John Kenny's World Cup Diary

Entry One - 12 March 2007

Here comes 'The Blarney Army': 1,500 men, women and children en route to Jamaica for Ireland's Group D matches, starting with the must-win game against Zimbabwe on Thursday. It's a game that will set the tone for Ireland's World Cup ambitions.

Cecil, Fredrick and Billy on the flight from Dublin to Gatwick were all confident of an Irish win in that opening game, given that Zimbabwe have a squad of young and inexperienced players, and are missing the likes of class players Andy Flower and Henry Olonga. Olonga and Flower departed the team after making a stand against the government of Robert Mugabe.

It was a dignified protest by Olonga and Flower, which started in the last World Cup in Africa when the pair wore black armbands in recognition at what they saw as the 'Death of Democracy' in their country.

With their departure, and the absence of Mark Vermeulen, who was recently arrested for allegedly burning down the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy in Harare, the feeling is that Ireland can benefit and get their campaign off to a win on Thursday at Sabina Park in Kingston.

The Blarney Army (as distinct from England's 20,000-strong Barmy Army) will be based in Ocho Rios, a tourist destination in the north of the country which is reachable by taxi at a cost of $120. Reporters like me will be based initially in Kingston, the rather unsafe capital of Jamaica.

We have been assured that we will be safe, but that precautions must be taken; it's not advisable to be strolling around in the downtown district alone, especially at night.

The opening ceremony was a glitzy affair in Trelawney near Kingston on Sunday: plenty of colour and reggae supplied by the legendary Jimmy Cliff and local-boy-done-good Sean Paul. But now the real action gets under way with the opening game on Tuesday as the West Indies take on Pakistan, also at Sabina Park.

For the Irish, the two warm-up games have proved useful. But for a lower-order collapse, Trent Johnston and his boys would have humbled the mighty South Africa, currently ranked number one in the world. That match was followed up by a convincing win over Canada and therefore expectations are now high that Ireland can beat Zimbabwe in their opener on Thursday.

I am writing this between flights on the way to Kingston and when I land, the first port of call will be the accreditation centre at Sabina Park. I'm a little aprehensive about this because, although I received confirmation some time ago, I have heard very little since from the organisers and there have been tales from the locals of accreditation hell.

Hopefully it won't come to that. I would like to take in the opening game between the West Indies and Pakistan on Tuesday and have a look at the BBC Radio operation at Sabina Park.

Peter Baxter, the BBC Radio Cricket Producer, was kind enough to offer me a gig as one of the commentators on the Ireland v Zimbabwe game. It's a long held ambition and one I'm looking forward to (you can hear it live on 198 LW from 2.15 on Thursday).

I also have my RTÉ duties to perform and the pity is that it clashes with Cheltenham, but you will be able to hear updates from the Ireland v Zimbabwe game and coverage of the other two Irish games (v Pakistan Sat 17 March and v West Indies on Friday 23 March) on RTÉ Radio sport bulletins.

They are calling our flight. It's a 10-and-a-half-hour journey with the 'Blarney Army'. Here we go...