Do They Play Cricket in Ireland?
Do They Play Cricket in Ireland? is the inside story of a rollercoaster ride that took the Boys in Green from rank amateurs to playing Test matches, and dismissing England for 85. Every stage of the journey is charted by a writer who was at the heart of the action: instrumental in Ed Joyce joining Middlesex and the tactician who helped Ireland win their first global tournament. Read about stunning victories over Pakistan, England and the West Indies, Eoin Morgan's debut at Eton, an annoying redhead's spiky spats with Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen and the Namibian farming community, the fastest century in World Cup history, a cricket-loving former IRA commander and a six-hitting sheep strangler. As friend and confidant to many of the players and coaches who took Ireland to the top table of world cricket, David Townsend is uniquely placed to tell this remarkable story. Written in diary format, in a chatty, humorous style, the book is part travelogue as it follows the team through more than 20 countries and across five continents.
David Townsend went to his first Test match at the age of six, became a freelance cricket writer two decades later and was Middlesex reporter for the telephone information service Cricketcall. During a 15-year career sub-editing sport at The Times, Daily Express and Observer, he was also Mike Gatting's ghost writer. David began covering Ireland in 1994 and still writes for the Irish Independent while commentating on county cricket for the BBC.