Daniel McDonnell: Improvements needed but Irish difficulties could give England plenty of opportunities

Ireland coach Daniel McDonnell admits there are areas of Ireland's performance that need to be improved - but believes their opponents' struggles this season could hand them a major chance in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The Irish have endured a mixed bag of results in recent months, including a series win over the West Indies and a T20I clean-sweep of Afghanistan, but also a heavy defeat to India and a loss to Namibia in the first round of the T20 World Cup.

McDonnell, who was appointed as Ireland head coach in April 2022, believes there are positives to take from their recent performances - but also areas that need to be addressed.

"There are definitely areas of our performance that we need to improve," McDonnell said. "Our batting has been a bit inconsistent, and we need to be more clinical in our execution. But we've also shown some real quality, and I believe we have the potential to be a dangerous team in this tournament."

One of the areas that McDonnell is particularly keen to see improvement is in the team's fielding. Ireland have been guilty of some sloppy fielding in recent matches, and McDonnell believes that this could cost them dearly in the World Cup.

"Our fielding needs to be better," McDonnell said. "We've dropped too many catches and missed too many run-out opportunities. If we want to be successful in this tournament, we need to be more clinical in the field."

Despite the areas that need improvement, McDonnell is confident that Ireland can make a big impact at the T20 World Cup. The Irish are ranked 10th in the ICC T20I rankings, but McDonnell believes they have the potential to surprise some of the more fancied teams in the tournament.

"We're not going to be favorites in this tournament, but we believe we can cause some upsets," McDonnell said. "We have a lot of talented players, and we're determined to show the world what we can do."

Ireland's first match of the T20 World Cup is against England on October 17th. McDonnell is aware that England will be a tough opponent, but he believes that Ireland can exploit their recent struggles.

"England are a strong team, but they've been struggling a bit of late," McDonnell said. "We know that they're a dangerous team, but we also know that they have some weaknesses. We're going to go into the game with a lot of confidence, and we believe that we can win."