Sport

Ireland announce T20 squad for World Cup

Andrew McBrine, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon and Craig Young will travel to first major tournament in Bangladesh

Ireland cricket coach Phil Simmons. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Ireland cricket coach Phil Simmons. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho
Thu Feb 13 2014 - 16:54

Ireland have announced their World Twenty20 squad, retaining the 15 players currently on tour in West Indies.

As such, the party that coach Phil Simmons will take to Bangladesh next month has a familiar look, with 10 players having previously represented Ireland at a World T20.

Captain William Porterfield is taking part in his seventh major global event, while the likes of Ed Joyce, Niall and Kevin O'Brien, Paul Stirling, Tim Murtagh, George Dockrell and Gary Wilson also have top-level experience.

Andrew McBrine, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon and Craig Young are all set for their first major tournament. "There's a lot of experience in the squad, with most of the guys having played in World Cups before," said Porterfield.

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“There are some new faces too though and their enthusiasm will help keep things fresh. It couldn’t have gone much better for us in 2013 but we’re determined to make 2014 a success too — we won’t be resting on our laurels.

“We’re all determined to take Irish cricket to the next level. We’re not happy with just qualifying for finals any more. We want to win games while we’re here and climb the rankings. We have players who I believe can make a major impact in the tournament.”

Ireland take part in the first round of matches, where they will play Zimbabwe, United Arab Emirates and Holland for the right to win through to the group stage proper. If they are successful they will enter Group 1 with England.

Simmons said: “We’ve got three challenging games against the West Indies coming up, followed by a week’s training camp in the UAE, before going to Bangladesh. We play Nepal and the hosts in warm-up games so there’s no danger of us being under-cooked for the round one matches.

“Indeed, if we progress from the initial group stage, we’ll be going into the games against Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and England with a lot of game time under our belts, which could give us a serious advantage. However, we’ll be concentrating on the round one games first — that’s the first hurdle for us.”

Ireland squad for World Twenty20 in Bangladesh: Porterfield (capt, Warwickshire), Cusack (Clontarf), Dockrell (Somerset), Joyce (Sussex), McBrine (Donemana), Murtagh (Middlesex), K O'Brien (Railway Union), N O'Brien (Leicestershire), Poynter (Clontarf), Sorensen (The Hills), Shannon (Instonians), Stirling (Middlesex), Thompson (Eglinton), Wilson (Surrey), Young (Bready).