ULAWAYO, Zimbabwe The much-anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier for the Ireland men will start tomorrow morning against Oman.
Here’s everything you need to know about it. The game against Oman starts at 9 a.m. in Zimbabwe, which is 8 a.m. in Ireland.
The ICC announced the world broadcast arrangements yesterday. Two of Ireland’s Group Stage games will be shown on Sky Sports in Ireland and the UK. The Sky Sports app lets you watch all four of the group stage games. Sky Sports will show all of the Super Six and Finals games.
On June 21, Ireland will play Scotland. The Sky Sports Cricket coverage will start at 7:30 a.m. in Ireland.
25 June: Ireland vs. Sri Lanka (Sky Sports Mix, show starts at 7:30 a.m. in Ireland).
THE TEAM
Andrew Balbirnie (captain) (Pembroke), Mark Adair (CIYMS), Curtis Campher (YMCA), Gareth Delany (Leinster), George Dockrell (Phoenix), Graham Hume (Waringstown), Josh Little (Pembroke), Andy McBrine (Donemana), Barry McCarthy (Pembroke), PJ Moor (Clontarf), Paul Stirling (North Down), Harry Tector (YMCA), Lorcan Tucker (Pembroke), Ben White (Phoenix), Craig Young (Bready).
COACHING AND SUPPORT STAFF
Cobus Pienaar has been brought in as a consultant coach to help the team prepare for the event since Nathan Hauritz can’t be there. Pienaar, who was born in South Africa and is now a coach, played for Waringstown for a short time in 2016.
The people in charge are:
Head Coach: Heinrich Malan
Gary Wilson is in charge of the team’s batting and wicketkeeping. Bowling Coach: Ryan Eagleson
Coach Consultant: Cobus Pienaar
Mark Rausa is a physiotherapist.
Brendan Conner’s Strength and Conditioning
Scott Irvine is a performance analyst.
Chris Siddell is in charge of running the team.
THE QUALIFIER EVENT
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, all matches 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.
IRELAND MEN’S FIXTURES
Games in Group A:
On June 19, Ireland plays Oman at the Bulawayo Athletic Club. The game starts at 9 a.m.
On June 21, Ireland will play Scotland at Queen’s Sports Club. The game will start at 9 a.m.
25 June, Queen’s Sports Club, Sri Lanka vs. Ireland (game starts at 9 a.m. local time).
On June 27, Ireland plays UAE at the Bulawayo Athletic Club. The game starts at 9 a.m.