Cricket Ireland name Friends Provident Trophy Squad

Cricket Ireland this afternoon named a 13 man squad for their forthcoming Friends Provident fixtures with Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

The squad shows just the one change from that beaten by 52 runs by Worcestershire in Belfast on Sunday. Jeremy Bray earns a recall after almost two years out of the side, replacing Fintan McAllister.

Bray, 35, has played 72 times for Ireland , scoring 2509 runs at an average of 33.45. He has made 11 fifties, and 7 hundreds, sharing the Irish record for most centuries with Ivan Anderson. Indeed, in his last innings for Ireland , he scored 146 as Ireland defeated Canada by an innings to capture the 2007 Intercontinental Cup.

The venue for that win was Grace Road , Leicestershire, where Ireland will be in action on Monday (May 4). The day before they take on Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge , which will the venue for their ICC World Twenty20 games with Bangladesh and India in early June.

Speaking about his recall to the squad, Bray said: “I’m delighted to be involved again. I said some harsh things about Irish cricket two years ago, which I’ve come to regret deeply. I was exhausted after all the exploits of the World Cup, and felt we weren’t changing quickly enough. I’ve been proved wrong, and Irish cricket is now in a stronger position than ever before. I made myself available and am grateful to Phil (Simmons) for giving me another opportunity.”

“I’ve had three months rest from cricket for the first time in over four years, and I feel refreshed, fit and raring to go. I feel I’ve got a good few years left in me, and reckon I can give a good deal of assistance to the talented youngsters in the set up. I feel in great touch and it’s fantastic to get another crack at international cricket.”

Ireland coach Phil Simmons explained his rationale behind the decision to recall Bray: “He scored heavily in Leinster senior cricket last season, and he’s always had talent. He’s a proven performer at international level, and with us losing so many top order batsmen, I felt he would improve our squad. He made himself available, and after having had a long chat with him, I’m happy to have him back.”

“He knows my philosophy about the importance of the team ethic to Ireland rather than the individual, which I stressed. We also have the Twenty20 World Cup coming up, and to me he’s ideally suited to that form of the game. He scores boundaries and is a powerful striker of the ball. He’s very fit and is focused on the game now – I don’t think he had that appetite and focus when he took a break from the game. He’s keen and eager, and I think he’ll be a big success again – we all know he can really play.”

 The Ireland squad in full is as follows:

• Kyle McCallan (Captain) (Waringstown)
• Jeremy Bray (The Hills)
• Peter Connell (North Down)
• Phil Eaglestone (Strabane)
• James Hall (Waringstown)
• John Mooney ( North County )
• Kevin O’Brien (Railway Union )
• Andrew Poynter (Clontarf)
• Paul Stirling (Carrickfergus)
• Reinhardt Strydom (YMCA)
• Regan West (Civil Service North)
• Andrew White (Instonians)
• Gary Wilson ( Surrey )

The fixtures are as follows: Nottinghamshire v Ireland – Trent Bridge – Sunday May 3 at 10:45am Leicestershire v Ireland – Grace Road – Monday May 4 at 10:45am .