England vs Ireland: Visitors announce 14-man squad for opening match of three-ODI series

All-rounder Curtis Campher received his maiden international call up as Ireland announced a 14-man squad for the opening match of the three-ODI series against England starting at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday. Andrew Balbirnie will captain the side, while Paul Stirling will be his deputy. [caption id=“attachment_8643241” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  File image of Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie. Image credit: Twitter/@ICC[/caption] The 21-year-old Campher, a South Africa-born cricketer, had scored two fifties for Ireland A during a T20 series against Namibia in February before the COVID-19 pandemic. Middle-order batsman Harry Tector will also hope to make his ODI debut having played 20 T20I for Ireland. “One notable inclusion for Irish fans is Curtis Campher, who has been called up to the Ireland senior squad for the first time,” Andrew White, Chair of national men’s selectors, said. “Curtis has impressed selectors and coaches with both his batting and bowling, played very well for the Ireland Wolves against Namibia in February, has trained well in recent weeks and provides a great balance to the side.” Talking about Tector, White said: “Harry has already featured in 20 T20 Internationals for Ireland, and has demonstrated during warm-up games and in training that he is ready for this format of the game. “His half-century on Sunday was against an excellent attack, and demonstrated a maturity in his batting for a player so early in their career.” Mark Adair, who had emerged as the leading ODI wicket-taker in 2019, has not yet recovered completely from an ankle injury suffered earlier this year and remains the most notable player missing in the squad. Among others, left-arm spinner George Dockrell and middle-order batsman Gary Wilson have been placed among the reserves for the series which will also launch the ICC ODI Super League, the qualification system for the 2023 World Cup in India. “These ODIs are not only a great opportunity for our squad to test themselves against the World Champions, but are extremely important in the context of qualification for the 2023 Cricket World Cup,” White said. Ireland squad for first ODI: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young Reserves: Mark Adair, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, JJ Garth, Tyrone Kane, James McCollum, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson.