Squad named for historic test in Belfast

DUBLIN – The 14-man squad for Ireland’s Test match against Zimbabwe at Stormont, Belfast next week has been announced as the Irish team seeks its first ever Test victory on home soil.

A historic Test victory in Abu Dhabi earlier this year gave the Irish men’s team their first-ever victory in only their eighth match.

Next week’s match will be the first ever Test match in Northern Ireland and only the second Test match in Ireland, the opening match being against Pakistan in 2018.

IRELAND MEN TEST SQUAD

• Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young,.

National selector, Andrew White on the selected team:

“We have a fairly settled squad for this Test match, simply because we won the previous Test against Afghanistan. Although there are a lot of familiar names in it, I think the two names that stand out are Matthew Humphreys and Gavin Hoey.

“Humphreys made his Test debut in Sri Lanka and found it difficult to compete against good players of spin out on the subcontinent. He would admit himself that he has gone through a period of loss of form and perhaps a loss of confidence, but he has worked extremely hard to get back into the game and his performances for Ireland Wolves have been exactly what we were looking for. Obviously last year in the West Indies for Emerging Ireland, then in Nepal, and now he has delivered in the recent series for the Emerging Ireland team against West Indies Academy where he took 10 wickets. But it is the consistency that he has shown over the last period that has been really pleasing and he is absolutely deserving of his call-up.

“Hoey is a talented leg spinner and his ability to turn the ball both ways gives us a strong wicket-taking option. Again, he’s a player who’s been on the radar for a while and can play in all three formats. But this is an opportunity for him to come into the Test squad and get used to the environment.”

About the upcoming test match:

“After our first win (against Afghanistan) we definitely want to confirm that with another win. We don’t just want to field a team that competes, we are looking at a team that can actually win the Test match – by taking 20 wickets and scoring the runs we need in the first innings to secure victory.

“Scott Irvine, our performance analyst, is one of the best in the business when it comes to providing me, the coaches and the players with the critical information we need to make decisions. The information he has given us to select the squad puts us in an informed position and will hopefully give us the best chance to win.”