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National Strength and Condition Coach Brendan Connor gives us an update from the camp the day before Ireland’s first crucial World Cup Qualifier tomorrow morning vs the UAE in Sharjah.
We finished our 4 day game against UAE on Friday, with the game ending with a winning draw. All in it was a good workout for both the batters and bowlers, all of the top order batter got valuable time in the middle before the one day games and the bowlers got much needed overs into their legs, the three lads who missed out on the starting team also made the most of the four days, with nets and s&c sessions taking place each day.

The game itself was played on what many of the lads have described as a ‘Road’ of a batting pitch, you still have to get the runs though and it was superb to see so many of our batsmen in such good touch. Our captain fantastic looks like he’s going to have a really big 2013 and he was joined in the runs by several of our top order, with Nialler and Ed’s centuries both very impressive. A special mention as well for Trent Johnston, his bowling spell on the final morning was different class and his 250th Irish wicket speaks volumes of what an asset he is for Ireland.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a recovery day for the players, with a pool session first up to aid recovery and regeneration after a long 4 days, after that the players time is their own, with some heading to Dubai for shopping and others just relaxing in the hotel, for me and the support staff that time was spent meeting to plan for the next week ahead and to also to discuss our monitoring information – constant communication is vital in ensuring that everyone is on the same wavelength with regards training session intensity, recovery emphasis and also regarding general player well-being and readiness.

Today we trained at the ground in Sharjah, there was a great focus and intensity to proceedings with all 14 of the players looking more focused than I’ve ever seen them.

There is a brilliant atmosphere in the camp at the minute, with everybody to a man looking forward to the one day games, after a long winter in the gym and indoor nets, this is what it is all about, four points up for grabs, and getting that one step closer to the World Cup. I hope everyone back home gets behind the lads, the level of commitment, professionalism and dedication so far this trip has been top class.

Brendan Connor
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