Cricket Ireland has named the 15-person team that will go to Zimbabwe for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Ten teams will compete in the qualifier for two spots in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2023. The qualifier will take place in Zimbabwe from June 18 to July 9, 2023.
“We’re going into a big few months, so we’re thinking about who we need from a strategy point of view, who is in shape, and how to put together a team that fits the conditions we’re likely to face. Andrew White, the National Men’s Selector, said, “In the later stages of the tournament, we’re likely to be playing on used pitches, so that’s where we see the value of a Ben White coming to the fore.”
“But before we think too far ahead, we have to get off to a good start, and we’ve put together what we think is our best team to do that. With Adair, Little, Young, McCarthy, Hume, and Campher in our seam attack, we feel like we’re getting back to our best attack, and PJ Moor’s knowledge in Zimbabwean conditions and ability to bat anywhere from 1 to 7 give us a lot of protection.
“Unfortunately, hard choices had to be made, and Stephen Doheny won’t be able to go on this trip. Stephen is a player we like and want to keep investing in, but we think it’s best for him to take a step back and work on a few technical parts of his game at the local level for the time being.
“Sometimes, qualifier events are tough, cutthroat competitions, and it’s important to have the right mix of ability, form, and experience. We think we’ve done that, and I know that the Irish fans will be behind the players and staff as they try to get into the World Cup,” he said.
The Ireland men’s team:
Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, and Craig Young.
The qualifier’s 10 teams are split into two groups of five:
Group A includes:
Zimbabwe
West Indies
Netherlands
Nepal
Group B, United States:
Sri Lanka
Ireland
Scotland
Oman
Emirates, United Arab
Each team in a group will play each other once, and the top three teams from each group will move on to the Super Six stage. They will play the teams they didn’t play in the group stage in the Super Six.
All points earned in the group stage, except those against teams that didn’t make it to the Super Six stage will be brought over to the Super Six stage. The final will be between the two best teams from the Super Six round, and the winners will both move on to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
From the Super Six stage on, every match in this event will use DRS for the first time.
The Qualifier is the end of four years of hard-fought competition. It puts together the bottom five teams from the ICC Men’s CWC Super League, three automatic qualifiers from the ICC Men’s CWC League 2, and two teams who got in through the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier Play-off.
India
