Pre-tournament warm-up series announced for Ireland U19s World Cup squad

DUBLIN – The Ireland Under-19s Men’s squad left Ireland yesterday bound for the Caribbean and participation in the upcoming ICC Under-19s Men’s World Cup next month. Ahead of competitive action, it has today been announced that the squad will take on Zimbabwe Under-19s in a four-match warm-up series in Barbados.

The squad will train at Weymouth Playing Field today, before playing four 50-over warm-up games over the next five days:

• 29 December: Ireland Under-19s v Zimbabwe Under-19s (St. Catherine Sport and Social Club, Barbados)
• 30 December: Ireland Under-19s v Zimbabwe Under-19s (North Stars Cricket Club, Barbados)
• 1 January: Ireland Under-19s v Zimbabwe Under-19s (Isolation Cavaliers Sports Club, Barbados)
• 2 January: Ireland Under-19s v Zimbabwe Under-19s (Three Ws Oval, Barbados)

The ICC Under-19s Men’s World Cup

Ireland secured qualification to the event by winning the ICC Under-19s Men’s World Cup European Qualifier in September.

The tournament will be held between 14 January and 5 February 2022, with 16 teams competing for the title that is considered the pinnacle for youth cricketers across the world. The competition features four groups of four teams, with the top two from each group progressing to the Super League stage of the tournament to decide the tournament winner. Teams finishing in third and fourth place in each group enter a Plate play-off.

Ireland Under-19s Group Stage fixtures are:

• 15 January: Ireland Under-19s v Uganda Under-19s (Everest Cricket Club, Guyana)
• 19 January: Ireland Under-19s v India Under-19s (Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago)
• 21 January: Ireland Under-19s v South Africa Under-19s (Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago)

Official warm-up games will be announced shortly.

A full fixture schedule for the event can be found here: https://www.icc-cricket.com/u19-world-cup/fixtures

The Squad

The core World Cup squad consists of 15 players, while one traveling reserve and two non-traveling reserves have also been named in line with Covid-19 protocols.

The Ireland Under-19s Men’s squad is:

• Tim Tector (captain) (YMCA), Diarmuid Burke (Malahide), Joshua Cox (Paul Roos Gymnasium), Jack Dickson (Instonians), Liam Doherty (St. Andrew’s School), Jamie Forbes (YMCA), Daniel Forkin (Merrion), Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn), Philippe le Roux (Railway Union), Scott Macbeth (St. Johnston), Nathan McGuire (Rush), Muzamil Sherzad (North Kildare), David Vincent (Clontarf), Luke Whelan (North County), Reuben Wilson (YMCA).

Travelling reserve: Robbie Millar (Eglinton)

Non-traveling reserves: Ryan Hunter (CSNI), Ewan Wilson (Muckamore)

The coach and support staff are

• Peter Johnston (Head Coach), Beth Healy (Team Manager), Jay Shelat (Performance Analyst), Darren Nicol (Physiotherapist), Simon Johnston (Assistant Coach), Albert van der Merwe (Assistant Coach).

Other news and updates

• Interview – Irish umpire Roland Black appointed to officiate in the ICC Men’s Under-19s World Cup: Read here
• Interview – Ireland Under-19s Men’s head coach Pete Johnston ahead of departing: Read here