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Cricket Ireland Announce Squads For Crucial ODI & T20 Games

Wednesday, 30 June 2021 15:01

They'll essentially serve as World Cup Qualifiers.

 

Cricket Ireland has today announced a One-Day International squad and a T20 International squad for next month’s home fixtures against South Africa.

The three-match ODI series forms part of the ICC World Cup Super League and will be played at Malahide. The T20I series will be split between Malahide and Stormont. The schedule is:

World Cup Super League ODI series

  • 11 July: Ireland v South Africa, 1st ODI (Malahide)
  • 13 July: Ireland v South Africa, 2nd ODI (Malahide)
  • 16 July: Ireland v South Africa, 3rd ODI (Malahide)

T20I series

  • 19 July: Ireland v South Africa, 1st T20I (Malahide)
  • 22 July: Ireland v South Africa, 2nd T20I (Stormont)
  • 24 July: Ireland v South Africa, 3rd T20I (Stormont)

SQUADS

ODI squad

  • Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, William Porterfield, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

T20I squad

  • Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, William McClintock, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

 

Andrew White, Chair of National Men’s Selectors, said:

“The World Cup Super League series against South Africa represents our first such fixtures on home soil, and while a tough challenge awaits, we are confident the squad we have selected provides Graham Ford and Andrew Balbirnie with plenty of options. The sustained improvement of George Dockrell’s batting has provided us solidity and experience in the middle order, while it has been great to see our bowling strike force performing well in recent IP50 matches and at the two recent T20 Festivals.”

“We’re delighted to welcome back Curtis Campher from injury – I know he’s raring to go after over a month out of the game. The all-round potential of Graham Kennedy is also something we want to continue to develop. We took Graham on the recent Netherlands tour as a development opportunity, but as we have seen over recent months, his late middle order batting and left-arm spin offers further variation and options for us.”

“With the recent ODI retirement of Kevin O’Brien, the value of having the experience of William Porterfield in the set-up is as crucial as ever, and his recent form at inter-provincial level has demonstrated that he is still hungry to succeed.”

“Regarding the T20I squad, we’re looking at the series as a chance to expose a wider pool of players to the international arena and look at combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup in October.”

“Shane Getkate returns to the squad after impressive displays this season. Not many players work harder at their game and he is a natural power-hitter – something that we need more of at this level. It is great credit to Shane that he has responded so well to the challenge that the coaching staff set him regarding his batting.”

“Another player in the power-hitter mould who has earned his first senior call up is William McClintock. Since William’s involvement in the Under-19s World Cup in 2015 – at which he hit two half-centuries – we have known about his potential. This year we have seen evidence of that potential – not just as a power-hitter, but he has played a number of intelligent innings and been one of the key reasons the North West Warriors have been successful this season.”

“Ben White and Neil Rock also make the T20I squad on merit. Ben has impressed many observers, particularly over the last 12 months, bowling with consistency, accuracy and – most importantly – he has been taking wickets regularly.  Pebbles [Neil Rock] has been in and around selectors thoughts for a while, and offers a great back-up keeping option and skilful lower order batting in this format.”

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