Add to that the suspense because of the rain delay, the subsequent fall of wickets, the roller-coaster run-chase, emotionally-attached wives and die-hard slogan-shouting fans from the stands, and, finally, the ultimate climax. Captain Trent Johnston, despite a suspected fracture in the arm suffered while taking a breathtaking catch, coming up with a six to score the winning runs.

The screenplay too is impressive as one finds out while talking to new-ball bowler David Langford-Smith who, as a farm equipment salesman, has the normal middle-class cash-crunch because of his 300-dollars-a-week pay check. “We are ordinary people who play cricket only because it’s our passion, but we defeated the multi-millionaire pros who stay in palaces,” he says.

It’s stories like these that inspired Davey to pick up his camera and follow the Irish cricketers. “It’s something I can relate to, since I have got an ordinary job in Sydney. I am an IT guy, but during the World Cup here I have turned into a film-maker. The key thing is the fact that these guys will go to their normal lives after all this,” he says.

To stress his point, he narrates the shooting schedule he had with pace bowler Paul Mooney. “I had gone to meet Mooney during Christmas and he got off from his tractor to come and meet me. And I tell you, he was quite nervous since this was during the lunch break,” he says with a smile.

What makes Davey sound excited about his movie is the capacity of the players to touch the right chord with their attitude. He talks about the catch that John Mooney took at the end of the Pakistan innings, close to the fence that had a bunch of Irish fans on the other side. “He soloed the ball after catching it. It is a move in Gaelic football — the most popular game in Ireland. It was a tribute to the Irish fans. They loved it. These guys don’t just limit themselves to cricket, they are multi-talented,” he says.

... contd.