Ireland name squad for first Twenty20 outing

Ireland have announced a squad of 19 for their first ever Twenty20 fixtures, which will take place on Sunday June 22 against a Lashings XI.

The games will be played at Oak Hill Cricket Club in County Wicklow, which is owned by Peter Savill. The matches will coincide with the inauguration of the ground, whose striking feature is a pavilion which is an exact replica of Savill's old school cricket pavilion at Ampleforth in Yorkshire.

The friendly games will start at 11am and 3.30pm, and it will give Irish coach Phil Simmons a chance to assess the squad ahead of the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Belfast at the start of August.

There are recalls to the squad for both Trent Johnston and Jeremy Bray, while Andre Botha also returns following injury. New faces in the senior ranks also include Peter Connell, Andrew Poynter, Andrew Britton, Gavin McKenna, and Shane Getkate. William Porterfield will captain the team in the two friendly matches.

The matches will not be open to the public, but pairs of tickets are available to Cricket Ireland members on a first come-first-served basis. Contact membership@irishcricket.org for further details.

Ireland squad William Porterfield (Gloucestershire), Andre Botha (North County), Jeremy Bray (The Hills), Andrew Britton (Donemana), Peter Connell (North Down), Alex Cusack (Clontarf), Thinus Fourie (Railway Union), Shane Getkate (Malahide), James Hall (Waringstown), Trent Johnston (Railway Union), Gary Kidd (Waringstown), Fintan McAllister (Rush), Gavin McKenna (North Down), Kevin O'Brien (Railway Union), Andrew Poynter (Clontarf), Paul Stirling (Cliftonville), Reinhardt Strydom (North County), Andrew White (Instonians), Gary Wilson (Surrey)