After all, there were about 2,000 people glaring at every member of the Irish team the night the Pakistan boss was murdered.

He smiled too because of the path that has taken him here. Standing in Grenada, having come through six weeks of cricket against the world's best, was as unlikely a scenario as him playing for Ireland in the first place. Here's how it went. LangfordSmith played seven years alongside Jeremy Bray as a youngster in Sydney, remaining steady at base camp without ever threatening the summit. Having befriended Bray, he came over to Ireland for the batsman's wedding in 2001. Sitting at the bar that night, some players from the Phoenix club were drawn to his Australian drawl like bat to ball and asked/pleaded with him to play. He refused, but after a few more, told them he'd get his finances in order back home and then come. The dots continued to be joined.

When he did return, he played cricket in Dublin, got some jobs about the place and was working at a Heineken promotion in Galway one night along with a stranger named Maedbh. Three days later he sent her a message wishing her a happy birthday, remembering some information desperately gathered earlier that week. She invited him out for drinks. He tried to play it cool, but quickly melted, jumped at the opportunity and suddenly it was 2005 and he was standing at an altar. In the background, his hours in Ireland had been stacking, and he was soon eligible to play international cricket. By 2007, he was opening the bowling for his adopted country at the World Cup. Why waste time?

"It happened a little quicker than my bowling I guess. Nah, it's been strange though. I mean I remember sitting on the plane coming out here to begin with thinking what was I doing here. It's just all been very weird and to be honest, to be coming out to the World Cup was a little intimidating. We were in one of the tougher groups, in there with three test nations and it was never going to be easy. Things hadn't gone particularly well in the build up either so while we tried to go there positive, I don't think there were too many of us that weren't a little worried. I mean, this could have gone wrong very easily. We tried to believe in ourselves but we never expected to do anything. We thought three games, maybe a couple of decent shows if we weren't intimidated. That would be it. Back home. Fifteen minutes of fame."

When he signed for Phoenix, he thought he'd left intimidation behind. As a kid, his grandmother had to drag him to the crease kicking and screaming. As a teenager playing for St George he hit Glenn McGrath for four one day and such was the barrage of abuse that followed the ball to the boundary, he claims he was trembling heading for lunch. But this was Ireland. Big fish. Small tank. No worries. "There's no point in lying, when I came over here at first, the standard wasn't great. Maybe some of it was to do with the pitches, like they were slow and made it difficult to get any real pace. But it was quite a step down from playing firstgrade cricket in Australia, where I'd played against the likes of Michael Clarke and Stuart McGill. And internationally we were no great shakes either, and I very much include myself in that. We were a very average side with very average ambitions which makes the progression in the last number of years as remarkable as the way we've played at this World Cup. But we've just come on and on and this is proof of the progress Irish cricket has made.

"But we've worked hard for it and it's why the recognition we've gotten from other teams in this World Cup has meant a lot. It might not be visible to those watching but players' attitudes have changed towards us.

Like against Pakistan, after that game they said very little to us when we were coming off the field in Kingston. They were shocked and that emanated from embarrassment.

This was their job and they didn't do it. They were beaten by a bunch of amateurs and were aware of what they were in for when they went home. But while that might have been a shock, I think the respect for us has grown as the tournament has gone on.

Other than a couple of games, we've shown ourselves up well and I think the game against England proved that. There was very little sledging going on, there was just an element of respect there which was really pleasing, especially in a grudge match like that."

Even when he met up with McGrath again, things had changed. There may have been no boundary this time but there was no abuse either, despite the hammering Ireland received. "That was a strange feeling but it was nice as well. But I think everyone has enjoyed us being here in the Super Eights. We've given teams a game and people are now realising where Irish cricket is and are welcoming a new force to the game. Except the English media I suppose. They've been following us throughout this and we've got a lot of this 'mercenary' treatment. They'd rather look at the couple of overseas players instead of looking at the facts, highlighting the likes of the O'Briens and Porterfield and Rankin and guys like this who have been so important to where we have gone and what we have achieved. It might do them no harm either to have a look at the Pietersens and Strausses before throwing stones. But we got used to it and the fact they've been keeping on eye on us maybe is as much recognition as anything else."

The next step is results rather than recognition. Langford-Smith is convinced the game here is destined to move forward and that Ireland can become a force in the game, regular competitors and achievers at World Cups.

You might disagree, but stranger things have happened. He knows better than most.