Ireland deserve more

There was barely any celebration in the Irish camp when John Mooney top-edged a boundary to complete a comprehensive win over the West Indies in Nelson. The fist-thumps and the Irish jig were replaced with mere mechanical handshakes, as though overcoming the 300-plus target was just another walk in the park for them.

That little moment there displayed exactly what this World Cup meant to Ireland. They have been upsetting big teams for a while now. But as the more experienced group of Irish players in this current squad would tell you, that's just not enough.

They thought it would have been enough when they surprised the world by humbling Pakistan at the shores of the Caribbean in 2007. However, in an anti-climax, the next four years saw them play just 17 ODIs against full-member nations.

They definitely thought it was going to be enough when Kevin O'Brien hit a majestic century and brought them back from the brink to embarrass England in the sub-continent in 2011. To their utter dismay though, they only got 10 ODIs against full-member nations since the end of that World Cup and the start of the current mega event.

And so when a tired-looking Irish skipper William Porterfield, took the stage of the post-match presentation following their elimination from the World Cup yesterday, you had to feel for him. "Hope we get more games, and progress from there," he said while hurrying through his byte.

Unfortunately for him, with the way the ICC's new system has been designed -- where tours would depend more on bilateral agreements -- they may get to play even lesser games against top-ranked nations.

The Irish have battled like champions in this World Cup. From Porterfield becoming the first non-full member captain to score a century in the mega event to Alex Cusack's full-length diving catch to take them past Zimbabwe, there was plenty of hunger in their performance. 

So much so that it took a rejuvenated Pakistan side -- which had beaten South Africa in the previous game -- to end their World Cup dreams. Towards the end, it all came down to their ability to handle pressure and Ireland, unfortunately, lost their way from the batting Powerplay onwards.

However, that did not, by any means, take the gleam off their main aim in the tournament; that was to prove to the ICC that hosting a World Cup with only 10 teams in 2019 was the wrong way to go.

They repeatedly enforced their point in almost every pre-match press conference. Their last, the one before the match against Pakistan, was perhaps the most vocal. 

It wouldn't matter whether they qualified or not, they had already proved their point, a confident Porterfield had said. UAE could have gone over the line against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan should have beaten Sri Lanka, he added. He didn't just speak for Ireland, but the unprivileged group as a whole.

Ireland's departure has, in a way, brought an end to an era of their cricketers. The likes of Ed Joyce or Niall O'Brien are unlikely to represent them in the next mega event; if Ireland play at all.

And with that the question has been passed down to the younger generation; to the likes of George Dockrell and Andy Balbirnie; when will it ever be enough for Ireland?