I could well see my late Father eyeing a copy of this book while passing some time in Railway Union and remarking on the joys of watching players from the club participate in the Cricket World Cup in the Spring. I'm sure he would have had something to say about Niall and Kevin O'Brien having known their father 'Ginger' who also played Cricket for Ireland in times past.

On Tuesday 23rd October I spent an evening at the launch of this book in the Russell Court Hotel where I met with some of Ireland's cricket heroes. Last St. Patrick's Day Ireland beat Pakistan by 3 wickets which resulted in shock in the international cricket world.

Niall O'Brien was the hero with 72 after Boyd Rankin had taken three for 32 in Pakistan's disappointing 132 all out. It was an amazing result by any standards, even more remarkable as this was the Irish team's debut in the tournament.

The Irish team is captained by Trent Johnson from Wollongong in New South Wales in Australia. He now has Irish citizenship, having married Vanessa who he met while playing with the Carlisle club in 1995.

Trent was a leading cricketer in Sydney before coming to Ireland as a professional and moving here permanently in 2004 when he was first capped for Ireland. He has since played more than 50 games for us, he has two children and plays for Railway Union and works for Architectural Hardware.

Trent Johnson and Gerard Siggins, Assistant Editor of the Sunday Tribune and cricket correspondent since 1985, have co-authored a detailed account of the inside story of the team taking part in the World Cup. The book takes the reader through alternate chapters from Siggins and Johnston, beginning with a brief history of cricket in Ireland and Trent Johnston's upbringing in Australia through a journey that leads to the famous wins over Pakistan and Bangladesh and introduces us to a new set of Irish sporting heroes, many of them from Dublin 4.

This is the inside story of the games, the triumphs and the heartbreaks of that spectacular Caribbean campaign, as well as tracing the long and difficult journey to the World Cup with spectacular and intimate photographs of the amazing games that saw them reach the 'Super Eights'.

One chapter tells the story of the coach, South African, Adrian Birrell, the man with a plan. Now Ireland has a cricket team that are starting to be seen on the international stage as a potential threat.

Trent Johnston told me that Ireland have a great chance of qualifying for the next world cup and the future of the game in Ireland looks great with junior cricket with the Irish Under 13s scoring well in Europe and the numbers taking up the sport increasing. “We've got those young players coming through and we have to look after them, the prospects are great.”

'Raiders of the Caribbean' would make a great Christmas present for anyone with an interest in following Irish Cricket. The book is published by O'Brien Press at a price of €14.95 and is available from Books on the Green and other good book shops.

Main picture, from left: Gordon Darcy, Trent Johnston, Gerard Siggins and Ivan O'Brien, MD of O'Brien Press.