By ZAID MOHAMMED Sports Editor in Jamaic Tuesday, March 20 2007

THE IMPRESSIVE performances of Ireland and Bangladesh at the 2007 Cricket World Cup has struck a huge blow for the so called minnows in the international game. Their participation in the showpiece event has been heavily criticised notably by former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding.

Nicknamed “Whispering Death”, Holding who was on the World Cup winning teams of 1975 and 1979 said the inclusion of the minnows demean the World Cup and takes away for the quality of competition.

However Ireland, making their debut scored a thrilling tie with Zimbabwe on Wednesday and knocked out Pakistan from the tournament on Saturday, winning by three wickets at Sabina Park in Kingston.

And at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, also on Saturday, Bangladesh surprised their sub-continent rivals India with a five-wicket victory to stake a claim in Group “B” for Super 8s qualification.

On Saturday, after the Irish’s St Patrick’s Day massacre, team coach Adrian Birrell said the results so far has scored a big blow for the Associate Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“There are going to be matches where the associates will do badly but as far as we are concerned the ICC have an obligation to help cricket grow globally,” said Birrell.

He said their performances to date will do a world of good for Irish cricket much as it has done for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who won the World Cup in 1996 about a decade after gaining Test status.

“Hopefully people will see that there is value in the game played by the Associate Members. Although there are times when teams will find the going tough but we have been lucky to get a win and a tie,” said Birrell.

He said the Irish cricketers can hold their heads up high and he thanked the other Associate Members for coming up to scratch in the 2007 World Cup.

Irish team captain Trent Johnson said that the critics of the minnows in the World Cup have a right to their opinion and it may be true that the Associate Members have not performed well in the previous World Cup.

“But Kenya made the semi-finals in 2003 and Sri Lanka got international status in the early 1980s and turned world cricket on its head in 1996 by winning the World Cup,” said Johnson who is Australia-born.

He said the main objective of his team’s participation in the 2007 World Cup is to build cricket in Ireland to show people that cricket is played in the Emerald Isle and at a high standard.

“I am sure that other Associate Members are doing the same for their country and we are here just to give a good old fight and if we can perform well it is a big plus and will lift the game’s profile back home,” said Johnson.

The six Associate Members of the ICC at the 2007 World Cup are Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, The Netherlands, and Scotland.