Cricket Ireland (CI) have announced a 14-player squad for Men’s upcoming T20 International series against South Africa and Afghanistan.
The battle against the Proteas will be played in Bristol between August 3 and 5, while the fixtures against Afghanistan will take place in Stormont.
Despite being whitewashed 3-0 at home against New Zealand, the selectors have retained the same 14-member squad for the forthcoming games.
“We are now getting down to the final stages of our preparations as we build towards the Men’s T20 World Cup in October. The squad has faced two high-quality opponents in recent weeks, in India and New Zealand, and have stern tests ahead against South Africa and Afghanistan,” said Chair of National Men’s Selectors Andrew White in a statement.
“We believe, while the results have not gone our way, the brand of cricket that [head coach] Heinrich Malan is instilling in the squad is showing positive signs and the players are beginning to equip themselves well as they build towards the World Cup in Australia. We have, however, sought to give ourselves a level of selection flexibility later in the Afghan series, and will announce a squad for the final two T20Is of that series in due course,” he added.
Ireland squad for South Africa and Afghanistan T20Is:
Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.