The build-up to the T20 World Cup moves up a gear tomorrow morning when Ireland play Namibia in the first of two official warm-up games, at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, better know as the MCG, or simply ‘The G’.

After a wet week of practice in Sydney, the squad have a chance to avenge last year’s humiliating eight-wicket defeat by Namibia that led to an early exit from the delayed 2020 edition of the tournament, and much soul-searching in Dublin.

Why were Ireland so inept at T20 cricket? Why did a team that could hold its own in the 50-overs game struggle so badly in the shortest format?

Fast forward 12 months, and with new coach Heinrich Malan at the helm, the Boys in Green have found a method that works and are brimming with confidence after beating old rivals Afghanistan and competing with India, New Zealand and South Africa.

Malan, a 41-year-old South African, chuckles when asked how much of the turnaround in fortunes is down to his appointment in January, and how much to Napoleon’s ‘lucky general’ theory.

“I guess all coaches want to take the credit [for good performances],” he said.

“What we have been able to do is give the players clarity about the brand of T20 cricket we want to play - a clearer idea of what we want them to do.”

Perhaps the most important change has been the promotion of wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker to No 3 and the emergence of Harry Tector as a world-class performer at four, neither of whom were in the Ireland T20 squad that toured the USA last December.

“I saw Lorcan score runs against the West Indies in January and thought he could do a job there,” Malan said. That small tweak immediately gave the batting line-up a better balance, with George ‘The Enforcer’ Dockrell delivering middle-order boundaries at No 5.

“George re-inventing himself in that role has been important too because more T20s are won by batters 5-6-7 than 1-2-3,” Malan said.

Whether Ireland can qualify for the second round of the World Cup by finishing in the top two of a group containing Scotland, Zimbabwe and the West Indies will also depend on how Malan’s seam bowlers adapt to the faster pitches expected in Tasmania.

The selection of north-west tearaway Conor Olphert, after his impressive international debut against India in June, is a gamble as the big man missed the rest of the season through injury.

“Does he have the experience? No, clearly not. Do we think he has the ability? Without doubt,” Malan said.

Olphert will have a chance to test his fitness against Namibia tomorrow and Sri Lanka at the Junction Oval on Thursday is likely to have a more prominent role to play after the withdrawal from the squad at the weekend of senior fast bowler Craig Young.

Young, who has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury, will be replaced by medium-pacer Graham Hume, who plays his club cricket in Waringstown, and not Clontarf all-rounder David Delany as many Ireland supporters were expecting.