At midday the news broke that Peter Moores was set to be removed as England’s head coach. Five minutes later the rain falling on the Malahide Cricket Club had become too heavy to continue and the players trudged off the field. By 3.10pm the match was abandoned.
Just 18 overs were bowled with four Irish wickets claimed at a cost of 56 runs. But while this brief glimpse of the new generation of England one-day cricketers had offered flashes of encouragement – including strikes for two of the five debutants on show – the fixture finished a damp squib. And the cricket will not be what it is remembered for.
Moores, it transpired, was overseeing his last match in charge. That he, along with assistant coach Paul Farbrace, insisted on travelling across the Atlantic to be involved, leaving Barbados on Wednesday evening and arriving in Dublin at 10am on Friday, via Gatwick, was typical of his work ethic.
Taking training the day before, following that arduous journey, the former Lancashire coach displayed the energy with which he has become synonymous, leading the drills and prepping his 13-man squad in sunshine for the challenge of William Porterfield’s associate side. Seven young products of county cricket were vying for their first one-day cap, five of whom went on to get the nod. Moores was in his element.
On Friday morning the clouds were already gathering. The traditional cap presentation on the outfield in a huddle before play, taken by the former one-day opener Nick Knight, was a happy affair, with warm applause for the Surrey pair of Jason Roy, Zafar Ansari, Hampshire’s James Vince, Mark Wood of Durham and the Northamptonshire all-rounder David Willey.
And on the field this upbeat mood continued after the stand-in captain James Taylor won the toss and invited the hosts to bat on a green strip. Paul Stirling was run out by the wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow in Tim Bresnan’s second over when attempting a quick leg-bye, before his partner Porterfield, who called that suicidal run, chopped on to give the skiddy right-arm of Wood his first international victim.
A recovery of 21 runs between Ed Joyce and Niall O’Brien ended when the latter edged to Vince at first slip, earning Bresnan his first wicket for England since the World Twenty20 14 months ago. And there was joy for Willey, the left-arm seamer, who teased the edge of Andy Balbirnie’s bat to the flying Roy at second slip.
For those England supporters who had made the trip across the Irish Sea, it was great fun while it lasted. But once the expected rain began to fall over this picturesque coastal town north of Dublin, all inside this pop-up international venue knew their day would soon be cut short. And besides, events of greater significance were developing away from the action.
It was perhaps fitting that Moores – the great developer of talent whose results column sits heavily in the red in spite of that – should oversee a final match in which young players shone, with four of the five debutants having made an impact during the 80 minutes of play. The captain, Taylor, speaking after the abandonment, insisted the coach’s natural upbeat demeanour has been unaffected throughout.
“He’s been brilliant. He is always very consistent and he’s good around the dressing room – same as ever,” said Taylor, who became the 32nd man to lead England in one-day cricket. “There has been no change at all and the guys are firmly behind him. He’s been brilliant the whole time I’ve been in the England camp.”
“Peter has been fantastic with me,” added Wood, who was an unused player on the recent tour of the Caribbean. “He gave me my chance to go to the tour of the West Indies and I’m thankful to him and the selectors for that. He’s always had positive things for me.”
Such tributes should come as no surprise. There is little question of the support for Moores among the current crop of players, both those here in Ireland and the Caribbean tourists who were rested for the one-off 50-over fixture, and he will walk out with his character and integrity having never been questioned.
But international sport is not a popularity contest and that harrowing World Cup campaign – in which England were so far off the pace – was always going to be hard for him to recover from in light of the changes behind the scenes at the England and Wales Cricket Board since the start of the year.
So while these 18 overs, in which four young lions roared, were certainly the start of a new era on the field, they were also very much the end of one off it.
