By John Kenny
So it’s the morning after the night before.
Early starts then for me and my colleague Ian Callender (the doyen of Irish cricket) and the only other Irish journalist who has travelled to the Cricket World Cup.
As I type, Cally is beavering away in our room, filing for God knows how many newspapers such has been the clamour for copy after Ireland's fantastic Pool B win over the West Indies in Nelson, New Zealand.
It was a mighty day.The BBC invited me to commentate for their famous Test Match Special (TMS) programme and my co- commentator was ex-England international Graham Swann, who played against Ireland in that famous win in Bangalore in 2011.
Plenty of gentle ribbing about that one, but he took it in good heart.
Ireland's performance was exemplary. A measured top-order response to the West Indian total of 304 for 7 showed an Irish maturity that has followed on from the 2007 wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh and the 2011 triumphs over England and the Netherlands.
Now it's off to Australia and the next port of call, Brisbane, for game two against the UAE on 25 February. A win in that match at the Gabba and Ireland's quest to make the last eight would be ever closer.
Nelson is a very picturesque town and the people are welcoming and warm - a pleasure to deal with. But for an Irish city boy, it's just a little too quiet for me and I'm looking forward to the hustle and bustle of Brisbane.
There's also a long wait now for the next game, so we will get a little down time. But since the win over the Windies, Cally and myself have found ourselves inundated with requests.
And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way, it's great to be reporting on successes for an Irish international team.
A lot of people back home can be indifferent and indeed some are actually openly hostile in their lack of knowledge of the game of cricket. That's okay.
We are not here to educate, only report. But to be reporting on an outstanding success for an Irish team is only a pleasure and one Irish people should really embrace, even if it is a hard game for some to comprehend.
International successes are few and far between for Ireland, be they individual or team.
They won't come home to open top buses and fanfares or anything like that, but the cricket team deserve our respect.
There is packing to be done. Brisbane here we come.
