Robbing Peter to pay Paul - Ireland no closer to adding top-order depth
What we can learn from Campher and Balbirnie's promotions up the order for the England series
Step up the latest customer on Ireland’s top order merry-go-round.
Curtis Campher is Ireland’s new number 3 in ODIs. One day after that news broke, he played his only game of club cricket this summer for YMCA against Clontarf. He batted at 5, not in his new role. Such is life.
Campher would have to wait until Monday’s interpro between the Munster Reds and North West Warriors to get a game in his new top order position. 98 runs later, you could say it went rather well.
Ireland’s top order woes in 50-over cricket have been explored in detail before, but they are worth briefly recalling. Ever since William Porterfield retired in 2022, no one has taken a firm grip of the role of Paul Stirling’s opening partner. Andrew Balbirnie did it in the home series vs New Zealand, only to average less than 4 with a top score of 9 in three games.
Stephen Doheny had a nine-game crack between Zimbabwe in January 2023 to Bangladesh in May. He fared better with an average of 23, but a technical flaw was cited as the reason for dropping him pre-World Cup qualifiers. He hasn’t been seen in an Ireland jersey since.
Andy McBrine got the gig for those qualifiers. Team-wide, the less said about that week from hell in Bulawayo the better. In the three games that mattered before World Cup hopes were ended, McBrine scored 69 runs at an average of 23. Not horrendous, but not the numbers of a long-term opening option.
Now it’s Balbirnie’s turn once again, with Campher filling in 3. The thinking behind it?
“We believe he [Campher] has the technique and aptitude to succeed in the role - he plays pace as well as anyone in the squad, and whilst he has been a mainstay of our middle order for a few years now, we believe he has the capability to batter higher up the order and have a really positive impact.”
Andrew White, Ireland selector
White’s point about pace checks out. Long considered a good middle-order player of spin, Campher actually scores his runs quicker (87 strike rate vs 75), gets out less often and averages slightly more vs pace than spin in ODIs.
The argument against moving him up is White’s other point about being settled. Campher was, in a decision Ireland acknowledged was a mistake, dropped for the first qualifier against Oman. He had to prove himself when he came back in and duly did so, scoring 120 vs Scotland. He is in career best form batting at 5, adding a second 50-over century this summer for Somerset. His role of coming in if early wickets fall and setting up the game for the likes of George Dockrell, Mark Adair and even himself is clear and he thrives in it. If it ain’t broke…
The player himself could be forgiven for being frustrated. He had to fight for his place this summer, showed his captain and coach why they were wrong to drop him only to be given a new, altogether more challenging role. Thanks Curtis for scoring all those runs after we shafted you, move up to the most important position in the line-up, please.
Balbirnie himself has stated in the not too distant past he prefers batting 3 to opening. “It was discussed if I could open, but I feel I can contribute to wins in the team at 3, that was important for me,” he said ahead of the ill-fated qualifiers. Campher likely isn’t that mustard on moving up. It’s a lot of moving parts that lead to both players being out of their comfort zone.
If the move from the middle-order up was a necessity, as much as Campher makes sense, there really was only one decision to make. Get your best player facing as many balls as possible; Harry Tector should be batting 3.
Ireland have adopted the don’t fix what isn’t broken approach with Tector, but not Campher. By all accounts, Tector is very comfortable at 4, as he should be given the 18 months he’s had in ODIs. But if it comes down to two players who are happy where they are in the line-up and one has to be displaced, the right move is to back your best player by having him face more deliveries. Tell him it’s vital he is given more opportunity to do damage.
This is Ireland’s equivalent to England’s Joe Root problem in Test cricket. Root does bat at 3 in white ball, for what it’s worth.
Of greater concern is what this selection says about Ireland’s attitude to the players outside of the squad. The last time a series away to England like this took place, Campher, Tector and Gareth Delany were given their first proper runs in the side back in the Covid bubble series of 2020. Young talent was blooded, players were given scope to fail and they developed into mainstays of Ireland’s side.
Those games were at the beginning of the 2023 World Cup cycle. The upcoming series would have been scheduled as preparatory games for that tournament, but Ireland’s failure to qualify leaves them as the start of the next cycle culminating in 2027. There likely is genuine faith in Stirling (33) and Balbirnie (32) making it to the next ODI World Cup, but putting all their eggs in those top order baskets is not prudent planning.
Stirling has said publicly he works hard to keep a dodgy shoulder at bay. Who opens the batting if he loses that battle between now and 2027? This England series was the perfect opportunity to start the process of finding out.
Doheny’s technical flaw might not yet be fixed. Murray Commins hasn’t scored enough interpro runs to force his way in. PJ Moor has been told he isn’t a white ball opener, despite having done it in the past. Tim Tector and Ali Frost’s recent T20 domestic form has not been backed up in 50-over play. But are any of them backed to have the attributes to come good down the line?
England recently picked a 22-year-old bowler, John Turner, who has just 30 professional games under his belt. He has been picked on raw potential - due to his pace - rather than a long period of good form. They picked him on what he can be, rather than on what he is.
With the interpros still not a proper finishing school and no Wolves cricket, Ireland should be operating under a similar mantra. They have done so in the past, such as that series in Southampton back in 2020, or, more recently, picking Matthew Humphreys because he broke a few games open in an U19 World Cup. Ben White too is starting to come good after being thrown to the wolves (sadly not those ones) and being forced to learn in international cricket.
This time around, with two openers who cannot be guaranteed to still be fit and firing in 2027, Ireland took from their middle order strength to try and fix a top order weakness. Intentionally or otherwise, the process of robbing Peter to pay Paul sends one message to those outside the squad: we don’t see you as having the potential to develop into an international opener.
There may be a Wolves/development tour to the Caribbean in October. Commins, Tim Tector, Doheny and others will probably be on it, but one Wolves tour an opener does not make.
Having picked on promise in the past and with plenty of time to fail before meaningful ODIs roll around again, Ireland have opted for a conservatism in their selection which they still cannot afford.
Jordan Neill could be an interesting one to watch. He's only played a couple of games for us in Merrion (he's new to us) - but he's got a very solid technique and a high performance attitude.