Ireland, on Wednesday (July 17), announced their squad for the upcoming one-off Test against Zimbabwe. The game is scheduled to be played from July 25 at Stormont in Belfast.
The hosts have included uncapped spinner Gavin Hoey in their 15-member squad. The 22-year-old, who plies his trade for Leinster Lighting in the domestic circuit, has earned his maiden call-up from the national team. He has played only 3 first-class games so far and has picked up 8 wickets. In the white-ball format, he has 33 wickets in 21 List A games and 22 wickets in 21 T20 games.
“Hoey is a talented leg-spinner and his ability to spin the ball both ways gives us a strong wicket-taking option,” said Irish men’s selector Andrew White.
“Again, he’s a player that’s been on the radar for a while and can play across all three formats. But this is an opportunity for him to come into the Test squad and get used to the environment,” added White.
Ireland squad for one-off Test against Zimbabwe:
Ireland have also recalled Matthew Humphreys to the Test side. The 21-year-old played his only Test last year when Ireland locked horns against Sri Lanka in Galle. The left-arm spinner had failed to pick up any wicket in his debut Test.
Andrew Balbirnie will be leading the Test team against Zimbabwe and will be looking to guide the team to its second Test win. Earlier this year in March, Ireland created history by winning their first-ever Test by beating Afghanistan.
“On the back of our first victory we’re definitely looking to back that up with another win,” said White.
“We’re not looking to just pick a squad that will compete, we’re looking at a squad that can actually win the Test match – by taking 20 wickets and scoring the runs that we need to score arguably in the first innings to set up the victory,” added White.
Ireland squad:
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, PJ Moor, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young
