IRELAND'S cricketers were last night reported to be “angry” at a vicious personal attack on player John Mooney at the Cricket World Cup.

The Fingal all-rounder was labelled “an alcoholic” and “a cheat” yesterday by the Zimbabwe Herald, a newspaper that backs the corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe.

The slurs came in the wake of a controversial incident in Ireland's win last Saturday when Mooney held a catch off over Zimbabwe batsman Sean Williams.

Mooney's foot was very close to the boundary rope but the TV cameras could not prove that he had touched it - which would have meant Williams was not out and scored a six.

Ireland won the vital game by just five runs.

While the umpires were deciding, Williams walked off the field, happy to take Mooney's word for it.

The Irishman came under attack in the aftermath, with former Zimbabwe minister for education David Coltart saying the catch was “like Maradona's ‘Hand of God Goal' in 1986 Football World Cup.”

But it was the column by Robson Sharuko that has drawn the Irish players' fury.

Under the headline ‘Alcoholic dumps Zim out of World Cup', Sharuko wrote:

“A recovering alcoholic, who last year was so depressed he even contemplated killing himself, was the Irishman who sealed Zimbabwe's fate at this year's World Cup in Hobart on Saturday night with a shameful piece of fielding dishonesty that his soiled this global cricket showcase.

“John Mooney will not get too many beer offers should he come to a Harare pub soon.”

Sharuko went on to use Mooney's well-documented battles with mental illness as a way of attacking him.

“Is it possible for a person like Mooney to be trusted?”, he asked. “The Irish cricketer was so depressed that he returned from a tour to the Caribbean early and then revealed to 2FM show Game On that he battled with alcoholism and came close to killing himself.

“For a man of such character, who has so much weighing down on his shoulders, it was very unlikely that, in the defining moment of such a big game, he could be trusted to have the honesty, let alone the decency to concede that his foot had touched the boundary.”

Sharuko himself seems an unlikely champion of “honesty and decency” in sport.

He was banned for life by the Zimbabwean FA for his role in a match-fixing scandal which saw the national football team lose a series of matches in Asia in 2007.

The Asiagate scandal saw Zimbabwe lose 3-2 to Finland after leading 2-0 at the break; lost 2-0 to Vietnam and drew 1-1 with Uzbekistan in games in which the results were later found to be pre-determined.

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists said at the time “recent developments in which three journalists were implicated in the Asiagate soccer match fixing scandals are indeed a stain on our profession.”

Mooney was unavailable for comment last night, but his teammates said they were angry at the attacks.

Cricket Ireland chief executive Warren Deutrom told the Irish Daily Star that he had contacted the ICC about the slurs.

“It would be easy to dismiss it as a childish diatribe if it wasn't for the vicious personal attack on John which cannot pass without comment, and possible action.

“John represents his country with honour, distinction and integrity. That he does in the face of personal challenges about which he has spoken openly and movingly demonstrates incredible hard work and great courage.

“We understand, as does John, that public figures may occasionally be subject to negative comment, but in mocking John in such a contemptuous fashion, and using his personal difficulties as a mere punchline, the Zimbabwe Herald has demonstrated breath-taking crassness and a gross error of editorial judgement.

“We have made contact with ICC to understand what remedies might be available to us.”

Readers of the Zimbabwe Herald also attacked the piece by the newspaper's sports editor. More than 60 had commented online, with almost all condemning the article.

“Such ignorance about mental health and depression. Shame on you,” wrote one reader, Gumbu.