The club have three members in the Caribbean, and a fourth on standby. All four are part of dynasties that have kept the club going through thin and thin, which was the case for most of the 103 years since it was formed by railway workers.

Niall and Kevin O'Brien are the youngest members of a family that have already provided Ireland with a distinguished captain in their father Brendan, and Railway with six senior players. Their sister Ciara has won more hockey caps than the rest of the family put together at cricket.

"Cricket was huge at home", recalls Niall. "In a family of six kids it was always three-a-side at soccer, hockey, cricket. . ."

His earliest memory is going down to watch his eldest brothers play an under-11 match against Merrion. The team were short so Niall (5) was drafted in. "I remember my mum running on the field to drag me out of the way when a ball was hit in my direction!"

He doesn't need Camilla to fight his battles anymore, and has grown into a crucial member of the Ireland side as wicketkeeper and No 4 batsman. He spent several seasons with Kent as understudy to Geraint Jones, which allowed him to play almost two full county campaigns.

Last summer things started to go awry for both Kent stumpers, who are the best of friends. "When Geraint lost his place on the England team - and his central contract - it meant Kent couldn't afford the two of us. I wasn't really surprised, I got lots of chances but never got enough runs."

A lucky meeting with former Northamptonshire keeper George Sharp, now a 2nd XI umpire, opened doors for him and he signed a deal with the county in early January. "I'm really looking forward to establishing myself there. It's not like Kent where I was always going to be number two. Here I can play for my place. It's great to get a second chance."

Kevin, too, had a chance to test himself across the water and spent two years on the staff at Lord's with MCC Young Cricketers, who provide a type of apprenticeship.

"It was a brilliant experience, " says Kevin. "I stayed in a hostel near the ground with Will Porterfield. It was a great set-up, very well-organised and great cricket on great wickets. My game went forward a huge amount in those two years."

During test matches, Kevin got the chance to bowl to the Pakistani, Australian and English stars. "I got a couple of victims, " he grins. "I worked out Andrew Strauss - bowl him a short ball early on!", he jokes, recalling his dramatic first ball at Stormont last year when he claimed the England opener.

Kevin's ambitions do not extend beyond the World Cup.

He had trials with Durham and Kent but is keen to help push Ireland forward. "I did have ambitions of making it in England, but not at this stage - maybe in a couple of years."

Niall is a different character however, and has different dreams. "I'd like to follow Joycey. It's a good time to be a keeper in England."

Niall knows he needs to work on his temperament as well as his game after a couple of high-profile incidents: "I'm a fiery character. I play aggressive cricket. That's part of my game. If I wasn't you'd be taking away 50% of the player I am. But I know I have to keep below that line. I was running up and down sand dunes in Abu Dhabi while Andre Botha was taking 150 of my runs!

That certainly helped me learn my lesson."

He had a run-in with Brian Lara at Stormont in 2004, when Ireland beat the visitors.

"Lara was funny. We had that disagreement at Stormont and then two days later I turned up to play against him for Kent. I don't think he could believe his eyes. I think he'd seen enough of me!

"I talked to Dwayne Bravo recently and he said 'Brian said to say hello!' I'm looking forward to seeing him in Jamaica."

The pair are close, but won't be rooming in Kingston, and rarely socialise together. "We lived together for 22 years which is long enough, " Niall explains.

On Thursday they will step out together onto Sabina Park and into Irish cricket history.

"We'll probably be favourites to beat Zimbabwe - that game is there for the taking, " says Niall.

"If we bat first we've got to get a competitive score. If we bowl first we're confident we can chase anything down."