CRICKET Ireland’s team manager Roy Torrens has praised the work done by coach Phil Simmons since he took up duties after the team’s fairytale run in the 2007 ICC World Cup held here in the Caribbean.

The Irish team surprised many back then with stunning victories over Pakistan and Bangladesh and consequently, ended the tournament ranked 10th overall in the official International Cricket and Council (ICC) rankings — above Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Interestingly, Torrens believes they have progressed into a more formidable unit since 2007.

“Some people thought Ireland had gone as far as they could, but Phil Simmons has stretched the boundaries and has taken us into an area where Ireland has never been before.

“Simmons is respected throughout the cricketing world and he has been an excellent coach for Cricket Ireland,” Torrens said.

Torrens agreed that tournament put his team on the map in terms worldwide recognition.

“2007 was probably a turning point as when we arrived in Jamaica for the World Cup I think it is fair to say not many people knew that Ireland played cricket!

“Our performances in the World Cup surprised a lot of people and I think we have improved our overall recognition as a team,” said the former right-arm seam bowler, who played six first-class matches for Ireland.

The Irish team are currently competing in the Supreme Ventures Sports Betting Jamaica Festival as they fine-tune for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup later this month where they will face relative heavyweights England and West Indies in group D.

Said Torrens: “Obviously, our first ambition is to play West Indies on 30th of April, and then England on the 4th of May. While we’ll show both teams the respect that they deserve, we’re certainly not frightened of them and we’re going to give it our all.

“We expect that if we play well, then we can come out on top and that would qualify us for the Super Eights,” he added.

During the Festival, which ends April 18, the Irish drew the opening three-day game but lost two days later in a 50-over contest against Jamaica, before pulling off a narrow win over the same team in a Twenty/20 match.

Against the West Indies team they have not had the same success, however, as they were easily beaten in subsequent T20 and 50-over games.

Despite the losses, Simmons insists his team will be a lot sharper by the time the T20 tournament starts.

“We’re going to try and prepare as best as can between now and the first game. When we show up for that first game against the West Indies we want to be as sharp as we can be.

“My role is to make sure we’re thinking the right way about the game and we’re going into games prepared to carry out the plans that we have,” said the former hard-hitting West Indies batsman.

Simmons told the Observer that reaching the Super Eights of last year’s T20 World Cup was a good indication of the team improving in the shorter version of the game.

“We have continued to improve and though we didn’t have much Twenty/20 experience, we still managed to reach the Super Eights last year, so I’m happy with how we’ve been moving along,” he said.

Though Ireland enter the championships as huge underdogs, many in that country still remember their successful chase of 293 against West Indies in a warm-up game for the 2004 Champions Trophy in Belfast.

In 1967, a Windies team that included the legendary Clive Lloyd was bowled out for a paltry 25 as Ireland romped to victory in a tour match when the regional team visited England.