ROMANCE is a moveable feast for an international sportsman. Francesca Georgiou-Harris knows that, which is why she had her Valentine�s night out on the 13th this year.

Her husband, Ed Joyce, spent the day for lovers on a trans-Atlantic flight to Jamaica where he joined his Ireland team-mates for a short series of games against the West Indies.

The two T20s and one ODI are a useful tune-up for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh next month, but for Joyce they also mark a milestone in a remarkable Irish sporting career.

The 35-year-old needs to play in two of them to win his 100th cap, but that achievement has been a long time coming. Had he played every game since his debut, he would be this weekend celebrating his 356th cap.

Half-a-lifetime ago he stepped out on the West Bromwich ground to make his debut against Scotland in the old Triple Crown tournament. The 18-year-old made 60 but none of his teammates reached 30.

�I remember a lot about the game,� he said this week from the Sussex ground in Hove. �I remember being surprised that we couldn�t chase 220 in 50 overs. I was very nervous, playing alongside guys like Alan Lewis and Angus Dunlop who I�d looked up to, but I settled in quickly.�

He admits the next 20 or 30 games have faded in memory, but he can be excused that � they were back in the 20th century and Irish cricket was a different beast.

He played for Ireland until the summer of 2001, when his career with Middlesex took over, but returned to play a key role in the 2005 qualifiers for the Caribbean World Cup. Those three weeks were his only caps during his best years, a decade spent waiting for an England call-up and waiting to requalify for Ireland.

�In those days there was no formal way of �declaring�, you just had to live there for a certain number of years. I never thought it would happen to be honest.�

The old Irish Cricket Union had a limited fixture list and its ambition was far outstripped by its best player, but the 2007 World Cup changed that. Joyce spent that tournament in a blue and red shirt.

�A big part of me regrets that I wasn�t part of that World Cup�, he said. �It was such a huge moment in the history of Irish cricket and having been an integral part of helping Ireland to qualify, it was disappointing not to be part of it.

�Although I had a great time playing for England, I sometimes think that if I had been playing for Ireland in the West Indies I could have made a difference in a couple of games.� Although a handful of Irish youngsters had tried to make it in English cricket, Joyce was the first to show it was a viable career, and the number of Irish pros with counties is now in double figures.

�I suppose I broke the glass ceiling�, he mused, �myself and Niall O�Brien showed it could be done and it encouraged the counties to look at Irish players. We�ve always produced talent but now they get a chance to show it.�

Rejoining Ireland for the 2011 World Cup, Joyce was taken with the increased professionalism. Now, three years on, he notices how expectations have risen.

�I don�t think the playing standard has got much better, but the coach and CricketIreland expects us to win more games against the big teams. That�s a good thing � sitting in mediocrity never works � but it puts more pressure on the guys and the younger players coming into the team. Qualifying for a tournament isn�t enough in itself anymore, we have to win games at them.�

Despite losing Boyd Rankin and Trent Johnston, Joyce has been impressed by the increased pool of playing strength. The recent developments at ICC have opened a route to test level, although it may be too late for him.

�It�s hard to know if the changes are good for the game, but it looks like we won�t be worse off and at least there�s now a pathway. Where we go from here is completely up to us, we�ve no lack of talent. It�s impossible to say how we could do at test level until we play it, but I think it would have suited myself and Nobby (O�Brien).

�The way is clear, but it�s not going to be easy to win the next I-Cup and then win home and away against a team with far more funding and experience. But we�d give them a run for their money.�

Despite a persisently �dodgy hip�, Joyce hopes to be Down Under for the World Cup, which kicks off next year�. on February 14th. I wonder does Francesca like kangaroo steak?