March 30, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

PROVIDENCE (Guyana), March 29: England hope their in-form and informed batsman Ed Joyce plays a key role in upstaging neighbours Ireland in the World Cup Super Eights match here on Friday.

Joyce, who helped Ireland qualify for this World Cup before changing allegiance, has passed useful information on to England as to how to tame Ireland who have upset the calculations by reaching the second round.

“I have told team analyst Mark Garaway a little bit. I know 11 or 12 of the Irish guys pretty well but there are couple who have come in who I haven't seen very much of,” said Joyce, who made his England debut against Ireland last year.

“I will be able to help out with a few tips but you have to keep things pretty basic against most teams whether you are playing against Australia or against Ireland so I think we're going to be keeping it pretty simple.“Ireland play as a unit very well, they field very well, they bowl as a unit and they've got a lot of medium-pacers and spinners who bowl very straight. They bat all the way down to number 10,” said the 28-year-old Joyce.

Ireland, making their World Cup debut, silenced all those who criticised minnows' participation in the event with a three-wicket upset win over former champions Pakistan in their crucial Group D match.

They tied their match against Zimbabwe before losing to the West Indies – but still qualified for the Super Eights with three points in as many matches.

Joyce hoped England take the opportunity to peak for tougher matches.

“You want to peak at the right time in these tournaments and we'd like to think we are getting there after the first match,” said Joyce, who hit 66 and 75 in England's wins over Canada and Kenya in the first round.

England, who qualified from Group C without carrying two points, know it's important to achieve a win on Friday, to press for a semi-final place.

After Ireland, England face Sri Lanka and Australia in Antigua in the space of four days, a task coach Duncan Fletcher had realised once the team qualified, the first time they cleared the first round since 1996 World Cup.

“We've got to go and win four games starting with that first one. At previous World Cups we've stumbled early on in the tournament and it's important we've gone through to the Super Eights,” Fletcher said.

Irish coach Adrian Birrell disagreed Joyce passing the information would play a lead role.

“I am sure he (Joyce) knows all our players, but we also know their players and other players from all the countries. I think with a lot of video available on all teams it's not a huge advantage, it certainly does help,” said Birrell, 47.

Teams (from):

ENGLAND: Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Paul Collingwood, James Dalrymple, Andrew Flintoff, Ed Joyce, Jon Lewis, Sajid Mahmood, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Andrew Strauss.

IRELAND: Trent Johnston (captain), Kyle McCallan, Andre Botha, Jeremy Bray, Kenneth Carroll, Peter Gillespie, Dave Langford-Smith, John Mooney, Paul Mooney, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Andrew White.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies).

TV umpire: Daryl Harper (Australia).

Reserve umpire: Steve Bucknor (West Indies).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).—AFP

Match starts at 6:30pm (PST)
Expected weather: 29 degrees Centigrade (84 degrees Fahrenheit) with possibility of showers during afternoon.
Pitch report: Hard and slight green.