Irish PM will stump up cash for team if needed

DUBLIN: Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has pledged to bail out Ireland's cricket team if they run short of cash on their unexpectedly long stay at the World Cup in Jamaica.

"If they require additional funding we'll provide it," he told the Irish Sun tabloid in an interview published on Friday.   

The team, whose shock victory over former world champions Pakistan has triggered a wave of national pride, is made up largely of amateur players taking time out from their jobs.   

On the road for more than two months already, their entry into the cup's second round means they have another four weeks of games ahead -- a tough financial test for the tiny Irish Cricket Union, which recompenses the players' employers.   

"I suppose they did their budgets on the basis they might not go forward," said Ahern, a man noted more for his passion for Gaelic games than the sound of leather on willow.   

Ireland's giant-killing performance has been headline news back home where many were unaware the country even had a team.   

Dismissed by some as a colonial hangover, cricket has been a minority interest in Ireland since British rule ended in 1921.