News

DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland has today announced the Ireland Academy squad that will play in the upcoming 2023 European Cricket Championships (ECC), set to be held in Malaga from 5-7 October 2023.

The ECC is an annual tournament played by European national teams, under the auspices of the European Cricket Network. It was the first international T10 cricket event ever to be staged.

The 2023 European Cricket Championships will feature 31 teams from a range of countries including: Ireland, England, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, France, and Scotland. Teams have been placed into six groups of five teams, with the reigning champion Netherlands XI receiving automatic qualification into finals week.

Ireland have been drawn in Group D, alongside Austria, Hungary, Finland, and Turkey.

Should Ireland qualify out of the group they will move on to finals week, which takes place between 16-20 of October.

IRELAND ACADEMY SQUAD

Seamus Lynch (Terenure), Liam Doherty (Eglinton), Cameron Melly (Brigade), Tim Tector (YMCA), Sam Harbinson (Merrion), Scott Macbeth (Brigade), Gavin Hoey (Trinity/Pembroke), Jared Wilson (Cliftonville Academy), John McNally (Clontarf), Carson McCullough (CIYMS), Olly Riley (YMCA), Mike Frost (Malahide), Adam Kennedy (CIYMS).

• Head Coach: Peter Johnston
• Assistant Coach/Manager: Albert van der Merwe

Speaking about the squad selection and the benefits of the competition as a whole, Head Coach Peter Johnston said:

We are very excited to be returning to the Cartama Oval in Malaga for the 2023 European Cricket Championship T10 competition, which is a very well organised European International event. I thought the team were very good last year, it was our first experience of T10 cricket, and we were able to win eight matches out of nine before eventually losing out in the group final. Everyone will be very hungry to make it to finals week this time around. Outside of the heightened emphasis on dynamic fielding, death bowling and power hitting, the competition also gives our emerging players valuable exposure to pressure tournament cricket, and also to a quality live broadcast and the media presence.

We have an exciting squad, with five players returning from last years’ event along with pace man Adam Kennedy, who was a proven wicket-taker with CIYMS in the last club edition of the tournament. The squad is very young and includes four Under-19 players, while Sam Harbinson at 28-years-old will offer some valuable experience. With his all-round ability, Sam made an excellent impact in his first season of white ball inter-provincial cricket while playing for Leinster Lightning.

Along with skill development and improving mental skills, the tournament is a great opportunity for talent identification and for players to showcase their talents – as highlighted by Seamus Lynch, who in last year’s competition averaged 72 opening the batting at an incredible strike rate of almost 350. It was therefore no surprise to see Seamus transition this into Senior Inter-Provincial cricket and score an outstanding counter attacking century in Leinster Lightning’s final 50-over game of this summer.

Note:
• Captain will be announced over the coming weeks.
• Watch Seamus Lynch’s special 17-ball 63* vs Spain in 2022
• All the squads for the competition
• Link to the tournament website

IRELAND ACADEMY FIXTURES

The fixtures are all played at Cartama Oval in Malaga, Spain:

• 5 October: Ireland Academy v Austria (starts 10.30am)
• 5 October: Ireland Academy v Turkey (starts 3pm)
• 6 October: Ireland Academy v Hungary (starts 1pm)
• 6 October: Ireland Academy v Finland (starts 7.30pm)
• 7 October: Eliminator starts (10.30 am)
• 7 October: Qualifier One (starts 1pm)
• 7 October: Qualifier Two (starts 4pm)
• 7 October: Group Final (starts 7.30pm)