| Event: | ICC World Cup 2006/07 |
Ireland captain Trent Johnston said not even an eight-wicket World Cup defeat by Sri Lanka could erase the memories of the reception his team received after their win against Pakistan.
Johnston's largely amateur side bowed out of their first World Cup tournament by being skittled out for 77 - the lowest score of this tournament and the sixth lowest in the competition's history - at the Grenada National Stadium here Wednesday in their final Super Eights match.
But the 32-year-old Australia born all-rounder, who hit the winning runs in a three-wicket defeat of Pakistan in Jamaica last month in a stunning St Patrick's Day win that knocked the 1992 champions out of the World Cup, said he would never forget what happened afterwards.
"When we hopped off the bus after the Pakistan game and went to visit our family and friends in Ochos Rios, that was the highlight for me, without a shadow of a doubt," Johnston said.
"The reception we got...I probably walked about two metres in 50 minutes just with people congratulating me, people wanting to talk to you and sign things.
"That's never been seen before with Irish cricket and that was definitely the moment for me of the whole tournament. Spending time with our families, because they've sacrificed a lot for us to be here, it was a great night."
It was a different story in Grenada where Ireland never recovered after losing three wickets in four balls during pace bowler Farveez Maharoof's opening over.
Maharoof finished with four for 25 while Muttiah Muralitharan claimed four for 19 after the off-spinner was recalled following his controversial omission from the seven-wicket defeat by world champions Australia here Monday.
"We started quite well, 28 off seven overs. But then lost three wickets in one over and we never really recovered from that," Johnston.
"Then you bring the best spin bowler in the world on, who we've never seen before, and you've got a recipe for disaster and that's probably what it was."
But he said Ireland were glad to have faced Murali, albeit in a match that finished in under 38 overs.
"It's been a credit to us that every team has put their best team out against us because they know that we can play cricket and are potentially a massive banana skin.
"It's been fantastic. I certainly hope people don't remember us from that last game because we've had one helluva of a tournament.
"If someone had said to me that we would have been beaten by eight wickets by Sri Lanka in the last game of the Super Eights before I left to come here, I would have taken that."
Johnston said the sadness of Wednesday's defeat was that it denied departing coach Adrian Birrell a proper send-off in his final match in charge before returning to his native South Africa after five years with the team.
"This tournament, and especially the Super Eights campaign, was something we wanted to dedicate to him and what he has done for us and for Irish cricket," said Johnston.
Phil Simmons is set to replace Birrell, but Johnston said he wasn't sure if he would be playing under the former West Indies batsman.
"I don't know if he wants me to be a part of it or if he's going to get rid of the dead wood and get the young boys in. I don't really know if I'm going to go on, it might be my last game, I'll talk to my family."
(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)