Simmons: teen duo are Ireland’s future

IRELAND coach Phil Simmons has backed teenagers George Dockrell and Paul Stirling to be the backbone of the Irish team for years to come after their successful debuts at the ICC World Twenty20.

Spin bowler Dockrell, 17, and 19-year-old all-rounder Stirling helped take Ireland to the brink of qualification for the Super Eight phase of the event in the West Indies, only for rain in Guyana on Tuesday to intervene and result in their must-win game against England being declared a no-result.

That outcome saw Simmons’ Irish side, who had qualified for the Super Eight stage at both the 2007 World Cup and the 2009 World Twenty20, go out of the competition while England advanced on a superior run rate having hit 191 for five against the West Indies, while Ireland had been bowled out by the hosts for 68.