Cricket Ireland has announced a squad of 15 for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 competition.

The squad is virtually the same as that which won the recent World Cup Qualifying Trophy in South Africa, with the only changes being the inclusion of Jeremy Bray and Paul Stirling in place of Andrew Poynter and Eoin Morgan.

Ireland coach Phil Simmons has again opted for experience, a policy which served him so well in the triumph last month, with one notable exception, 18 year old Paul Stirling.

Simmons explained: “Paul has been in such good form in the Friends Provident Trophy, with two exceptional knocks. It’s not just been the fact that he’s scored runs, but the manner in which he has played. He’s been confident, powerful and dominant. It’s hard to believe that innings of such maturity come from one so young. He looks the part and has a great attitude to the game which will stand him in good stead in years to come.”

Simmons also revealed that Andre Botha will undergo a fitness test as he continues to recover from a damaged ankle, “Andre will undergo rigorous testing on his ankle in 2-3 weeks time, and we’ll make a final decision then. He definitely won’t bowl in the tournament, but I’d be very confident he can play a major role with the bat. We have struggled a bit with the ball in the current Friends Provident campaign, but we’ll have a lot of experience coming back in Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack, as well as big Boyd (Rankin).”

Philip Smith, Chief Executive of RSA, the official sponsor of Ireland's National cricket teams said; “As the official sponsor of Cricket Ireland, we are thrilled with the Irish squad's participation in the ICC T20 World Cup. We are looking forward to watching the team build upon its recent success at the ICC World Cup Qualifiers and wish them the best of luck in their efforts."

For Belfast High School student Stirling, the call-up was a dream come true, ”It’s unbelievable really. This is my last official day of school, as I start sitting my ‘A’ levels next week. They don’t finish until June 4th, so I’m free for the tournament, but may miss the warm up games. I’m looking forward to playing against some of the world’s greatest players, and am relishing taking on the defending world champions, India. The Bangladesh game is one which we’ll be targeting for a win. We’ve beaten them before, and in English conditions, there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.”

Ireland have been drawn in Group A and will face Bangladesh on June 8, and India on June 10, with both fixtures taking place at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

The Ireland squad in full is as follows:

• William Porterfield (Captain) (Gloucestershire)
• Andre Botha (North County)
• Jeremy Bray (The Hills)
• Peter Connell (North Down)
• Alex Cusack (Clontarf)
• Trent Johnston (Railway Union)
• Kyle McCallan (Waringstown)
• John Mooney (North County)
• Kevin O’Brien (Railway Union)
• Niall O’Brien (Northants) (w/k)
• Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire)
• Paul Stirling (Carrickfergus)
• Regan West (Civil Service North)
• Andrew White (Instonians)
• Gary Wilson (Surrey)