Cricket NewsThe Irish Cricket Union (ICU) have named four Leinster-based players to take part in a six-week ICC high-performance training camp in Pretoria, South Africa. Kenny Carroll and Kevin O'Brien of Railway Union, North County's John Mooney and William Porterfield of Rush will leave at the start of October, and the camp will run to November 17th.
The camp, which takes place at the state-of-the-art High Performance Centre in the South African capital, is a chance for talented young players from ICC associate member nations to improve their game surrounded by top coaches and excellent facilities.
Under the eye of top ICC-affiliated coaches, the players will be put through a gruelling fitness programme as well as receiving technical coaching and match practice. The ICC instructed the ICU that all nominees had to be members of the senior squad selected for next year's World Cup in the West Indies.
This is Carroll's second year at the camp and it is thought his rapid progression from decent club player to international cricketer is due, in part, to the coaching he received in Pretoria last year.
"This time last year Kenny Carroll was very much on the fringes of the Ireland set-up, and now he is a vital part of our squad," said national coach Adrian Birrell yesterday.
The camp will kick off an important time for Irish cricket.After Christmas they will embark on the countdown to the World Cup.
Following an Ireland training camp, possibly in Port Elizabeth, the team will travel up to Kenya for the ICC World League division one tournament, a one-day tournament that includes all the other World Cup qualifiers, Bermuda, Netherlands, Canada and Scotland, as well as the host country.
They then play a four-day InterContinental Cup match against the United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi in February, and possibly another one-day tournament in that region.
They will fly to the West Indies at the start of March for warm-up matches against Pakistan and Canada in Trinidad and Tobago, followed by the World Cup itself. Over a nine-day period, the Irish will play Zimbabwe (March 15th), Pakistan (on St Patrick's Day) and hosts the West Indies (March 23rd), all in Kingston, Jamaica.
After the World Cup, the team will return home in time for the build-up to their nine-match C&G Trophy campaign against English counties.
"This training camp is a wonderful opportunity for all four players to improve both their techniques and fitness levels," said Birrell yesterday.
"One only has to look at the improvements in players who have attended this and similar camps in the past. I hope the players use the camp wisely, and get themselves prepared properly for a vital few months in the history of Irish cricket."
