THE Irish players were out to dinner in Canberra on Friday evening when the texts and tweets started to come in. Someone checked an online scorecard and blinked. 'AB de Villiers, not out 94, 49 balls'.

If the South African batsman hit the next ball for six, the most iconic World Cup batting record would no longer be solely in Irish hands. Happily for Kevin O'Brien, it took De Villiers three balls to reach 100, leaving his 2011 Bengaluru blitz atop the tree.

But as the Irishmen returned to their meals, they could be forgiven if they had suddenly lost their appetite. For within 96 hours they, too, would be trying to curtail the finest batsman in this World Cup, a man who has scored the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs in recent months.

Despite Ireland having a 100 per cent record after two games, it hasn't been a happy competition for the seam-bowling department. John Mooney, Max Sorensen and O'Brien have bowled 47 overs between them and conceded 347 runs, almost 7.4 per over.

Their woes are not untypical in a competition that has shown a widening gulf between bat and ball. Over the game's history, regular adjustments to the laws have tried to balance the disciplines to ensure a fair contest.

But modern spectator tastes are for big, aggressive hitting and the balancing act is now hopelessly askew. Only five double centuries have ever been made in ODIs, all in the last four years; 13 times teams have scored over 400, all since 2006.

Technology has played a big part in this, says Paul McCrum, one of the finest fast-medium bowlers Ireland has produced.

"Batting has improved with the technical advancements of equipment and the consistency of playing surfaces. Many new shots have evolved which are hybrids from T20. Bowling has developed much less technically and the game is now hugely stacked on the batsman's favour. The white balls swing minimally and with consistent batting strips and better equipment, batsmen can hammer the ball out of the ground."

Even some of the attempts to redress the gulf have had unintended consequences. By introducing a new ball at either end, legislators hoped to give fast bowlers more time with a harder ball and seam. But on the flat wickets Down Under, there is little assistance for such bowlers and a longer-lasting hard ball has helped the batters more and taken reverse swing out of the bowlers' armoury.

David Langford-Smith opened the bowling for Ireland at the 2007 World Cup.

"We only used one ball for 50 overs, so as the game went on, the ball was getting softer which made it harder to hit as cleanly as they do now. They've also increased fielding restrictions which makes such a difference to the fielding side," he said.

The 'powerplay' overs cause havoc for captains who can only have two fielders more than 30 yards from the bat for the first 10 overs and three fielders for a chunk of five overs which must be taken before the 40th over. It makes it impossible to fill all the gaps that need to be filled and allows batsmen free rein to lift the ball over the inner ring.

"Cricket fans want runs being scored and that's what they're getting," shrugs Langford-Smith.

While Ireland's young spinners are highly experienced (George Dockrell, age 22, has 115 caps; Paul Stirling, 24, has 149), the seamers have been forced to the front line by a succession of blows.

The departures of Boyd Rankin (to England), Trent Johnston (to retirement) and Tim Murtagh (to injury) robbed Phil Simmons of pack leaders and thrust the role on men who had previously been strictly second-fiddlers. Mooney, O'Brien and Alex Cusack are all-rounders, men whose batting has been as important to their role in the team as their bowling. Now they have to take the responsibility of bowling with new balls and in the 'death' overs at the end of an innings.

The chaos surrounding the sector dates back months and the dropping of Max Sorensen despite playing the last eight ODIs before the squad was selected. Young player of the year Craig Young then had an excellent winter and looked set to spearhead the attack. But when Murtagh pulled out, Sorensen won a reprieve and has since leapfrogged Young and the other quick bowler picked ahead of him, Durham's Peter Chase. Sorensen's pace sets him ahead of his team-mates, but his gun-barrel straight line has proved all too predictable on flat, unresponsive pitches.

He will likely miss out against his native South Africa, but Young may have to wait a little longer. The Manuka Oval in Canberra is a slowish pitch which would be better suited to the impressive off-spin of Andrew McBrine, who would also give more control. Young is more likely to get that call-up against Zimbabwe in Hobart, where DCU student Chase may also get a chance to play in his first ODI.

But first Ireland have a date with De Villiers. Langford-Smith counts the South African among the 65 scalps of his 43-cap career - he bowled him for five in an ODI in 2007, while De Villiers made 0 and 40 in subsequent games against Ireland the same year.

One of the most fraught areas for the modern bowler is the death overs, when carnage such as South Africa's 75 runs off the last three overs can occur.

The former internationals have theories on how Ireland can cope: "I've found that death bowling is very easy when I'm sitting on my couch, but it really is a difficult thing to do," says Langford-Smith. "Very few players can hit a yorker two feet outside off stump for six. You can set a field to bowling yorkers. These slower-ball bouncers aren't really working for anyone. The only advice I'd give to our boys is don't take any wickets . . . so AB doesn't get a bat!"

The full straight ball is the best weapon, too, reckons McCrum, who won 74 caps in the 1990s: "Variation of pace is key more than length. I'm a huge fan of yorkers - Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga is one of the few practitioners and death bowlers left."

Ireland's batsmen, fielders and spinners have so far covered up the deficiencies in other areas, but if they are to make progress in this competition, then all cylinders will need to be firing - and soon.