Hopefully means series#

We need to try to live up to our own expectations again and get the standards up so we can beat those bigger sides. WeвЂ™re on a run now but itвЂ™s against teams we know and play a lot. вЂњWeвЂ™ve played a lot of big sides and weвЂ™ve struggled, especially in home conditions. Stirling has been in excellent form for Ireland. вЂњIn the last few years it had been difficult for us to get past that winning barrier,вЂќ Stirling continues, looking back on heavy defeats to England, New Zealand and Bangladesh last summer. In the build-up to this qualifying tournament, Ireland have also won a tri-series involving UAE and Scotland in Dubai and got through some good work in a training camp in Pretoria, which also included four wins against local sides.Д«ut there is an asterisk beside all of these recent results given the calibre of opposition and the context of those fixtures compared to the high-intensity and high-pressure games which await. вЂњAs a team and unit weвЂ™re confident again.вЂќ вЂњWinning brings its own confidence,вЂќ Stirling tells The42. It breathed new life into an ageing team.

Hopefully means series#

The midweek warm-up win over Scotland was IrelandвЂ™s eighth straight victory in the 50-over format and they head into tomorrowвЂ™s campaign opener against Netherlands with confidence and conviction again.Д®ven after an otherwise miserable two years in terms of results and performances, maybe thereвЂ™s one last hurrah left in this golden generation.ДЄ series win over Afghanistan in Sharjah, from 2-0 down, was significant in more ways than one, not least because it marked the end of John BracewellвЂ™s disastrous tenure but saw Paul Stirling, among others, return to form. Six months ago, not many would have given Ireland a chance of finishing ahead of West Indies, Afghanistan or hosts Zimbabwe but the team has enjoyed an encouraging upturn in fortunes and results since the arrival of Ford as head coach.

Graham FordвЂ™s side can upset all of that by claiming one of the two remaining places on offer over the next two weeks in Zimbabwe and certainlyВ qualifying for the 2019 World Cup would be regarded as one of this teamвЂ™s biggest achievements. It would be a disaster for the ICC if two-time winners West Indies werenвЂ™t at the World Cup, and likewise if Afghanistan - the sportвЂ™s emerging force, and a nation which has become a lucrative market - were to miss out. When every other sport is expanding its horizons, the ICC continues to pull the ladder up on those nations trying to climb it and the upshot is that entry into the gameвЂ™s showpiece event becomes an even harder invitation to come by.В Cricket does elitism best, after all.Д®ven in this supposedlyВ even-handedВ qualification tournament, which sees 10 nations vie for the two remaining World Cup berths, there is no doubt which corner the organisers are in. The International Cricket Council (ICC) have inexplicably reduced the World Cup - a tournament purporting to showcase the global game - from 14 teams to 10 as part of a piggish and short-sighted plan to ensure the sportвЂ™s major powers enjoy more of the financial pie. Ireland captain William Porterfield with the World Cup qualifier trophy. Not now, not after those indelible days in 2007, or 2011, or 2015.

Qualification for the World Cup should not be as onerous as this, nor should the notion of Ireland actually making it to England next summer be so improbable. THE GOALPOSTS HAVE shifted again, and not for the first time the odds are stacked against Ireland.