Having that belief

Part Two of an interview with John Mooney on his time coaching with Afghanistan, the death of Shapoor Zadran, and coaching at the Indian Premier League with the Delhi Capitals.

So what exactly does John Mooney the fielding coach think of the fielding lapses by both the Ireland Men’s and Women’s sides this year.

“I don’t know, I’m not there” is the simple admission.

“But coaches in the Irish system have been job sharing. If I am Ireland’s batting coach, I’m focused on whether my batters are improving but I will probably also have to run fielding drills during training.

“I love to have my session set up on the pitch. Players can come to me for one-on-ones and I can really break down fielding mechanics. I can highlight where someone is strong and where they are weak”.

What exactly must it feel like being the first Irish person to coach in the Indian Premier League?

“I’m not going to lie, I was really insecure about going over at the start. But you settle in pretty quickly.

“It’s really, really big for me personally and something I’ll always be able to be able to look back on. But it’s also an encouragement for all the other Irish coaches out there, that they can do it as well”.

The US-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey recently reported that on a per-match basis, only the NFL ranks ahead of the IPL globally. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru who were IPL champions for the past two seasons were recently acquired by a consortium including the US asset management giant Blackstone in a deal worth nearly $1.8bn. So, no pressure.

“For Ireland to progress and really start making waves, you need as many people in these franchise systems to learn from the best coaches, players, and have that self-confidence.

“There’s a huge cultural difference with players from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, with how you do sessions and information gets shared for example. There’s a bit of learning but that’s really good”.

Away from the franchise circuit there has also been the sobering announcement that the 2026 ODI Men’s ODI World Cup will effectively be reduced from 14 teams to 12. The lowest ranked of the 14 will have to go to another qualifier having already qualified at a qualifier.

“It’s going to be really difficult for Ireland to make it, but from what I can gather the ICC are more worried about their television ratings than what is actually happening in say Scotland and the Netherlands. They pay lip service to Associate teams as far as I am concerned”.

The recent death of iconic Afghanistan cricketer Shapoor Zadran though perhaps brings it all back to core principles. Zadran produced one of the moments of the 2015 ODI World Cup when the number eleven batter clipped Scotland’s Iain Wardlaw in the final over to clinch a famous win at Dunedin.

The images most people will remember were of Zadran running to celebrate the boundary, helmet off, hair flying, then falling to his knees and completely to the ground almost in disbelief. It was a moment of pure joy. Shapoor Zadran quickly became a favourite among most journalists, despite not speaking much English, but also had plenty of fans around the world too.

“Shapoor was just a big friendly giant and a good man. He loved his hair which swooshed around when running in to bowl from 55 yards away”. But the left-arm quick could prove a challenge for Mooney to coach too.

“He was clever enough to know that he mightn’t have been the best fielder, so Shapoor was sometimes one for the dark arts. He might pick up little niggles during games and off the field he’d go.

“They were all very upset because he was loved by them all really. Maybe I didn’t know this for a fact but it didn’t seem like people in Afghanistan cricket had any bad words to say about Shapoor”.

Kind words about Shapoor Zadran (38) came in from around all around the cricketing world but probably also in part due to the sudden nature of his passing after battling Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in a hospital in Delhi. He’d also played for his country as recently as 2020.

The current ODI series sees Ireland and Afghanistan battle once more as they have done many times before. It had been reported that a 5-0 sweep by Ireland could give them a distant chance at direct qualification for the ODI World Cup next year. But the rain in Bready may have the most to say about that.

John Mooney’s prediction for the series?

“I do believe Ireland can certainly win the series. Anything is possible, it’s sport. But it’s great there’s maybe the chance to qualify directly. It gives the Irish players that extra motivation”.

This article was originally published on the Substack: Green Wicket Special