By Grainne McGuinness

Ireland cricketer George Dockrell told Breakingnews.ie Ireland go into tomorrow morning’s match against South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup in a “lovely position”, after wins against West Indies and UAE in their games so far.

“It’s a lovely position to be in,” he said earlier today. “We’ve had the perfect start to the tournament, two wins from two games.

“It’s amazing to be going into this game with the chance to make it three wins from three and put ourselves in a really strong position.”

Ireland were favourites to win against UAE, but the match went down to the wire with 22-year-old Dockrell batting for the winning runs.

“It was an incredible feeling, a really special day for me,” Dockrell said. “It was the first game I’ve won for Ireland at the bat.”

Dockrell acknowledged Ireland made harder work than expected of the game, but felt the eventual victory showed the team’s character.

“There is a different kind of pressure when you’re playing a team who you’re expected to beat, a team with a lower ranking than you,” he explained.

“Full credit has to go to UAE, they played some of the best cricket they’ve ever played. But we got the win and that’s the sign of a good team. We got the win even though we didn’t play the best cricket.”

He continued: “The mood in the camp has been brilliant. Plus, this game (against South Africa) is in Canberra, at the Manuka Oval.”

Ireland played several games there in October as part of a training camp, and Dockrell said that will be a huge help to the team for this fixture, probably their toughest of the pool stage.

“We’re used to this ground, which is a big advantage,” he said. “All the grounds that the matches are being played at around Australia and New Zealand, they all have their own personality.

“So to have played here and know the ground is a real help.”

George Dockrell during the match against UAE.

Picture: INPHO/PHOTOSPORT/Tertius Pickard

Another help to the team has been the phenomenal level of support they have received, both from the travelling fans - the Blarney Army - and the large Irish ex-pat population Down Under.

“The Irish support has been fantastic, it’s made a huge difference to the team,” Dockrell said. “We feel like we’ve played two home fixtures.”

“Our first match in Nelson, there was a huge Irish presence and and also some of the locals decided to support us and it was just incredible to have that level of support. Then at the Gabba there was a huge Irish crowd as well.

“The support from home has been brilliant too, we’ve had great interest and support from Ireland.”

When asked about injuries Dockrell said they had benefited from their relatively slow start. The Ireland team now enter a busy period, with tomorrow’s match the first of three games in eight days, but feel ready for the intensity of the upcoming schedule

“All the guys have been good so far,” he said about injuries. “We’ve been very lucky with our early fixtures. We had nine days off after the first game and six days off after the second game.

“That makes a big difference. There is so much travel to the different grounds too that to get that extra time off to recover makes a big difference.

“We're entering a busy time now, we have three games in eight days. So that will be a challenge of character for us, to get in the right frame of mind and show we can do it.”

Showing their mettle is a key consideration for Ireland. The next ICC World Cup, in England in 2019, is set to reduce the number of teams attending from 14 to 10. Associate teams like Ireland need to prove they deserve inclusion at the top table of cricket, something Dockrell is convinced they have shown.

“For us, we want to keep playing in these big tournaments,” he said. “We only got to play nine games against top 10 sides in the four years building up to this World Cup.

“We need to make the case for being included at the next tournament, to show that we can and do rise to the occasion.”