John Kenny's World Cup Diary
Entry Three - 14 March 2007
Ireland's opening game of the 2007 ICC world Cup sees Adi Birrell's side take on Zimbabwe at Sabina Park in Kingston at 2.30 Irish time on Thursday. The venue is the same as it was for the cracking opening match in which the West Indies beat Pakistan by 54 runs, much to the delight of the locals.
The atmosphere was great, but it could have been so much better had the organisers, the ICC, not banned spectators from bringing in conch shells, drums and whistles, which for years have been part and parcel of games in the West Indies.
Instead the image-conscious and sponsor-conscious ICC have been handing out those awful plastic clappers and stupid oversized hands.
The home side set the tone for what looks like a decent World Cup by beating Pakistan, who now have to beat both Ireland and Zimbabwe in their last two games if they are to guarantee qualification. That shouldn't be a problem even if Ireland beat Zimbabwe on Thursday, but they are under a little pressure now.
Ireland will start as favourites against Zimbabwe, despite being ranked four places below them in the world rankings. Recent warm-up games against South Africa and Canada have shown that Birrell's side are in good nick and if their bowlers are up to the task, Ireland should win.
After the game I will leave my hotel in Morgans Harbour to head to Ocho Rios where the bulk of the Irish supporters are based. I'm hearing horror stories about the trip from Kingston to the north of the country across the Blue Mountains from my newspaper colleagues.
Robbie Irwin, who is here for RTÉ TV, arrived in on Tuesday and drove the two hours across what he described as a dirt track. He was none the better for it and is going back to Kingston instead tomorrow.
I'll risk the trip after the Ireland game. My brother Colin and best mate Mick arrive tonight, swelling the 1,500 Irish fans who are here for the Group D matches.
Hopefully the next time you read this diary Ireland will have taken its first ever World Cup win and we will all have survived the trip north across the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.
