Ireland star protects teammate in show of selflessness during England defeat

03 June 2023 , 21:18

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Andy McBrine scored 86 not out for Ireland (Image: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Ireland all-rounder Andy McBrine was left stranded just 14 runs short of a Test match century against England at Lord's when number 11 Graham Hume was bowled by Stuart Broad.

And he sacrificed the opportunity to reach the landmark by urging opener James McCollum, who had been forced to retire hurt after suffering a severe ankle injury, not to try and bat again for the sake of his health.

England won the Test, which is a precursor to their highly-anticipated Ashes clash against Australia, by 10 wickets after bowling Ireland out for just 172 in their first innings and then declaring on 524-4 after Ben Duckett smashed 182 and Ollie Pope scored 205.

However, Ireland showed great fight and determination in their second innings to force England to bat again, with Harry Tector, Mark Adair and McBrine all scoring half-centuries. McBrine and Adair shared an excellent 163-run partnership, but both missed out on getting their names on the honours board.

Adair was caught behind of Matthew Potts for 88, while McBrine was left stranded on 86 after insisting McCollum did not risk making his injury worse by trying to help him reach his hundred. Speaking after the game, captain Andy Balbirnie revealed the only way McCollum would have attempted to bat again was if McBrine was "one hit away" from scoring Ireland's fifth Test century.

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"He had the pads on, he had the boot on, it was all a bit chaotic in there," Balbirnie said. "Andy actually came in at tea and said he doesn't want him to bat. They're good mates and he [McCollum] is really sore.

"He really didn't want him to hobble out on the boot, but it was eventually agreed that if it was one hit away, that he would go out, and just hold up an end. And so it was chaos. He came out on the balcony with the crutches at tea-time and a couple of members looked over and couldn't really believe what they were seeing.

Ireland opener James McCollum suffered a severe ankle injury while batting (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

"It was quite entertaining. If the shoe was on the other foot, if you'll pardon the pun, I think Andy would have gone out for Prince [McCollum]. But it wasn't to be. In the end it didn't really matter, but it was fairly chaotic at tea."

After Broad claimed the final Ireland wicket, England needed just four balls to wrap up victory with Zak Crawley smashing Adair for three boundaries. And England skipper Ben Stokes felt the game was a valuable learning experience for his side ahead of the Ashes.

"I think it gives us a good insight into the conditions and what we might get against Australia," he told BBC Test Match Special. "It was pretty evident that even as we got so far ahead in the game, we then saw the pitch really flatten out and it became harder to create chances, so the way we pressed the game forward by scoring quickly bought us some more time."

Matthew Cooper