Against England there will be plenty of empty plastic seats and there will not be three-hour queues to get into the stadium. Even so William Porterfield, the Ireland captain, confirmed on the eve of the match: "It's always special to play against England for us and for those back home." He chose not to add that the Irish have a rather better chance of success if this fixture is taking place at Lansdowne Road in March rather than under the baking sun of Karnataka.
But it is not just the old rivalry that makes this fixture special. In cricket success against England can be a career enhancer for the Irish. The long-term goal for Ireland is full member status of the International Cricket Council and all the money, which that entails; central contracts for 12-15 players and Test matches.
In the short-term their players crave a county contract in England, which improves them as cricketers. At the moment there are already seven players in that category: Porterfield and Boyd Rankin (both Warwickshire), Paul Stirling (Middlesex), Niall O'Brien (Northamptonshire), Gary Wilson (Surrey), George Dockrell (Somerset) and Ed Joyce (Sussex).
Porterfield acknowledged that Joyce, who has been playing county cricket for a dozen years, has been a role model for him. Moreover several of the Irish cricketers would like to follow the career paths taken by Joyce, who played for England against Ireland in the last World Cup, and Eoin Morgan, who would also have been playing for England against his fellow-countrymen here but for a finger injury.
In the Caribbean four years ago Morgan was, of course, representing Ireland, but there is no hint of resentment among their team over the career choices, which these gifted left-handers have taken. "What's happened to Morgan is a boost for Irish cricket in a roundabout sort of way," said Porterfield.
Porterfield admitted that his team were "gutted" after the game in Dhaka, where they had a great chance to defeat Bangladesh. "Apart from four or five overs at the start we bowled and fielded well but our batting let us down," he said before pronouncing that his team are now in good spirits.
Then he was invited to remove the statutory baseball cap to reveal that his hair has been dyed a dark pink. Several of his colleagues (Joyce and the O'Brien brothers) have followed suit. Others like their former captain, Trent Johnson, the veteran Australian-born Irishman, and their coach, Phil Simmons, have shaved their heads. This is not so much to raise morale as to raise funds for a Cancer charity.
In Dhaka Porterfield side almost pulled off the first shock of the tournament. If nothing else that match confirmed that in this World Cup there is also a huge gulf between the associate members. Ireland and the Netherlands look so much stronger and better organised than Canada and Kenya. Indeed the Irish, who defeated Pakistan in the World Cup in 2007, reckon that this side are stronger than the one they took to the Caribbean.
They should be well informed about the weaknesses of the England team.
Their cricket director is Mark Garaway, who was England's analyst until two years ago. It is unlikely that Garaway has mislaid any dossiers on Andrew Strauss's side although some of his work did go missing on the 2006-07 Ashes tour when a wider audience than intended learnt of Matt Hayden's "ego" just before the Australian opener cracked 153 in the Melbourne Test.
Porterfield also chose not to rule out the possibility of Ireland opening the bowling with their left-arm spinner in order to counter the converted opener, Kevin Pietersen. In which case George Dockrell, just 18 years of age, will be charged with that task.
Against Bangladesh Dockrell took 2-23 from his 10 overs, albeit on a much more sluggish surface than we expect in Bengaluru.
Porterfield described Dockrell as "level-headed, chilled out, laid-back", which is odd since most left-arm spinners tend to be the opposite — either fiery or fragile (depending on your age think Tufnell, Edmonds or Lock).
Dockrell may need all his phlegm if he has that new ball against Pietersen or when he trots up on Sunday against Sehwag, Tendulkar and company. Should his nerve hold there would be more anticipation down at Taunton at what he might achieve in the game.
Like Joyce and Morgan, Dockrell has recognised the possibilities, however distant, of playing for England. "Obviously everyone wants to play Test cricket and that's one of things that may come if you go to play in England," he said.
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