I've been in Ireland on and off since 1995 . . . I came from Australia to play cricket here and ended up meeting the woman who would become my wife. We spent some time in Australia together but moved back to Ireland permanently a few years ago.

The Irish team is an amateur team playing at a professional level . . . I have a day job as a salesman for an architectural hardware company. All our training and gym sessions take place in the evening or at weekends.

The cricket season starts in mid-April and there are nine Irish fixtures to be played. We play against English county teams. Some of the matches are at home and some are away. I've been captain of the Irish team since 2005 . . . it's a huge honour, especially since our success at the World Cup. If I don't have an international match I play for my club, Railway Union.

The full Irish squad is made up of 20 or 25 people but the travelling squad would be 13 max, partly for cost reasons . . . Irish cricket is run on a shoestring. If we're playing an away match, the team meets for breakfast in the hotel at around eight. We each take responsibility for our own dietary regime . . . we can't afford a nutritionist . . . so it's up to ourselves. That said, you wouldn't see too many people going for the fry . . . fruit, cereal and plenty of water is more the order of the day. We head over to the ground and do a few warm ups, basic drills and some batting and bowling.

The match starts at 10 and it takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get through 50 overs, which is when we break for lunch.

I'm an all-rounder myself and the rest of the guys know more or less when they're selected what role they're there to play. The coach and I decide on the batting order and then adjust it as necessary during a match. We start up after lunch at two and the match finishes by 5.30. We try to get back to Dublin that night because everybody has work the next day.

Home fixtures are played at either Clontarf or Civil Service in Belfast . . . it's an all-Ireland team. Winter training takes place either in Balbriggan or at Queen's University in Belfast. It's a big commitment for the players because they come from all over the country to train. About once a month we'll train for a full weekend. We have a new coach, Phil Simmons, who'll be aiming to capitalise on the success of the team in the World Cup. It was an extraordinary experience; I don't think any of us will ever forget it.

We had a lot of down time when we were in the Caribbean and I got to talking with Sunday Tribune journalist Gerard Siggins about putting a book together. I was keeping a diary, taking notes and jotting down bits and pieces, keeping clippings and so on. It's ended up with each of us writing six chapters . . . mine are from inside the camp and his from outside. I think the balance works well. Vanessa gave me a hand with mine; I guess you could call her my ghostwriter!