WITH less than a week to the RSA Challenge, the Irish players are starting to focus on the Malahide showdown.
Inside Edge talked to George Dockrell in Birmingham last week and Ireland's spinner is already pumped about the game.
"We'll always be up for it when we play England, and I'm really confident we can do well again this time. England have been strong in the Tests and Champions Trophy this summer, but I back us every time to do one on them. If we play as well as we can then we can beat anyone in the world."
Ireland haven't played for two months, since qualifying for the 2015 World Cup with a win and a tie in Holland. But the preparation for the England game goes on, even with players scattered all over Ireland and the UK.
"We've been given a lot of preparation to work on", Dockrell says, "And we have video files available to look up our opponents. Phil will also ring up frequently to keep in touch and check how you're getting on. Our strength and conditioning guy, Brendan Connor, is also on to the county S&C guy to compare notes."
The last time Ireland beat England, George was sitting in the back room of the dressing room in Bangalore, padded up as next man in.
"I couldn't watch it to be honest, I was just very nervous about having to go in and maybe hit the winning runs. Afterwards was just incredible, I remember getting very emotional with John Boy (Mooney)."
Dockrell hasn't had a great season with Somerset, the first setback on a career that suddenly took off in an upward direction in early 2010.
"It's been a lot different this year," he admits. "I've been in and out of the one day team, and with the 2nd team it hasn't always gone my way, and I had a bit of injury trouble too. I'm back in the four day team and I was bowling with great rhythm against Warwickshire [taking 6-71] so hopefully I'll get a good run.
But does he see his future at Somerset, or is a move likely?
"I've really enjoyed my first few years here," he said. "This year has been frustrating, but hopefully I can keep going forward."
LAST week Paul Stirling was reunited with a record-breaking ball. In a Middlesex T20 match he became the first batsman to hit a six over the Mound Stand at Lord's since it was rebuilt at 22metres in 1987. The ball was picked up by a woman who had just left the ground but she brought it back to Lord's last week and presented a nice souvenir to the Irishman.
DID Irish cricket miss a trick with those loveable popsters Jedward? An Australian journalist reports that he shared a Green Room with the pair before a recent BBC show. When he told them he was covering the Ashes, they told him they used to play cricket at school in King's Hospital, and John (or maybe Edward) proceeded to give a decent example of a leg-spinner's action.
ANOTHER great Irish cricketer was Samuel Beckett, a serious writer whose work is celebrated at a festival in Enniskillen this week. In an interview late he told of his days playing for Trinity: "I also remember when we played Northants. They were a happy band drinking and whoring and so on between matches and I would go off alone and sit in the church." Can't see him fitting in with the modern Trinity cricketer.
IF evidence were needed of the power of role models, the 1st and 2nd ranked wicket-keepers in the Hopkins Cup rankings are Ciarán Divney (Railway) and JJ Cassidy (YMCA), both of whom learned the game in Star of the Sea national school, alma mater of Ireland keeper Niall O'Brien.
THE Indoor Leagues were a popular feature of cricket last winter, and Phoenix coach Matt Lunson is already taken entries for the Cabra Sunday League. This eight-a-side event will start October 13th and runs up to Christmas. It's a skilled game, but the best outdoor players are not necessarily the best indoors. Check out indoorcricketireland.com for details.
Tweet of the week: The Phoenix club tweeted this nice plaque they unveiled Saturday after renaming the Chesterfield Road End in memory of their late member Graham Pasley.
Performance of the week: Andrew Poynter's brilliant century in the RSA Irish Senior Cup final was ironic coming just days after he was dropped by Leinster Lightning. And the man of the match award was handed out by Phil Simmons, who gave him the last of his 44 caps exactly a year ago.