DUBLIN – North West Warriors’ Stuart Thompson has been called up to the ODI Training Squad on the eve of the squad’s departure for England.
The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), with the support of Hampshire Cricket, had agreed to provide four locally-based players to make up the numbers for Ireland’s training camp and intra-squad warm-up match next week.
However, Hampshire CCC yesterday advised Cricket Ireland that one of their allocated players had sustained an injury. Given the strict COVID-19 protocol conditions in the bio-secure venue, it was too late for Hampshire to provide a replacement player. As such, an additional Irish player (who has been COVID-19 tested and cleared this week) will now travel with the squad.
The squad
The 22-man squad is:
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Paul Stirling (vc), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Peter Chase, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Jonathan Garth, Tyrone Kane, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Harry Tector, Stuart Thompson, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.
The tour
To comply with COVID-19 protocols and public health directives, the squad will depart Dublin on a special charter flight to Southampton, before being transported in bio-secure buses to a hotel within the grounds of the Ageas Bowl where they will stay until their departure on 5 August.
The opportunity to select an expanded travelling squad, combined with the lack of cricket activity over the last four months, has meant Selectors have chosen a playing group that serves two purposes – to identify players who will likely feature in the matches, and to identify players who are best placed to provide an all-round preparation programme for the batters based on the English opposition they will likely face.
Following the training sessions and two warm-up matches as part of the tour schedule, Selectors will then name a final 14-man squad for the series. The remaining eight players will stay on as cover, given the protocols around the bio-secure venue and playing conditions.
The tour schedule is:
• 18 July: Squad departs from Dublin for ODI Training Camp
• 22 July: Practice match
• 26 July: Ireland v England Lions (warm-up match)
• 30 July: 1st ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 1 August: 2nd ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 4 August: 3rd ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 5 August: Squads returns to Dublin
Broadcast details
All three ODIs will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Cricket in Ireland/UK. Please check local guides for countries outside of this. BBC Sport will be providing Test Match Special commentary, BBC2 will provide TV highlights and BBC social media will feature video clips during play.
World Cup Super League
These three ODIs are the first matches in the World Cup Super League. Matches played as part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (2020-2022) are essentially World Cup Qualifier matches, as the League will serve as part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualification process. It will feature thirteen teams, the twelve Full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Netherlands (who won the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for this competition).
Each team will play an ODI series against eight of the twelve opponents, four series at home and four away. Each series will consist of three ODIs. For the World Cup, the hosts (India in 2023), and the top seven-ranked sides thereafter, will qualify automatically. The remaining five teams will play in a qualifying event along with five Associate sides, from which two sides will go through to the final tournament.
Craig Easdown
Stuart Thompson added to the squad
No
Connaught
