Ireland has built its reputation on their performances in white-ball internationals. They have achieved notable victories in the 50-over World Cups, defeating Pakistan in 2007, England in 2011, and the West Indies in 2015. They also triumphed over eventual champions England in the 2022 T20 World Cup. However, in their short Test history, Ireland has played only six matches and is still in search of their first victory in the longest format.

Four years ago, during their previous Test at Lord’s, Ireland dismissed England for just 85 runs but suffered a 143-run defeat when they collapsed to 38 all out in the fourth innings of the match.

“It didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but it gave us a glimpse of what would happen if we were to win a Test match,” said Balbirnie on the eve of the four-day Test.

“If we were to beat England, it would easily be the greatest achievement in Irish cricket.”

Nevertheless, Ireland faces an uphill battle, considering England’s strong record with 10 wins in their last 12 Tests since skipper Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year.

“We are aware that this England team is in great form leading up to the Ashes,” stated Balbirnie.

Ireland will be without the services of Josh Little at Lord’s. The young fast bowler, who performed exceptionally well for the Gujarat Titans in the recent Indian Premier League final, has been rested for the upcoming 50-over World Cup qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe. Little had also missed Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka due to his IPL commitments.

Richard Holdsworth, Ireland’s high-performance director, defended Little’s absence, explaining that a Test at Lord’s, while significant for most players, is not the “pinnacle event” for their side this year.

“Of course, we would have loved to have him here, but I completely understand that he needs rest and preparation for our World Cup qualifier,” said Balbirnie.

“Josh played in an IPL final in his first IPL appearance, so I’m not naïve. He will attract attention from other leagues, and we might face this situation again, but he still has a strong desire to play for Ireland. I have spoken to him, and he still loves representing this team.”

“But, yeah, I think we knew it was an amazing opportunity. It was a great atmosphere here, an amazing crowd, and one we enjoyed. It kind of does feel like a missed opportunity because the wicket was pretty good, and there were two or three dismissals, including myself up top, that could have maybe not happened. But, as I said, that’s the game, and you can’t dwell too much on it.”
Ireland has already achieved more at this T20 World Cup than they did in the last 13 years, having gone past the first round for the first time since 2009. On the way, they sent two-time winners West Indies packing and then went on to achieve a famous win against England in the Super 12. And while they may have lost to Australia, they could still take heart from the fight shown towards the end. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy Balbirnie who wanted more.

“No, I’ll not be sitting here satisfied because we’ve done that to Australia. I think we came here to win, and we’re disappointed we didn’t win. We haven’t kept too much of an eye on that run rate because if we do, we had to go out and win the game, and we didn’t do that. Certainly a 25 for 5, I’ve been in dugouts where you are seriously struggling to think how we’re going to get to a score here.

“But certainly the way Lorcan played when his back was against the wall, he came out throwing punches, and that’s the kind of message we’ve given to the guys all summer and coming into this tournament.” On the other hand, this was a crucial win for Australia who is jostling to climb out of the group of death after a stunning defeat in their opening game. One of the chief protagonists with the ball, Mitchell Starc lauded the bowlers on what he felt was a good chasing pitch. Tucker’s late onslaught might have hurt Australia’s NRR, but Starc said it was more important to get the win first.

“I think we bowled quite well, and generally here at the Gabba in night games when it gets dry, it’s generally a good chasing wicket. I mean, our powerplay was excellent, and we certainly put them on the back foot. I think they tried to stay aggressive and batted quite well throughout the innings.

“He (Tucker) played quite well. Made the use of the short boundary straight. Struck it quite nicely. He moved around the crease a bit and kept coming at us. He is someone that plays that lap. Didn’t get it in the right area enough for him. We also dropped him on about 30, so not sure if it is a drop if you don’t get a hand on it.

“No, look, it’s T20 cricket, isn’t it? We’ll take that catch, and we could be sitting here talking about how we snuck back in the net run rate or whatever, but that’s the nature of T20 cricket. It’s pretty frantic, and some go your way and some you don’t.” Starc also spoke about having to adjust to a new role. He didn’t get the new ball against Sri Lanka and was brought on as second-change against Ireland, but still got the ball to swing in his first over where he ripped out the stumps twice.

“Yeah, it’s a new role. It’s something that began in that game against England in Canberra, and it’s sort of a role that Finchy and Ronnie want me to play through the middle there with Zampa. “We’ve got Josh and Pat who were fantastic across formats with the new ball as well. I think that’s a positive that we’ve got plenty of options that it may not be my only role, and it may not be Josh and Pat’s only role. We could change, as I said before, with different conditions, different opponents, and whatever the matchups may be.

“So, yeah, that seems to be my role at the moment, and I’ll just keep developing that and hopefully keep playing that role throughout the tournament,” Starc said.