Cricket Ireland has announced the white-ball and red-ball squads for Emerging Ireland when they take on West Indies Under-23s in a five-match home series in June.

The series is part of reciprocal agreement between Cricket Ireland and Cricket West Indies that saw the Emerging Ireland squad tour the Caribbean in November-December last year.

Andrew White, National Men’s Selector, said: “We are delighted to have the West Indies Under-23s coming to Ireland following our tour there in 2023. They come to Ireland with a group of players who have played a lot of cricket for this stage of their development, and will be a very stern challenge for the Emerging Ireland lads.

“The tour we undertook back in November was a challenging tour for many reasons, but it’s great for our players to have the opportunity to play them again – this time in home conditions. In-bound tours are really important for our young players – at this stage of their development it’s not just about experiencing foreign conditions, it’s also about learning how to exploit home advantages.”

About the squad selections, he said: “The squad selected is a mix of players stepping up from our Under-19s programme, as well as the likes of Jake Egan and Chris DeFreitas who are playing against this level of opposition for the first time in representative cricket. The series should give an opportunity for our seamers and spinners to further develop their game and to build on what they will have learned in both the West Indies last year and Nepal earlier this year.

“Our approach to the first-class games is two-fold. Firstly, they are crucial in building the experience and knowledge base of our emerging players – given that some of these players may be cover for our Test Match players.

“Secondly, given the proximity of the Zimbabwe Test Match to this series, we are going to bring in our senior batters in order to provide an opportunity for them to get some valuable game time, only if they do not reach the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup. Given the fact that the players have been playing so much T20 cricket, this game, along with the best v best first-class fixture in July, will be vital for preparations for the home Test.”

About the selection challenges, he said: “It was pleasing that there are a number of other players who we considered, and could have selected - and with a Wolves tour planned in the winter, they will certainly come into consideration for that.”

SQUADS
50-over series*
Matthew Humphreys* (captain), Cade Carmichael, Chris de Freitas, Jake Egan*, Matthew Foster, Kian Hilton, Gavin Hoey, Seamus Lynch*, Scott Macbeth, Liam McCarthy, Tom Mayes, Olly Riley, Cian Robertson*, Morgan Topping, Reuben Wilson
 
* NB: For Game #3 - Seamus Lynch will replace Gavin Hoey, and Cian Robertson will replace Matthew Humphreys. Humphreys will captain the team in Games 1 & 2 and Jake Egan will captain the team in Game 3.

Four-day match #1
Stephen Doheny (captain), Cade Carmichael, Chris de Freitas, Jake Egan, Matthew Foster, Fionn Hand, Gavin Hoey, Matthew Humphreys, Liam McCarthy, Tom Mayes, James McCollum, Morgan Topping, Reuben Wilson
 
Four-day match #2**
Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Curtis Campher, Fionn Hand, Matthew Foster, Tom Mayes, Andy McBrine, Liam McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woekrom, Reuben Wilson.

** This squad will only proceed if Ireland Men exit the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup before the Super 8 stage, otherwise the playing squad for the first four-day match be the same as the playing squad for the second match.

COACHING STAFF
Head Coach: Peter Johnston
Assistant Coach: Nigel Jones
Manager/Assistant Coach: Albert van der Merwe
Strength and Conditioning: Stuart Thompson
Physio: Darren Nicol

FIXTURES
50-over series (List A)
11 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Under-23s (1st ODM; Eglinton; start 10.45 am)
13 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Under-23s (2nd ODM; Bready; start 10.45 am)
14 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Under-23s (3rd ODM; Bready; start 10.45 am)
 
Four-day matches (First-class)
18-21 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Under-23s (1st 4-day match; North Down; start 11.00 am)
25-28 June: Emerging Ireland v West Indies Under-23s (2nd 4-day match; Stormont; start 11.00 am)