Pacer Josh Tongue took a five-wicket haul on his Test debut as the hosts England clinched an easy win against a spirited Ireland side on Day 3 of the one-off Test match at Lord's on Saturday.
In the post match presentation, Balbirnie said, "Character not in doubt, we've got a tough group. Test cricket is very raw to us, yesterday was a tough day but to come back and make England bat again was a small win.
England have retained the same group of 16 players from the one-off Test against Ireland for the first two Ashes Tests. Josh Tongue, who made his Test debut against Ireland has made his place in the squad alongside James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who were ruled out of the Lord's Test.
Pacer Josh Tongue took a five-wicket haul on his Test debut as the hosts England clinched an easy win against a spirited Ireland side on Day 3 of the one-off Test match at Lord's on Saturday.
Josh Tongue made the most of his late call-up to the Test side to take a five-wicket haul to help England wrap up Ireland's second innings on Day 3, with the visitors setting a target of just 11 runs.
The English vice-captain struck a 207-ball double maiden hundred to become the fastest scorer in England. Along with this he also became the second-fastest double-century scored by an England batter.
England kickstarted their summer with a dominant bowling display at Lord's against Ireland, bundling the visitors out for 172 closely after tea. Crawley and Duckett then put on a century stand in no time to take England close to a lead.
Stokes during press commitments at Lord's discussed his role in his team's victory in IPL. He said, "I played a little bit of a John Terry role winning the IPL,"