Kevin O’Brien will lead Ireland in their three-match T20I series against Scotland later this month in the absence of regular captain William Porterfield, who, along with wicketkeeper Gary Wilson and Niall O’Brien, will miss the series due to county commitments.
The 14-member squad includes 20-year old allrounder Tyrone Kane and Durham wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter both of whom also made the squad for the World T20 qualifiers.
Kane has been rewarded for his good showing in the domestic T20 competition. Playing for Merrion, he took a hat-trick in the opening game against Northern Knights and followed it up with a five wicket haul against North West Warriors. “Tyrone is an exciting young talent who deserves his chance, he’s very much an impact player as shown by his performances in the T20 games this season,” John Bracewell, the Ireland coach, said.
“The World Cup Qualifier squad has a nice blend of youth and experience despite the retirements of Ed Joyce and Tim Murtagh last week. There have been a lot of match winning efforts by our guys in the T20 Blast in England too, so everyone looks to be in really fine form going into these games.”
Kane was delighted at the call-up and said it was a dream come true for him. “It should be a tough series against Scotland and ideal preparations for the qualifiers which follow. It’s going to be an intense period for all the squad, but hopefully we’ll have secured qualification for another T20 World Cup at the end of it.” Kane said.
Squad for the Scotland series: Kevin O’Brien (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Tyrone Kane, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, John Mooney, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Craig Young.
Squad for the World T20 qualifiers
William Porterfield (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Tyrone Kane, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, John Mooney, Niall O’Brien, Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Poynter, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson and Craig Young.
