it did help that Tim Murtagh got into the act quickly with the ball, cleaning up the top-order as Mark Adair joined in to trigger what was by far England’s most embarrassing batting display in a long, long time at home. The Irish batting then looked positive, but just when they’d have liked to slam the door on the English, it was their turn to collapse, which was just as stunning – 17 runs | 6 wickets. Right, so now with a 122-run lead, and the pitch set to become better and better for batting as we go on, this is really well poised. We’ll be here tomorrow with everything, and until hopefully something just as fun to watch as today, ta ta!!
The nagging pacer is one of those Englishmen who pursued an international career for another country owing to his families’ nationality. Having played long and hard for Middlesex, it took one conversation with his fellow teammate, Ed Joyce, which lead him to pursue an international future with Ireland.
Murtagh’s journey as a cricketer started with Surrey’s age level cricket but he moved to Middlesex in 2007 and became a household name for the county. But despite having superb seasons in 2008, where he picked up 104 wickets across all formats and in 2011 when he picked up 85 wickets in the county championship and still being ignored by the English selectors, Murtagh decided to make a move.
Murtagh’s grandfather was born in Dublin and the cricketer applied for Irish citizenship in October 2011, which was granted in January, 2012. Having spent most of his prime with Middlesex, Murtagh turned out to be the exact need for Ireland. Upon citizenship, he made his debut against Australia in a One Day International and soon after secured his Twenty20 debut, against Bangladesh. His ODI debut turned out to be a bitter sweet moment as rain washed out proceedings.
However, Murtagh’s impressive credentials weren’t to be forgotten and he was named in the Ireland squad for the 2015 World cup, held in Australia and New Zealand. As luck would have it though Murtagh suffered a broken foot ahead of the tournament and was forced to miss what could have been the highlight of his career. Max Sorensen replaced him for the mega event. Having announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals in 2015, Murtagh came back from retirement to lead the attack in the 2016 WC qualifiers in an unsuccessful attempt.
With Ireland securing Test status, Murtagh will be the man to lead his team in the purest form of the game, albeit at an age when he’s getting closer towards retirement. His high arm action with nip and swing aiding his bowling, he will be quite a handy option at the Village in the Dublin.
Did You Know: Murtagh had picked up 6 for 24 against Middlesex for Surrey in 2005 in a domestic T20 game. These were the then best figures in a T20 game. Middlesex is where he moved to from Surrey. Life and ironies.
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