As the year draws to a close, we look back at five Irish cricketing highs of 2014.

It was always going to be difficult to match the treble success of 2013 with so little real meaningful, competitive cricket at stake.

Sri Lanka were the only Full Member to visit, and the weather robbed fans of one of the two scheduled ODI's.

T20 dominated the early part of the year, with an ill fated World Cup campaign ending in disaster.

That was nothing though compared to the woes which befell the Irish on and off the field during their acclimatisation tour of Australia and New Zealand.

Setback after setback both on and off the field saw Ireland suffer a series of injuries and personal traumas.

2015 though now dawns and there's no doubt that Irish and Associate cricket stands very much at the crossroads.

The spotlight is firmly on the World Cup and it's essential that a series of not only competitive , but successful performances is required. The goalposts and expectations for Irish cricket have been raised.

Top 5 highlights

  • Beating T20 World Champions West Indies in their own backyard. Two wickets apiece from Tim Murtagh, Alex Cusack and Kevin O'Brien restricted West Indies to 116. Ed Joyce's unbeaten 40 coupled with a belligerent, boundary laden 32 from Andrew Poynter saw Ireland prevail by six wickets.

 

  • Zimbabwe were also vanquished in the T20 format, thanks to a typically brutal assault by Paul Stirling who hit 60 from just 34 balls as Ireland looked to be coasting to their 164 target. However a late wobble saw Stuart Thompson's dramatic dive secure a match winning leg bye off the last ball. George Dockrell and Andy McBrine had earlier been the pick of the Irish attack with two wickets apiece.

 

  • Ireland were invited to participate in the Nagico Trophy - the West Indies domestic 50 over competition. It's fair to say that things didn't quite go to plan with emphatic defeats against Guyana and Jamaica. However redemption came in the form of a 64 run win against the Windward Islands. Niall O'Brien's 44 and an important 32 from Stuart Thompson saw Ireland post 179. It didn't look enough but a superb fielding and bowling display by Man of the Match George Dockell saw Ireland end the tournament on a high.

 

  • The desert in Dubai was the scene for what coach Phil Simmons called 'Ireland's most complete performance of the year'. Kevin O'Brien took 4 for 39 to haul the strong Kiwi side back from a positive start, and their final total of 252 looked within the grasp of the Irish. And do it proved as Andrew Balbirnie produced one of the best batting displays seen in an Irish shirt as he smashed 129 from just 96 balls, sharing in a second wicket stand of 133 with Niall O'Brien, who himself was no slouch with a quickfire 67. Balbirnie's blitz, allied with being one of the few successes Down Under, ensured he found favour with the selectors, being named in their 15 for Dubai, and barring something extraordinary, a place in the World Cup squad. A late wobble saw a few nerves, but the four wicket win was achieved with six overs to spare.

 

  • Ireland's series win over Scotland in September at Malahide was marked with a number of fine individual displays. Perhaps the most impressive was John Mooney's 96 from just 77 balls, less than 12 hours after his public acknowledgement of his on-going battle with major depression. The stunned silence following his dismissal, shortly followed by a standing ovation from the crowd will live long in the memory. Craig Young took another five wicket haul in the first ODI win, while Kevin O'Brien was at his imperious best as he scored a run a ball unbeaten 56 in the seven wicket win. Max Sorensen took four, and Craig Young three wickets in the second win, while O'Brien top scored with 67 as Ireland crept over the line to a three wicket win thanks to valuable runs from John Mooney and Max Sorensen.