Trinity’s Lorcan Tucker, the captain of Dublin University Cricket Club (DUCC) Men, claimed his first and second caps for Ireland’s senior cricket team this weekend, lining out against England and West Indies in Dublin.
Ireland lost out in both games, though they pushed England hard in Friday’s encounter before 47 not out from Tom Curran and an unbeaten half-century from Ben Foakes meant there was no repeat of Ireland’s historic victory over their neighbours in the World Cup group stages in 2011.
In an email statement to The University Times, Tucker said: “I was delighted to make my ODI [one-day international] debut yesterday against England. To debut in the opening match of the summer against the world’s best team was something I could only dream of.”
“Sadly, we were unable to pull through in what was a fantastically fought game”, Tucker added. “Looking forward to the coming weeks and months, there are many exciting fixtures which I would love to be a part of.”
Yesterday, Ireland took on the West Indies in Clontarf, with Tucker batting fourth. However, the Trinity student was dismissed after four balls by Sheldon Cottrell as the West Indies broke the record for the highest partnership for the opening wicket in one-day internationals. John Campbell and Shai Hope were the pair to smash the record, overtaking that set by Pakistan last year, with Hope being dismissed courtesy of a Tucker catch after after a short pitch ball by Barry McCarthy.
Ireland captain William Porterfield, speaking to the BBC after the England game, said that “there were tricky conditions in the morning but we wanted another partnership to free the guys up in the back end. But I can’t fault the fight of my team. We had three debutants and none of them looked out of place”.
On Thursday, Ireland will take on Bangladesh in Malahide in the third game of the Tri-Nation series.
