Super. Eights.

There are now just eight teams left who can win the ICC World Cup. Gone are two major countries for whom cricket is the only sport that matters: India, 1983 champions with a population of 1.1 billion, and Pakistan, 1992 champions with 166 million inside its borders.

And Ireland, a tiny offshore island with four million people, very few of whom play cricket, are one of the eight. Super.

It is an extraordinary Irish sporting story and one the world is starting to take note of. As minority sportsmen taking on and beating a world power at their national game it is an achievement comparable to Roche and Kelly triumphing in the Tour and Vuelta.

We're keen on our sport in Ireland, and the major team games of football, hurling, soccer and rugby suck up hundreds of thousands of youngsters every year. That doesn't leave too many others for the 50 other sports that are under the aegis of the Sports Council.

Cricket gets by, however, and is high mid-table on the league table of participants. The game is stronger in Northern Ireland, but approximately 2,500 players turn out every week of the summer in the Republic and twice that up north.

From those small numbers a wellorganised Irish Cricket Union funnels the best into a representative structure that is the envy of the world. Last summer Ireland won all six underage European Championships on offer.

The evolution of all good teams depends on timing. Ireland's rapid rise in cricket was partly due to the Celtic Tiger which made the country an attractive place for young men and women to visit and seek employment. Some came because they were good cricketers and local clubs wished to hire them. Others came in search of fun. Several of these young men stayed, met Irish women, and put down roots.

At the same time the Irish Cricket Union was growing resolute in its desire to play in the big international events.

There have always been good home-produced cricketers but they got few chances to show their value. The ICU had been unlucky in some of those it entrusted with the Ireland team but when a man called Adrian Birrell was plucked from South African state cricket in 2002 they hit the coaching jackpot.

A strong technician, Birrell became known to his players as Mr One Percent, due to his belief that sides needed to maximise their potential in every way to succeed. His often wacky ideas paid off: he once got the team to practice with balls dipped in buckets of ice water to simulate potential match conditions.

His team began to take shape, and he drew heavily on the new Irish. Men from Australia, South Africa and Pakistan with experience of first-class cricket were brought into the side and passports secured. Hunches were taken with youngsters, such as Niall O'Brien, who were given early debuts.

Birrell could be ruthless too. Ireland's captain was Jason Molins, a destructive batsman whose partnership with Jeremy Bray was instrumental in recording early wins against West Indies, Zimbabwe and Surrey. Molins worked in London and, although he would fly home almost every weekend to practice or play, Birrell wasn't convinced of his commitment or fitness.

After the 2005 World Cup qualifiers Molins was discarded and, like Moses, never got to see the promised land he had led Ireland to.

He was replaced by Trent Johnston, a strapping Australian who had several years experience on the New South Wales side. Johnston's lead-from-the-front style helped to further unify a disparate unit.

Irish cricket draws on all the traditions in the country and the national squad reflects this.

By the time it came to drawing together the 15 men and five reserves that would work all winter long towards the modest aim of 'respectability' at the World Cup, Birrell was happy with the players he had to work with.

The North County centre of excellence in Fingal takes some getting to if you live in Strabane as Peter Gillespie does. Every weekend since the season ended last September, Gillespie has made the six hour round-trip to sharpen his skills. After 115 games for Ireland he still wants to learn.

He hasn't played a game yet at this World Cup and, unless one of the batsmen is injured, he is unlikely to do so either.

Gillespie was with the squad that travelled to Port Elizabeth, onwards to Nairobi, Abu Dhabi and Dublin before flying out to Trinidad and then Jamaica.

When Johnston led his men out onto Sabina Park last week for those extraordinary games against Zimbabwe and Pakistan, he was fulfilling a passionately-held dream. He admits he was never good enough to wear the iconic symbol of Australian manhood, the 'baggy green', but is proud to wear the Irish cricket equivalent.

Four years ago he stood outside his former home in Sydney, turning the key to lock the door for the last time. "What are we doing?", he asked his Irish wife Vanessa . . . they had decided to pack up and move to Ireland to give Trent a chance of playing at a World Cup. "That was all for just three games of cricket", he recalled last week. When he realised he wouldn't be able to play against West Indies due to a shoulder injury, he broke down and cried.

The immigrant element on the team have become seriously irritated by the questions and quips about their commitment to Ireland and suggestions that it is a team of mercenaries. Bumptious Sky Sports presenter Charles Colville has drawn angry comments from Irish fans who have pointed out how the origins of such as Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss and Ed Joyce are conveniently overlooked in such instances. Bowler David Langford-Smith told the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper last week that "Just because you were born in a barn doesn't make you a horse", neatly turning on its head the quip of that old Phoenix Park cricketer the Duke of Wellington. I'm not sure what his Aussie mates think of it, however.

The stunning results against Zimbabwe and Pakistan were overshadowed by the murder of Bob Woolmer. Last week was a difficult one for many people in Kingston but Ireland's cricketers did their best to shut out the din.

They trained hard but were devastated to lose Johnston for Friday's game against West Indies, a tie that had become a de facto Super Eights fixture.

Stand-in captain Kyle McCallan explained: "We have a much smaller player pool than most of the teams we'll be playing against so when you lose a player of Trent Johnton's calibre it does affect the team. It's like taking Andrew Flintoff out of England or Brian Lara out of the West Indies."

"We're looking forward to getting Trent back and I know he'll make a huge impact on the side when he comes back into the team.", he added.

The Irish batsmen seemed much more nervous against West Indies, understandable given the fact that they were playing in front of the largest ever crowd at the historic venue. Poorly conceived and executed shots accounted for half the wickets Ireland lost and they will need to tighten up that aspect of their game with fixtures against England or Kenya, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in rapid succession.

The first and last of those games are our best chances of slaying another giant. This could well be the best time to play England as their one-day form is erratic. They made 301-7 against Ireland at Stormont last year, chiefly thanks to the now absent Marcus Trescothick. In reply Ireland made 263-9, a 38 run defeat. The England team now is transparently weaker, Ireland's stronger.

Adrian Birrell doesn't doubt his team will be up for the game, which takes place in Providence, Guyana, next Friday.

"It's a big game for obvious reasons against England. It's a dream to play England in a World Cup. They've got their own problems but they're a tremendously good side. They've shown they can bounce back from a series of defeats and beat Australia."

The game also raises the prospect of another battle between Ed Joyce and his old teammates.

From now on, every game is a huge one in this World Cup, a point Birrell alluded to after losing to West Indies. "I don't think we bowled that badly but Chanderpaul batted very well and took the game away for us. I don't think it was a disgrace but we've obviously got to play better than that if we're going to compete at this level."