Low lie the fields of Athenry and, at Lord’s on Wednesday, England’s batsmen were laid low by a veteran medium pacer from Lambeth.
On Irish cricket’s proudest day, it was the grandson of an Irishman, Tim Murtagh, who had eyes smiling before lunch to make sure that the first-ever Test between these two nations would not be forgotten in a hurry.
Just days away from his 38th birthday, Anglo-Irishman Murtagh, carved his name on the honours board with a stunning display of seam and swing bowling to claim 5-13 and rout England for just 85 inside the opening session.
But the truth is that this was yet another miserable performance with the bat from a team who are familiar with the art of the collapse.
(Image: Getty)
Amazingly, they have been bowled out within a single session four times in their last 34 Tests – in Bangladesh, Auckland, Nottingham and now here at Lord’s.
It was only thanks to a late-order cameo from Olly Stone with the bat that they narrowly avoided beating their lowest score of the year when they made just 77 against the West Indies in Barbados.
This time they responded well with the ball as Stone, Stuart Broad and Sam Curran took three wickets apiece to bowl Ireland out for 207, though it was still worth a 122-run lead by the close.
But there was still time for skipper Joe Root to drop Paul Stirling off Broad in the slips.
(Image: Getty)
England might be without two of their best Test batsmen, in Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, but there can be little excuse for being humbled quite so spectacularly by a county cricket stalwart who nibbled the ball at around 75 miles per hour and to whom they had no answer.
“That was as special as it gets for a cricketer,” said Murtagh, who has spent 12 years on this ground taking wickets for Middlesex.
“Growing up as a kid, I dreamt of being on that honours board. Not on the away dressing room, but that makes it a bit more special now.”
(Image: AFP/Getty)
Never before can a nation have soared quite so high and so far as England did on this very ground 11 days ago before falling quite so low and so fast as they did here.
Of course, it is not the same game, but, with five of their one-day world champions in this Test line-up, there was always the chance of a World Cup final hangover seeping into the champagne-soaked home dressing room – and so it proved.
Far from continuing the warm fuzzy Sunday evening feelings that were in every hug with friends and family in front of the famous old pavilion, England were stung by the harsh reality of Test cricket.
(Image: Getty)
The basics that their batsmen get so right in one-day cricket are repeatedly found lacking in Test cricket – and they were exposed in the most brutal fashion.
The search for a top three that can withstand the pressures of Test cricket will have to continue.
Rory Burns, Jason Roy and Joe Denly will almost certainly be the top three at Edgbaston against Australia next week, but couldn’t deal with accuracy and movement early on, nor could Root or Jonny Bairstow.
Perhaps they, too, should have been rested, with Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, but, once they were committed to playing in this game, they had to produce something better than this.
