Ireland team arrive home to a heroes welcome

London, Apr 25 (UNI) Debutants Ireland received a red carpet welcome on its arrival at the Dublin airport after a memorable outing at the World Cup.

The moment Adrian Birrell's team disembarked at the airport they were greeted by Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue, along with a huge gathering of fans who could not wait to bestow their heroes with their affection.

Amidst calls from many quarters that allowing 'minnows' like Ireland affects the credibility of the World Cup, Ireland surprised everyone by drawing against Zimbabwe and then scripted the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating 1992 champions Pakistan, which helped them progress into the Super Eight stage.

Any doubts that they were uninvited guests were put to rest when they crushed Bangladesh at the Super Eights.

They now deservingly hold the 10th position in the latest ICC world rankings.

''It has been a fairytale for all of the guys,'' vice-captain Kyle McCallan.

''We have been all over the Caribbean and have played against the best teams in the world,'' McCallan told BBC proudly.

''Now we are coming home to a Friends Provident match against Kent on Sunday and hopefully we will see a big crowd at that,'' he added.

UNI