Dublin: Cricket Ireland, in association with Randwick Petersham Cricket Club, on Thursday announced a three-match warm-up programme for Ireland Men’s team ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November.
The warm-up programme will see the Ireland squad training and playing fixtures in Sydney at the picturesque seaside Coogee Oval against SCG XI, NSW XI and their hosts the current Kingsgrove Sports T20 Premiers between October 1-7, 2022.
“We are delighted to return to Sydney for a warm-up programme of matches organised through our friends at Randwick Petersham Cricket Club. We enjoyed the hospitality of Randy Petes as part of our preparation programme in 2015 when we were heading into the 2015 Men’s World Cup and have subsequently formed a formal partnership with the club.”
“This partnership has seen a number of our current senior performance squad spend a summer playing cricket with the club, and while the Covid pandemic put a temporary hold on this movement of players, we hope to resume such opportunities over coming years.”
“We would like to thank Club President Mike Whitney, CEO John Stewart and their team for supporting and hosting us during this period, and look forward to reacquainting ourselves with ‘he club’s fantastic facilities,” said Richard Holdsworth, High-Performance Director for Cricket Ireland.
Ireland XI will first play against Randwick Petersham XI on October 4, followed by facing off against SCG XI on October 5 and against NSW XI on October 7. All warm-up matches will be played at Coogee Oval with a start time of 1 pm.
“We are excited to welcome Cricket Ireland back to their second home at Coogee Oval and I can’t believe it is eight years since they were here. It is even more special this time as former Overseas Scholarship Programme recipients Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector and Barry McCarthy are part of this team and we are proud to see their development and strong performances on the international stage following their time with us.”
“It’s our hope that Ireland enjoy their stay in Coogee and gain valuable match preparation, against quality opposition, setting them up for a successful T20 World Cup campaign. Everyone at the Randy Petes are backing the Irish and we ask that Ireland becomes your second team!,” said Mike Whitney AM, President of Randwick Petersham Cricket Club.
Ireland will then travel to Melbourne to play two official ICC Men’s T20 World Cup warm-up matches on October 10 and 13 at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and Junction Oval respectively.
“The SCG XI is honoured to participate in the quad series at the invitation of Randwick Petersham and we join to welcome the Ireland World Cup squad to Australian shores. We wish all in Irish cricket the best and look forward to assisting in making your Australian experience a career highlight,” said Greg Healy, Chairman of the SCG XI.
They will then move to Hobart for the first round of the tournament, where they are grouped alongside two-time champions West Indies, Scotland and Qualifier 1 to come as Global Qualifier B Winner.
“It will be fantastic to see the relationship between one of our great clubs, Randwick Petersham, and Ireland bring such an exciting week of cricket to life in Coogee. It will be a great event for the local cricket community and a chance for young girls and boys in the area to see top-level cricket up close in the lead-in to the World Cup,” said Greg Mail, Chief of Cricket Performance at Cricket NSW.
–IANS
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