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Rario T20 Inter-Provincial Festival heads to Cork for first time

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CORK – For the first time in its history, The Mardyke in Cork will host a Rario Inter-Provincial Trophy T20 Festival – with the first of six matches – getting underway on Tuesday morning.
With the promise of hot and sunny weather ahead, it promises to be a cracking week of cricket down by the River Lee as all four teams look to take early victories in the competition.

The home side Munster Reds – who narrowly failed to pull off a historic double success last season – will hope to kick things off with a victory in the opening game on Tuesday, when they take on the North West Warriors, while 2022 winners Leinster Lightning will start their title defence against the Northern Knights in the second game of the day.

FIXTURES

THE SQUADS

Munster Reds – the Reds have drafted in big-hitting Danish international Nicolaj Damgaard, along with on-loan players, wicket-keeper Connor Fletcher, Nathan Maguire, and Joshua Manley. They will be captained by Tyrone Kane, with PJ Moor and Curtis Campher resting, and Mike Frost unavailable due to exams..

Squad: Tyrone Kane (capt), Murray Commins, Ali Frost, Brandon Kruger, Liam McCarthy, Connor Fletcher, Joshua Manley, Nathan McGuire, Nicolaj Damgaard, Ben White, Gareth Delaney, Mick Granger, Mathew Ford.

Leinster Lightning – Amish Sidhu returns to the Lightning squad having recovered from a recent injury and having played for Phoenix Cricket Club over the weekend. With the change in format, both Seamus Lynch and Joey Carroll – fresh from his half-century for Leinster in their thrilling Arachas Irish Senior Cup victory over CIYMS on Sunday – come into the squad, replacing Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Jack Tector from the recent IP50 squad. The average age of the selected Leinster Lightning squad is just 23, and Tim Tector will captain the side.

Squad: Tim Tector (capt), Amish Sidhu, Adam Rosslee, Greg Ford, Sam Harbinson, Mark Donegan, Seamus Lynch, Gavin Hoey, Barry McCarthy, Fionn Hand, Joey Carroll, Reuben Wilson, Mikey O’Reilly.

North West Warriors – the Warriors have included Liam Doherty, Aaron Gillespie, Trent McKeegan and Gavin Roulston in their squad, while they also have one other new face in their corner this week, with Graeme McCarter travelling as Assistant Coach to Boyd Rankin.

Squad: Shane Getkate (capt), Stephen Doheny (wk), Liam Doherty, Aaron Gillespie, Ryan Macbeth, Scott Macbeth, William McClintock, Trent McKeegan, Cameron Melly, Cian Robertson, Gavin Roulston, Jared Wilson, Harry Zimmerman.

Northern Knights – while the Lord’s Test trio of Paul Stirling, Mark Adair and James McCollum are resting, the Knights have called-up Jason van der Merwe, Finn Lutton and Harry Dyer. Van der Merve had an excellent season in 2022, including a sensational time at the European Cricket League while playing for CIYMS, and he’s taken that form into 2023. Finn and Harry are two Ireland U19 squad members, and they’ve been rewarded for their 1st XI performances over the last 12 months. Ruhan Pretorius comes into the festival on the back of scoring 230 for Woodvale at the weekend in a record-breaking partnership of 382 with Ludwig Kaestner as they beat Derriaghy by 27 runs, while Neil Rock will captain the team.

Squad: Neil Rock (capt), Ross Adair, Cade Carmichael, Harry Dyer, Matthew Foster, Matthew Humphreys, Tyron Koen, Finn Lutton, Tom Mayes, Morgan Topping, Jason Van der Merwe, Ruhan Pretorius, Theo van Woerkom.