Ireland to play in West Indies Domestic 50 over tournament

KevIRL

http://www.cricketireland.ie/news/article/ireland-set-for-west-indies-in-new-year

PHIL SIMMONS is returning to his Trinidadian homeland with Ireland, who have been invited to participate in the West Indies domestic tournament - the Nagico Super 50.

The eight team competition sees Ireland drawn in Zone A alongside Guyana, The Windward Islands and Jamaica, with games scheduled to take place between January 30 and February 15.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Ireland’s cricketers to play in this prestigious competition,” said Irish coach Simmons.

“There’s no doubt that the matches will be of a very high standard and it’s a perfect platform for Irish cricket to show the West Indian public just how far their cricket has progressed in the past few years.

“The Caribbean holds a special place in Irish cricket history - for many this was where our unique journey started in 2007, and hopefully will be the catalyst that sees Ireland eventually be granted Test status by 2020.

Simmons, who played 169 times for the West Indies in Test and ODI cricket, is certain that his squad will prove themselves genuine contenders for the competition.

“We won’t be coming just to make up the numbers - we’re here to try and win the trophy, and while it will be difficult given the calibre of opponents, there’s no fear factor in Irish cricket any more. We have much to be proud of and this past season where we won all three trophies we competed in has given the squad great confidence going into 2014.”

Cricket Ireland Performance Director Richard Holdsworth paid tribute to the WICB for the invitation: “We’re extremely grateful to the West Indies Cricket Board for this opportunity. It will give the squad exposure to a high standard of competition which is vital as we prepare for the 2015 World Cup.”

All Ireland’s games will take place at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, with Guyana their first opponents on January 31. Their second fixture is The Windward Islands on February 3, while their group stage concludes against Jamaica on February 8.

The semi-finals take place on February 12 and 13, with the final down for decision on the 15th.

More games against quality opposition can only be a good thing. Would be great if Sky or someone picked up the tournament to air on TV as well

riffmongous

The timing is a great advantage, everyone should be free to play for both us and the west indies, good news imo

djimi

This is great news! The more tournaments like this that we can get involved with the better.

Id love to see Simmons use his connections to build up a relationship for us with West Indies cricket.

HonalD

Its great news for us.

selwyn

It's great but we shouldn't have to resort to playing in domestic club competitions. We should be invited to play an ODI series a in West Indies/Sub continent instead. Just seems we're returning to the days when we used to play in the CB40 or whatever it was called back then. Saying that though, it will be a decent standard to play in.

Jonny_Darcy

Fantastic news

KevIRL

ODI v west Indies and 2 T20 internationals also confirmed

SD Sportsman

It's a great way to keep the squad together in a competitive game playing way in the build up to the World Cup. Far better than a training camp.

baboo800

Be great if we could get an ODI against England while we are out there

djimi

baboo800 wrote: »

Be great if we could get an ODI against England while we are out there

Kick them while they are down, so to speak :pac:

HonalD

baboo800 wrote: »

Be great if we could get an ODI against England while we are out there

We'd want a competitive match! :pac:

deise300

First game against Guyana on Friday at 6pm our time, live on ESPN and also live streaming on the West Indies website. Tough game against Windies players like Chanderpaul, Deonarine, Bishoo, Sarwan, etc. Hopefully a good start to a busy couple of months for the lads!

djimi

Its live on ESPN over here is it? Cool.

Oh wait, I dont have ESPN any more since Setanta restructured their UPC package... :mad:

HonalD

Confirmation for streaming, should be good fun.

http://www.cricketireland.ie/news/article/irelands-nagico-super-50-matches-to-be-live-streamed

deise300

djimi wrote: »

Its live on ESPN over here is it? Cool.

Oh wait, I dont have ESPN any more since Setanta restructured their UPC package... :mad:

So it says here!

http://www.cricketireland.ie/news/article/irelands-nagico-super-50-matches-to-be-live-streamed

What are the thoughts on our chances in this competition? Looking forward to seeing Craig Young in action

Jonny_Darcy

Delighted that matches are being streamed, am very optimistic for these games

Pudsy33

What time will Irelands game start on Friday?

deise300

Pudsy33 wrote: »

What time will Irelands game start on Friday?

6pm our time!

D3PO

I have ESPN checked the scheduling and no sign of the Carribean T20 being shown, they have NBA replay on at 6pm this Friday. I suspect ESPN are only showing it in the states so we will all be stuck watching via the stream.

djimi

I thought these games were being streamed live?

decies

Download Caribbean superstation app to your mobile devices. Ireland games live on it.

djimi

Legend, fair play.

KevIRL

hmmmm badly need a wicket here

djimi

Were doing a great job of keeping the run rate down, but yeah could do with a couple of wickets.

deise300

finally got the first one! great catch

KevIRL

At last....

Dozen Wicked Words

<snip>

deise300

excellent from kevin o brien, wicket maiden!

KevIRL

Sarwan doing some damage here

edit and Barnwell

D3PO

barnwell doing serious damage but gone finally

KevIRL

Second wicket for O Brien to stop the barnstorming Barnwell