Andy Balbirnie, Ireland's captain, praised the character that his staff had proven in digging deep on the third and last day of the Lord's Test, and forcing England to bat once more when an innings defeat had gave the impression to be on the playing cards in a single day.

But, he added, Ireland's eventual ten-wicket loss had "not been preparation" for the problem that awaits subsequent week on the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

The sensible cash had been on a swift denouement on Saturday morning, after Ireland had resumed their second innings on 97 for 3 - successfully four-down, following James McCollum's match-ending ankle damage - and nonetheless 255 runs from asking England to bat once more, following their formidable complete of 524 for 4 in simply 82.4 overs.

In the tip, neither fairly made it. Adair feathered an tried ramp shot by to Jonny Bairstow for 88, whereas McBrine, who had insisted that McCollum did not danger exacerbating his damage by making an attempt to assist him to a few figures, was ultimately left excessive and dry on 86 not out when the No. 11 Graham Hume was bowled by Stuart Broad shortly after tea.

"He had the pads on, he had the boot on, it was all a bit chaotic in there," Balbirnie mentioned of McCollum's potential late involvement within the innings, when it appeared he would possibly emulate the likes of Graeme Smith and Colin Cowdrey of yesteryear, and are available out to bat at nine-down regardless of his severe damage.

"Andy actually came in at tea and said he doesn't want him to bat. They're good mates and he [McCollum] is really sore. He really didn't want him to hobble out on the boot, but it was eventually agreed that if it was one hit away, that he would go out, and just hold up an end.

"And so it was chaos. He got here out on the balcony with the crutches at tea-time and a few members seemed over and could not actually consider what they have been seeing. It was fairly entertaining.

"If the shoe was on the other foot, if you'll pardon the pun, I think Andy would have gone out for Prince [McCollum]," he continued. "But it wasn't to be. In the end it didn't really matter, but it was fairly chaotic at tea-time."

Nevertheless, Ireland's doughty shows gave one other wholesome Lord's crowd an entertaining day within the solar, and continued a pattern of tail-end resistance from their Test staff, with three of their highest partnerships in Test cricket all coming for the seventh wicket.

"[The dressing-room] was a tough place to be yesterday, in the evening particularly, but we showed character today," Balbirnie mentioned. "We've showed in our Test career that we have that character - and that bouncebackability - but unfortunately for us, it's when our backs are against the wall, that's almost when we seem to produce our best cricket.

Andy McBrine made a determined half-century•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

"We have to discover a strategy to not get to this point behind the eight-ball that that you must actually scrap it out. But get to 12 forward, it is a small win to get them batting once more. And definitely, after three days like that, you must take these small wins."

Much of the build-up to the Test had centred on Ireland's lack of first-class experience - most of the squad hadn't played a single first-class game in four years until their three Tests in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in April. And while Balbirnie reiterated his call for more red-ball opportunities, particularly on pitches such as Lord's that don't offer much sideways movement, he made it clear that a return to a white-ball focus was now the team's over-riding priority.

"I really like being right here and I've liked taking part in right here, do not get me flawed, however yesterday was actually robust," Balbirnie said. "You're trying round within the change-room, questioning what we are able to do right here to get wickets to cease the run-rate. You need to go right into a recreation understanding that, for those who play your greatest cricket, you could be actually near beating them. But I'm not silly. Everyone noticed there was a spot and we now have to shut that as fast as attainable. That's in all probability going to return from us taking part in extra red-ball cricket. It's apparent and hopefully it occurs."

For now, though, Ireland have a four-day turnaround back home, before flying out to Bulawayo on Friday to begin the campaign that truly matters. Balbirnie's men play two warm-up games against USA and Netherlands on June 13 and 15, before their World Cup qualification campaign gets underway against Oman on June 19.

They then play further fixtures against Scotland, Sri Lanka and the UAE in the space of the following eight days, with the top three teams progressing to the Super Six stage, and from there a shot at securing one of the two remaining berths at the main event in India this winter.

And with that fixture pile-up already on his mind, Balbirnie was blunt on the subject of his Lord's experience. "I would not say it has been preparation," he said. "I've performed in these tournaments earlier than. It's actually cut-throat. If you do not flip up for a few video games, your qualifying match is over. So the blokes should be switched on, and I feel they are going to be by the point we get on the market.

"It's 9am starts, very early-morning stuff, the games are thick and fast, in a sporadic sort of a schedule. I've struggled over the years to differentiate between our [Test and white-ball] groups because it's many of the same names, but for the one-day team, next week is huge. I said at the start of my tenure that qualifying for that World Cup will be my greatest achievement as captain, and we've got three weeks to try to do that."

For the time being, Balbirnie added, he'd be switching off from cricket in a very homely trend. "My wife has told me I've got a crib to paint," he mentioned. "We have a baby coming in August so that'll take up most of my week. But it'll be just enough time to switch the pads and head out."

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket