T20 World Cup 2021 | We are desperate to go through to the next phase of the tournament, says Graham Ford
Ireland will play against Namibia for the Super 12 spot
|ICC
Ahead of Ireland's clash against Namibia on Friday in Sharjah, team's head coach Graham Ford has said that the team is desperate to enter the Super 12 stage. Ford also revealed about his chats with a few IPL coaches and how the tough scheduling has caused problems for the Ireland cricket team.
Ireland won their first game of the tournament against their European rivals Netherlands. They had the opportunity to sealĀ a spot in Super 12s against Sri Lanka on Thursday, but the islanders spoiled their party.Ā Sri LankaĀ beat Ireland by 70 runs to qualify for the Super 12 round. Ireland will now play Namibia, who won their must-win game against NetherlandsĀ in the day game of Thursday.
Meanwhile, Ireland coach Graham Ford said that he had a chat with a few IPL coachesĀ and his team is learning and getting the required exposure.Ā
"I've had a few good chats with some of the IPL coaches, but we'll keep that to ourselves for now. Win or lose, we are gaining and we are learning, but quite obviously we're desperate to go through to the next phase of the tournament.
"You're always greedy as a coach. you want to win everything and you want to have a nice easy last fixture and say 'we're already through'. But realistically, we'd have taken it. We're still alive, we're still in the competition, and that's the most important thing," Ford said after Ireland's heavy defeat to Sri Lanka.Ā
Ireland might be unable to train ahead of their must-win clash because it takes more than five hours to travel from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah by road. Ford said that it is difficult for the team to get to the training venues.Ā
"There's no doubt it's very difficult because of the distances that you have to travel to get to training venues. Making improvements in terms of actually just getting in the nets and training is quite difficult we can get to the ground a little bit earlier on matchdays and a couple of guys can sharpen their skills that way.
"A lot of the work needed to be done in the preparation phase, which we had a pretty good block through that period, and now it's not so much getting in the nets and trying to work on anything - it's more about what have we learnt from the matches that we've played and how can we improve tactically and just really try to look sharper and see where we can improve in the game situation," Ford stated.Ā
The 60-year-old added that the team saw the game between Namibia and Netherlands. He praised David Weise whirlwinding knock which saw Namibia gun down a 165-run tareget.Ā
"We had a long bus journey then caught the end of the game and they did hit the ball extremely well at the end. We know that they've got some very dangerous players and David Wiese, who put on a show - we caught the end of that show. He's played for South Africa in the T20 World Cup before and I've seen him in South Africa and on the county circuit. He can be absolutely devastating, which he was today.
"They've got some dangerous players. They've got some very hard-working cricketers. Quite a few of them have learnt quite a lot of their cricket in South Africa and they pushed us close in the last game of the qualifiers. We know that they're going to be tough - if we're slightly off our best, we will struggle."
