Intro:

Ireland captain William Porterfield called for the ICC to have a rethink on its decision to reduce the number of teams at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, as his side gear up to face India in Pool B in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Script:

SOUNDBITE: (English) William Porterfield, Ireland captain

"Yeah every next game is our toughest game and it happens to be India. So yeah it's our next challenge, one we're looking forward to, so like I say we're in a good place now, yeah we've got to bring that form into tomorrow."

SOUNDBITE: (English) William Porterfield, Ireland captain

"Yeah we've obviously got to try and restrict them with the ball and take wickets. It's just like any game of cricket in this format, the best way of restricting teams is taking those wickets. So we've got to go out there with that mentality throughout the 50 overs of taking wickets and whatever we do first, the first 10 overs is going to be big, if that's with the bat or with the ball and we have to start the game well and get into it."

SOUNDBITE: (English) William Porterfield, Ireland captain

"It's a nice position to be in, it's one we want to be and the quarter-finals is the goal to set ourselves before we came here. So, as I said, we're in a nice position now, but it doesn't count for anything if you don't keep putting in performances and that has to start again tomorrow."

SOUNDBITE: (English) William Porterfield, Ireland captain

"No it's like any other game, we've gone into each game with two points up for grabs and tomorrow isn't any different. I think we've approached each game with great clarity and great professionalism from our point of view and we've prepared very well. It's a quicker turnaround now for this game than what we've necessarily had before, but it's a good place, as I've said before, that we're in, so we've just got to start afresh tomorrow come start time."

SOUNDBITE: (English) William Porterfield, Ireland captain

"Obviously for the country getting through to the quarter-finals, the publicity and hype back home at the minute is right up there and you speak to people who are back home and the stories you see coming out of there are great and that's where cricket is going in Ireland. So hopefully yeah we do make those quarter-finals and keep pushing on as a country ourselves and hopefully the ICC take notice and start looking at the next World Cup. I think obviously cutting teams in World Cups isn't the way forward I think. I'm not sure what the vision is for the game, but if you want to progress your game and grow the game of cricket, then cutting teams in world competitions isn't the way forward."