Cricket squad to face England named

Ireland have named four county players in their 13-man squad for next week’s one-day international against England in Belfast.

William Porterfield is captain of the party.

“I’ve everyone available and I always maintain that with a full strength squad, we are a match for any country on our day,” said coach Phil Simmons.

“We’ve shown that with our results in the past, and we’ll continue to do so in the future. I don’t know if this is the best Ireland team ever, but we have a great bunch of talented cricketers who are playing with great confidence at the moment.

“We have got great depth in our batting, and plenty of options in the bowling as well. If we play well, then certainly we can beat England. They will be favourites for sure, but cricket has a nice habit of throwing up surprises.”

England take on Ireland next Thursday at Stormont, ahead of their limited-overs campaign against Australia.

Ireland squad: William Porterfield (captain), Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, John Mooney, Kyle McCallan, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling, Regan West, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.