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Ireland’s Under-19 side get their ICC Under-19 World Cup campaign underway tomorrow and skipper Jack Tector is “massively excited” heading into the opening match against one of the tournament favourites India.
Tector, who was speaking to www.cricketireland.ie from the team’s base in Dhaka talked about the general feeling within the Ireland camp ahead of the first match which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 3 from 2.30am (GMT).
“To represent Ireland on the world stage is a massive honour and an opportunity which the team will definitely make the most of, obviously there are a few nerves about, but come the time of the first ball we will be raring to go.”
Ireland initally missed out on qualification for the tournament after finishing as runners-up in the global qualifying tournament last October, but were invited to participate at short notice when Australia withdrew from the competition last month.
With limited preparation time the warm-up games took on added significance for Ireland as they battled to get ready for the tournament, giving everyone the opportunity to get back into playing outdoor and being out in the middle, rather than the indoor nets.
“The warm-up games were massively important,” Tector continues. “The Canadian game didn’t go to plan so we have worked hard over the last few days correcting the mistakes which were made.
“We also have had the chance in these warm up games to experience the conditions here in Bangladesh which was massively beneficial.”
Ireland have been placed in a tough group at the World Cup, facing India, New Zealand and the Nepalese team that beat them in the final of the qualifying tournament in October, but that does not phase the Ireland captain: “We have match winners in our team which makes us capable of beating anyone on our day.”
While there is a genuine belief within the squad, Tector knows the importance of not getting ahead of himself and that attitude runs right through the team, “I hope we get out of the group, but we can’t look too far ahead yet. India will be a huge challenge and we need to take one game at a time.”
The side will take on India in the opening game at 3am (GMT) tomorrow morning. You will be able to watch the game live on Sky Sports and also follow the action on www.cricketireland.ie, with a live scorecard, match highlights and post-match report tomorrow morning.
You can follow Ireland’s U19 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign on www.cricketireland.ie and by following Cricket Ireland on Twitter @Irelandcricket, Facebook & Instagram.
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