Tuesday April 17, 2007 5:22 PM

Starting to understand how the Wayne Rooneys of this world feel (Eoin Morgan)

Don't take this wrong, but in our own small ways we are starting to understand how the Wayne Rooneys of this world feel. After the Bangladesh game we ended up at an Irish bar in Bridgetown and could hardly move for the number of people wanting to come up and talk to us.

First one lot and then five minutes later another batch, all asking whether we were the Irish cricket team.Jeez, it was strange to be at the centre of it all, a feeling that none of us had experienced before.

But for the whole team this World Cup has been about new adventures and Monday was no different. To be honest, we had been so pummelled by Australia — our fifth successive defeat — that some of the gloss was being scraped off our achievements in Jamaica. We felt defalted and disheartened but when you are on the receiving end of such a beating you can either shrug your shoulders or take something out of it. We sat down and learned about how they went about their game and what their thoughts were. That doesn't mean we come out playing like Australia — but we knew we could emerge confident enough to see off Bangladesh.

My mum tells me that going into the game some of the TV commentators didn't really give us a chance, which struck me as incredibly unfair. Surely we have done enough to convince these guys that on any given day we can put in a good performance, particularly against a team like Bangladesh. For us, they are the next rung up on the ladder and we stepped up with a really professional job. Now we believe we have a chance of finishing sixth although we would need to see off Sri Lanka and probably need Bangladesh to beat West Indies. Unlikely but not impossible — in a way, the story of our tournament.

We know we can compete against Sri Lanka, particularly if they choose to rest Malinga and Muralitharan. But it would require another top-level performance and, after yesterday's rest day, we will spend today training and analysing their team.

Beyond that we will start thinking about the summer ahead. I really hope our supporters get the chance to see us all play in Ireland because we have grown very close as a team after three months together.

Availability needs to be clarified but obviously some of us are contracted to play in England this summer. William Porterfield will spend a month's trial with Gloucestershire while Kent intend to monitor his performances for Ireland in the C & G. Niall O'Brien is at Northants and I am at Middlesex and the number of games we can play for Ireland will be determined by whether we can break into our repective county first teams. Whatever happens, the fact ireland now have secured permanent one-day status is a major achievement. It means that when touring teams come here they will not longer be playing just friendlies and should play a major part in the game's development here. We're all proud of that and it's now vital that the sport keeps on growing in Ireland.

For me the player who has really shone in this tournament has been Kevin O'Brien, who ironically is the one who isn't really bothered about playing county cricket at all. He says it doesn't really interest him because he just wants to go to college, play for Ireland and hope that bit develops into something big. I've played with Kevin since i was 13 or 14 and have really seen him develop recently. He has the ability to hit the ball out of the stadium and is now brimfull of confidence.
Personally, I would like to have scored more runs but the team was always what was really important. On Monday I was run out for the second time in the tournament, a desperately disappointing way to go, particularly as it was my call!

Afterwards I just wanted to crawl into a hole because I don't normally get out that way. But I spoke to the coach and he's told me not to worry unduly. At least we have another game coming up where I can try to put things right.

Whatever happens tomorrow, I doubt if it will compete with my personal memory of the tournament: beating Pakistan on St Patrick's Day. It will stay with all of us for the rest of our careers. In a real sense, it was the day Irish cricket arrived on the world stage. What a win. What a tournament it has been.

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