Testing time ahead for raw Ireland side

'Andrew Balbirnie is a steely character and will marshal his team to give their best.' Photo: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Ger Siggins

The great sportswriter Martin Johnson once summed up a disastrous pre-Ashes performance in one sentence. “There are only three things wrong with this England team,” he wrote, “They can’t bat, can’t bowl, and can’t field.”