Hey, that's test cricket!
By Dave Sihra
Ireland made it through a slow burn, see-saw opening day in Sylhet that saw fifties for Paul Stirling and debutant Cade Carmichael, several dropped catches, but also a burst of late wickets.
First things first - the debutants. As expected, Cade Carmichael was the man to slot into the top order. But where exactly? What wasn’t expected was Stirling’s promotion to test opener for the first time since the 2018 test against Afghanistan in Dehradun.
Carmichael on debut did very Carmichael things. He passed fifty just like he did on first-class debut for Emerging Ireland against West Indies Academy in Coolidge, Antigua almost two years ago.
The only major note might be his robust movement across his stumps which opens up the leg side, protects his stumps, but also increases his risk of LBW. The Instonians batter also showed very good patience.
Don’t believe the hype?
Jordan Neill, Ireland’s other debutant seemed to be a like for like for the injured Mark Adair - with Ireland opting for two spinners and three seamers while Bangladesh went three and two.
You could be forgiven for forgetting how quickly Neill moved into the senior men’s playing group. Autumn of last year he was captain of Ireland Under-19s on a tour to England. In February of this year he was drafted into the senior white ball squad in Zimbabwe as injury cover for Barry McCarthy.
The word is Neill’s bowling has a bit of nip, can move the ball and he’s highly regarded by the coaching group. He has four List A wickets so far with three of those coming in April’s tour of the UAE by Ireland Wolves.
Jordan Neill can bat a bit too, and he was certainly handy in a crucial partnership of 48 with Barry “Big BM!” McCarthy. So Heinrich Malan may know a few things.
The fun between McCarthy and Neill came to a dramatic end when the debutant couldn’t keep out the final ball of the day. He’d defended predominantly off the back foot and looked slightly stiff early on, but began to move more fluidly. Taijul Islam, who’s nine away from becoming Bangladesh’s highest wicket-taker in test cricket, artfully drew him forward to strike the pad in line.
Five dropped catches by Bangladesh is perhaps the main story. Ireland have reached 270-8 at the end of the end of Day One at Sylhet - a definite improvement on their opening effort in the 2023 test match when they were bowled out for 214 inside 73 overs.
Bangladesh should really be on top. However Ireland live on to literally fight another day.
But hey, that’s test cricket.
The key question may be how far Ireland can stick around tomorrow morning and annoy the home side.
This article by Dave Sirha first appeared on his new Substack, Dave meets Ball and can be viewed here.