There weren’t a great number of Ireland fans at Lord’s yesterday, but those that were there made themselves visible. The green shirts picked each other out in the crowd, nodded, waved and offered mutual support. A couple of them, puffing their way to the top of the Warner Stand before play, spotted a man in a splendid shamrock-print suit and altered course to share a rueful word with him. “We thought we’d better come today because it might be all over tomorrow.”
Not quite, but it was a day of unremitting flagellation. Throughout the first session, the Ireland bowlers had nothing to keep them going but the memory of a single, day-old wicket. At least their supporters in the stands had Guinness.
