Photo Credit: Sportsfile
Ireland Under-19s Men’s captain Tim Tector was speaking ahead of tomorrow’s encounter against India at the ICC Under-19s Men’s Cricket World Cup.
After his side’s 39-run win in the first Group Stage match on Saturday against Uganda, the Irish Under-19s captain was looking ahead to what, for many of the squad, will be a landmark occasion in their cricket development – to play India at a World Cup, live on television.
With the first match played in Guyana, the squad has moved to Trinidad for their next two matches against India and South Africa on Friday.
Both of these matches will be shown on Sky Sports in Ireland / UK.
Speaking ahead of a training session at the Brian Lara Academy, Tector said of the first match:
“It was great to get a first win on the board, it’s always great to get a tournament underway positively. With the bat, getting mid-230s was a great score on that pitch which was playing a bit low and slow. Josh Cox batted exceptionally well for us – he’s been in great form that last two or three games for us, so it was great to see him continue that.
“But what was most pleasing was that we pushed on with the bat – we’d been struggling a bit with batting through, and we had failed to really cash in at the end of our innings’ against Zimbabwe there recently, as well as in the two warm-up games against Sri Lanka and Scotland.
“With the ball, we took two early wickets through Matthew Humphreys, which was a great start for us – but we just let it slip there a bit in the middle overs, which we recognise we can’t do. But, as a squad, we’re always learning, we’re always getting better every time we play.”
Looking ahead to the India match, he said:
“We feel they will come at us hard early, and need to be ready for that. If we’re batting first, I think we can take some confidence from the last game and look to start well. With the ball, they’ll obviously be talented batters and likely won’t give us as many chances – so it will be all about keeping disciplined lines and lengths. If we can do the basics very well and field extremely well, we feel we can keep in the game.
“Jay our Analyst has pulled together some good footage and we’ve been reviewing their key bowlers and key batters, and looking at some match-ups, but the key will be to play the situation and play what’s in front of you.
“Obviously it’s a massive game for us – it’s not every day you get to play a side like India. You can see from the last time the two sides met, we had Josh Little, Lorcan Tucker and William McClintock stand out with quality performances – so you can see what good performances against a side like this at this level can do for your future career.
“For many of us it will be our first game on TV, but we’ve got to just push that aside. My message for the guys will be to go out and enjoy the occasion, and to give it everything you have – it’s not every day you play matches like this. I know the guys will bowl and field their backsides off and fight really hard with the bat, but at the same time you’re going to learn a massive amount from a game like this.”
About expected conditions, he said:
“From training yesterday it seems the wickets will be a lot bouncier than Guyana, perhaps a bit more consistent bounce. Guyana was a bit two-paced for the batters – we adapted well, though, so it will be a case of adapting here too. Our next two games are here at the Brian Lara Academy, so it’s an exciting time and we’re all up for the challenge.”
The ICC Under-19s Men’s World Cup
Ireland secured qualification to the event by winning the ICC Under-19s Men’s World Cup European Qualifier in September.
The tournament will be held between 14 January and 5 February 2022, with 16 teams competing for the title that is considered the pinnacle for youth cricketers across the world. The competition features four groups of four teams, with the top two from each group progressing to the Super League stage of the tournament to decide the tournament winner. Teams finishing in third and fourth place in each group enter a Plate play-off.
Ireland Under-19s Group Stage fixtures are:
• 15 January: Ireland Under-19s v Uganda Under-19s (Scorecard)
• 19 January: Ireland Under-19s v India Under-19s (Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago)
• 21 January: Ireland Under-19s v South Africa Under-19s (Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago)
A full fixture schedule for the event can be found here: https://www.icc-cricket.com/u19-world-cup/fixtures
The Squad
The core World Cup squad consists of 15 players, while one travelling reserve and two non-travelling reserves have also been named in line with Covid-19 protocols.
The Ireland Under-19s Men’s squad is:
Tim Tector (captain) (YMCA), Diarmuid Burke (Malahide), Joshua Cox (Paul Roos Gymnasium), Jack Dickson (Instonians), Liam Doherty (St. Andrew’s School), Jamie Forbes (YMCA), Daniel Forkin (Merrion), Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn), Philippe le Roux (Railway Union), Scott Macbeth (St. Johnston), Nathan McGuire (Rush), Muzamil Sherzad (North Kildare), David Vincent (Clontarf), Luke Whelan (North County), Reuben Wilson (YMCA).
Travelling reserve:
Robbie Millar (Eglinton)
Non-travelling reserves:
Ryan Hunter (CSNI), Ewan Wilson (Muckamore)
The coach and support staff are:
Peter Johnston (Head Coach), Beth Healy (Team Manager), Jay Shelat (Performance Analyst), Darren Nicol (Physiotherapist), Simon Johnston (Assistant Coach), Albert van der Merwe (Assistant Coach).
Name of Author: Cricket Ireland
Cricket Ireland, officially known as The Irish Cricket Union Company Limited by Guarantee, is the governing body for cricket on the island of Ireland. It oversees the national men’s and women’s teams and organizes the Inter-Provincial Series, Super 3s, and All-Ireland club competitions. Ireland achieved Test status for women in 2000 and for men in 2017 when it became a Full Member of the ICC.
