John Mooney has said that Irish cricket is in desperate need of fresh talent to keep the old guard on their toes after a disastrous ICC World Twenty20 tournament in India.
Ireland slumped to defeat against Oman before a washout against the Netherlands spelt an early exit and lingering questions about where it all went wrong.
Mooney, who played 182 times for Ireland in all competitions, including 64 one-day internationals and 27 T20 internationals, defended the players who have served the team so well for so long, but admitted new blood is badly needed.
“I think the old guard need to be pushed a bit harder by younger players," he told RTÉ 2fm's Game On.
"There’s been a bit of a gap [in terms of] young players putting their hands up to be selected. For a long time a lot of these batters, a lot of the lads in the top five in the Irish team, have never been challenged so we need some of the younger players to start to develop.
“The old guard has been very successful. This is the first year in a long time that we haven’t dominated at associate level so things do need to be looked at. I wouldn’t say the old guard is finished we just need a bit more competition from the younger players."
“There’s loads of things when you get into a tournament, and you get edgy and nervy, that can go wrong."
The Oman defeat really did the damage in India, as Ireland paid an enormous price for a two-wicket defeat that will hurt for a long time.
“There’s loads of things when you get into a tournament, and you get edgy and nervy, that can go wrong. It just looked like our guys weren’t comfortable with bat, ball or in the field," added Mooney, who scored 2605 runs at an average of 23.68.
"I think we have the players we just haven’t found a new way of playing and other sides have."
Isobel Joyce's Ireland Women's team now fly the flag. They booked their place at the tournament with a thrilling Qualifiers success, and Mooney is backing them to get a result that will capture the public imagination.
"They've been working extremely hard. They haven't ever had a really big win to their name so I'm hoping that in this World Cup that's going to change.
"I've seen a real steel and determination in the women over the last couple of years. Hopefully they can cause an upset or two in this tournament because they really deserve it."
