Cricket Ireland have announced the 15-player squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. The Qualifier event will see 10 teams competing for two spots in the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – the qualifier will be held in Zimbabwe from 18 June-9 July 2023.
“We’re heading into a big few months and it’s looking at what personnel we need from a tactical point of view, who are in form, and a squad composition that suits the conditions we are likely to face. In the latter stages of the tournament, for example, we are likely to be playing on used pitches, so that’s where we see the value of a Ben White coming to the fore.,” Andrew White, National Men’s Selector, said.
“But before we look too far ahead, we have to start well and we’ve put together what we think is our best squad to meet that challenge. With a seam attack of Adair, Little, Young, McCarthy, Hume and Campher we feel we’re heading towards our best attack once more, while PJ Moor’s experience in Zimbabwean conditions and his versatility batting anywhere from 1 to 7 gives us great cover.
“Unfortunately, hard decisions had to be made, and Stephen Doheny misses out on this trip. Stephen is a player we admire and want to continue to invest in, but we think the time is right for him, just now, to take a step back and work on a few technical aspects of his game at the domestic level.
“Qualifier events are tough, cut-throat competitions at times and a balance of talent, form and experience is essential. We believe we have achieved that and I know that Irish supporters will be right behind the players and staff in their quest for World Cup qualification,” he added.
Ireland Men’s squad:
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
The 10 teams taking part in the qualifier are split into two groups of five teams:
Group A:
Zimbabwe
West Indies
Netherlands
Nepal
United States
Group B:
Sri Lanka
Ireland
Scotland
Oman
United Arab Emirates
Each side will play the other teams in their group once with the top three from each group progressing to the Super Six stage. In the Super Six, they will play the sides they did not meet in the group stage.
All points won in the group stage will be carried over to the Super Six stage apart from those gained against the teams that fail to make it to the Super Six stage. The two top teams after the Super Six stage will contest the final, and will both progress to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
For the first time in this tournament, DRS will be used for all matches from the Super Six stage onwards.
The Qualifier is the culmination of four years of hard-fought competition that brings together the bottom five teams from the ICC Men’s CWC Super League, three automatic qualifiers from the ICC Men’s CWC League 2 and two teams who gained entry from the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier Play-off.