England rely on 'insider' Joyce to rein in giant killer Ireland

Georgetown, Guyana, Mar 29 (UNI) England would be relying heavily on the insights provided by their opener, Dublin-born Ed Joyce, tomorrow to rein in the dark horses who triggered shock waves by knocking former champions Paksitan out of the World Cup.

Joyce, who has scored 66 and 75 in England's sluggish victories against Canada and Kenya in league matches, had guided Ireland to a World Cup berth with his impressive show before moving on to play for his adopted country.

''I know 11 or 12 of the Irish guys pretty well but there are couple who have come in who I haven't seen very much of,'' Joyce told scribes here today.

''I will be able to help out with a few tips but you have to keep things pretty basic against most teams whether you are playing against Australia or Ireland.'' ''Ireland play as a unit very well, they field very well, they bowl as a unit and they've got a lot of medium-pacers and spinners who bowl very straight. They bat all the way down to number 10. So we'll keep our plans simple,'' Joyce said.

Nonetheless task would be cut out for England, who have had a less-than-impressive tournament thus far whereas greenhorns from the neighbouring island-nation are having the time of their life.

On paper, England have all the wherewithal to crush Ireland but they would guard against any complacency whatsoever as papers tigers have been trashed more than once in this world cup.

Moreover, England haven't got it going in the event so far. They were beaten by New Zealand convincingly and made a heavy weather of there matche against Canada and Kenya.

Off field exploits of off-color star allrounder Andrew Flintoff were not much of a help either. Fitness worry is something England players have learnt to live with.

But Joyce was of opinion that his team was peaking at the right time.

The opener, though happy with Ireland's show, exuded confidence that any further progress by the minnows will not be on England's expense.

''You want to peak at the right time in these tournaments and we'd like to think we are getting there after the first match,'' Joyce said.

Meanwhile, Ireland's progress to the World Cup Super Eights has surprised many in the game, but not team manager Robert Torrens.

After beating 1992 champions Pakistan and tying with Zimbabwe, the debutants have reached the World Cup second round and will be the only non-Test playing nation in this stage.

Both the teams had a strenuous workout this morning and England skipper Michael Vaughan announced that his team would not take Ireland lightly but would go flat out to take home two crucial points.

However Ireland coach Adrian Birrell said his side had nothing to lose while all pressure would be on England at this stage of the tournament.

''We know all the pressure is on England, they need to beat us to get into the semis,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Indian-born Ravinder Bopara insisted that England need to be at their best if they are to win their Super Eights clash against Ireland.

''Ireland have been playing some good cricket,'' Bopara, 21, said.

''I've been watching a few of their games and they look a good side.'' The neighbouring countries will play for the second time in less than a year when they walk out in Guyana tomorrow.

''They've already proven they can beat some of the top sides in the world and the main thing for us is to be on top of our game when we face them,'' Bopara said.

''We may be expected to win, but we all know that cricket doesn't work like that,'' he added.

UNI