Alex Cusack was the surprise inclusion in the 18-man squad announced yesterday for Ireland's month-long tour of Australia and New Zealand that gets under way next week.

While Ed Joyce has been excused the World Cup acclimatisation trip, North County seamer Eddie Richardson and Merrion batsman John Anderson have both been left out. Peter Chase will be on the plane, though, after impressing in recent games for Durham.

Injuries have prevented Cusack playing a competitive match since May but the Clontarf all-rounder is obviously still a key part of coach Phil Simmons' plans for the World Cup, which starts Down Under in February.

"Alex has been one of our best limited overs bowlers in the last six years," Simmons said. "The plan was always to take him as long as he had recovered from injury and after a long period of rehabilitation he is fit to train now. The hope is he will be able to play towards the latter half of the tour."

The tour starts in Queensland, the state where Cusack grew up, before moving down to Canberra and then across the Tasman to Hamilton.