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Brandon Moyo
CRICKET Ireland has named a 14-member squad for their historic one-off Test match against Zimbabwe which is scheduled for next week at Stormont, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The one-off match is scheduled for July 25 to 29 and will be the first ever red-ball match to be played between the two nations. It will be played at the Civil Service Cricket Club.
Ireland will be captained by Andy Balbirnie with former Chevrons international, PJ Moor also getting a call up to the squad. Matthew Humphreys is in line to play his second Test for the Irish while Gavin Hoey could make his Test debut against Zimbabwe.
“We have a pretty settled squad for this Test match just on the back of obviously winning the previous Test against Afghanistan. While there are lots of familiar names in there, I suppose the two names that stand out are the inclusion of Matthew Humphreys and Gavin Hoey.
“Humphreys made his Test debut in Sri Lanka and found the going difficult against good players of spin out in the subcontinent. He’d admit himself that he went through a period of a loss of form and maybe a loss of confidence, but he’s worked extremely hard to come back into the reckoning and his performances for Ireland Wolves have been exactly what we were looking for.
“Hoey is a talented leg spinner, and his ability to spin the ball both ways gives us a strong wicket-taking option. Again, he’s a player that’s been on the radar for a while and can play across all three formats. But this is an opportunity for him to come into the Test squad and get used to the environment,” said Cricket Ireland national selector Andrew White in a statement.
Some of the familiar names that made the team are Paul Stirling, Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker among others.
Ireland squad for Zimbabwe Test:
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.
– @brandon_malvin
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