HE MIGHT HAVE the small matter of a winner-takes-all World T20 qualifier ahead of him tomorrow, but Irish wicket-keeper and batsman Gary Wilson still took time out to talk to The Score about the team’s performances in the tournament so far and his expectations for the Namibia clash.
At 6am tomorrow (Saturday), Ireland take on Namibia in a must-win T20 World Cup qualifier but you’d never know it if you were listening to Gary Wilson.
The Co Down native is in relaxed form ahead of the game and is keen to stress that desire for revenge will not play a factor after the Irish team suffered a shock defeat to the Namibians earlier in the tournament.
“Revenge is the last thing on our minds,” says Wilson. “We have the chance to qualify for a World Cup, I don’t think you need any more motivation than that.”
The Surrey-based player insists that Ireland are capable of victory if they do the simple things well.
“It’s about executing well in all three areas of the game. If we bowl the right lines, bat smartly and field well, we know we can beat Namibia.”
Wilson is happy with the team’s form throughout the tournament, despite the early loss, and he sees no reason why that shouldn’t continue against Namibia.
“We’ve got momentum behind us and we’re hitting the ball well so if we do what we’ve been doing over the last seven or so days, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t qualify,” says the 25 year old.
There’s an argument, of course, that Ireland shouldn’t be playing this qualifying tournament at all following their success against major nations over the last number of international tournaments but Wilson says that’s something for the boards and chief executives to work out.
“As players, we can’t do anything about the politics of the game, we just have to go out and do our job. In a way though, this qualifying tournament helps teams like Ireland because we don’t play a lot of T20 cricket and it exposes us to competition in a tournament setting. That can only benefit us if we qualify.”
The crucial game between Ireland and Namibia will be broadcast live on Setanta Sports 1 from 5.50am Saturday morning.
Ahead of the game, Cricket Ireland have put together the following teaser.
YouTube: cricketirelandtv
