Photo Credit: Ireland Cricket
DUBLIN – Cricket Ireland today announced that Somerset County Cricket Club’s Stuart Barnes will join the Ireland Men’s coaching staff this month for the recently announced one-day international series against England.
Barnes, who has coached Bangladesh, Surrey and England Young Lions amongst others, is Somerset’s full time Assistant & Specialist Bowling Coach. He will assume a similar role for Ireland under the guidance of Head Coach Graham Ford, joining the squad for the 19-day period covering the ODI camp, two warm-up matches and three ODIs.
Barnes said:
“To receive an invitation to help coach at international level was very pleasing. Not only is it a great chance for me to learn by being in that environment, it’s an opportunity to find ways to add value to the Ireland dressing room and assist the Irish bowlers in this One-Day Series against England.
“Both Cricket Ireland and Somerset County Cricket Club have been unbelievably accommodating in making this happen and allowing me to proceed with this opportunity”
Richard Holdsworth, High Performance Director for Cricket Ireland, said:
“Stuart is a highly-respected coach and we are delighted he is able to join our support staff for this series as Assistant and Bowling Coach. Not only will his expertise be of value, but his knowledge of local conditions will assist our bowling unit greatly.”
“We would like to thank Director of Cricket Andy Hurry and the management of Somerset County Cricket Club – not just for agreeing this deal with Stuart, but for their long-term support for Irish cricket. Just from the current squad, the likes of George Dockrell and Kevin O’Brien have appeared for Somerset over the years, and we are appreciative that this arrangement was facilitated so smoothly.”
The bio-secure travel arrangements
To comply with public health directives in England and satisfy requirements of public health authorities in the Republic and Northern Ireland, the three fixtures will be held within a bio-secure venue, with the squad leaving on 18 July from Dublin airport on a special charter flight. The team will be transferred to a hotel that is within the grounds of the Ageas Bowl and stay until their departure on 5 August. The players and support staff will be tested a week before departure, on arrival and regularly during their stay. This testing complements the current regime already in place since the squad resumed training three weeks ago.
The tour schedule
• 18 July: Squad departs from Dublin for ODI Training Camp
• 22 July: Practice match
• 26 July: Ireland XI v England Lions (warm-up match)
• 30 July: 1st ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 1 August: 2nd ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 4 August: 3rd ODI v England (day/night, starts 2pm)
• 5 August: Squads returns to Dublin
Broadcast details
All three ODIs will be available to watch live on Sky Sports Cricket in Ireland/UK. Please check local guides for countries outside of this. BBC Sport will be providing Test Match Special commentary, BBC2 will provide TV highlights and BBC social media will feature video clips during play.
World Cup Super League
Matches played as part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League (2020-2022) are essentially World Cup Qualifier matches, as the League will serve as part of the 2023 Cricket World Cup Qualification process. It will feature thirteen teams, the twelve Full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the Netherlands (who won the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for this competition).
Each team will play an ODI series against eight of the twelve opponents, four series at home and four away. Each series will consist of three ODIs. For the World Cup, the hosts (India in 2023), and the top seven-ranked sides thereafter, will qualify automatically. The remaining five teams will play in a qualifying event along with five Associate sides, from which two sides will go through to the final tournament.
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.
