Aussies' Irish visit ends in damp anticlimax

It was a day of anticlimax for a packed house on Sunday as the Ormeau ground in Belfast hosted its last major game of cricket. The international between Ireland and the touring Australians was cut short when rain ended play after just 23.4 overs.

In a game intended as a send-off for Ormeau before it is turned into a housing development, Australia had reached 86 for the loss of one wicket before rain descended on the ground after 100 minutes of play. As the rain became more persistent, the match was finally abandoned at 3.30pm.

Approximately 4000 people had turned up for this game, which had been a sellout well in advance.

The Australians were sent into bat by Irish captain Kyle McCallan, with Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer opening the batting for the tourists. Hayden got away to a brisk start, but Langer was struggling for form, and was out for 22, caught by Dom Joyce at point off the bowling of Conor Armstrong. This was almost certainly Langer's final innings of this Ashes tour, with the Fourth and Fifth Test the only remaining matches on the Australians' itinerary.

When the rains came, Hayden was unbeaten on 52 from 74 deliveries, while Simon Katich, who will almost certainly make his Test debut at Headingley on Thursday in place of the injured Steve Waugh, was on 5.

Most impressive of the Irish bowlers was 21 year-old right-arm seamer Adrian McCoubrey who, despite bowling three wides, conceded just 15 runs from his seven overs.

With the Australians returning to England planning to extend their 3-0 Ashes series scoreline to 5-0, Ireland have a busy, if more mundane, program ahead of them this month as they try to put the disappointment of missing out on the 2003 World Cup behind them. The Irish, too, head off to England today to take part in the oddly-titled Triple Crown tournament, an annual four-team competition also including Scotland, Wales and an England Amateur XI. Their first game will be against Wales at Horsham on Tuesday. Then, on August 29, Ireland will play Wiltshire in the first round of the new split-season format of the C&G Trophy.