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Ed Joyce, who starred for Ireland when they qualified for the World Cup, hopes his inside knowledge of the team will give England an edge when they meet Ireland on Friday. Joyce said Ireland were a better all-round unit than some people gave them credit for but England should win by “keeping it simple”.

Joyce made two centuries for Ireland in the 2005 ICC Trophy, ensuring the team’s place in the Caribbean. He is now in strong form for England, having made 66 and 75 in the last two group matches against Canada and Kenya.

Joyce said his familiarity with England’s next opponents could come in handy. “I have told team analyst Mark Garaway a little bit,” he said on AFP. “I know 11 or 12 of the Irish guys pretty well but there are couple who have come in who I haven’t seen very much of.

“I will be able to help out with a few tips but you have to keep things pretty basic against most teams whether you are playing against Australia or against Ireland so I think we’re going to be keeping it pretty simple. Ireland play as a unit very well, they field very well, they bowl as a unit and they’ve got a lot of medium-pacers and spinners who bowl very straight. They bat all the way down to number 10.”

Joyce was pleased at Ireland’s success - they made it to the Super Eights with a win over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe - but hoped any further progress would not be at England’s expense. “You want to peak at the right time in these tournaments and we’d like to think we are getting there after the first match,” Joyce said.

Adrian Birrell, the Ireland coach, said Joyce had been a great servant of Irish cricket but his history with the two teams would not give England too large an advantage. “We owe a big thank to Joyce for helping us through to the World Cup and look forward to playing against him,” Birrell said.

“I am sure he knows all our players, but we also know their players and other players from all the countries. I think with a lot of video available on all teams it’s not a huge advantage, it certainly does help.”

Birrell said his side had nothing to lose now they had reaching the Super Eights. “We know all the pressure is on England, they need to beat us to get to the semis,” he said. “They are not carrying any points and if they don’t pick two against us then they are under pressure.”

Source:Cricket Worldcup