Photo Credit: Cricket Ireland
Irish batter Harry Tector admits the Ireland Men’s side is still adjusting to conditions, but believes that there were enough positives to come from yesterday’s warm-up game against Scotland to build on ahead of the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Tector, 21, has 39 caps for Ireland since making his debut in 2019 and yesterday top-scored with 38 from 33 balls, however, he wasn’t satisfied with his personal performance and acknowledges that he s still getting accustomed to the heat in Dubai:
“Batting conditions out there were actually pretty good, it was a good pitch with small boundaries straight – but being five down relatively early made it a bit harder to get going.”
“I think Curtis [Campher] and Pebs [Neil Rock] batted particularly well, but personally I felt that I struggled a bit in timing the ball, which was disappointing. That probably contributed to us not getting to a par score – we thought par was probably around 200. But that can happen – it’s our first game in a while, and there were definitely a few cobwebs there and things we can improve on.”
Tector was keen to point to the positives from the performance yesterday, including the bowling of teammate Josh Little:
“Josh is world-class, and he’s proved that this summer. He’s been super consistent and is a massive part of our team both on and off the pitch. It’s been great to see him do so well. He and I have been friends for a very long time and I’ve always known how good he is – so it’s great to watch him do so well.”
“As for the team, there was a lot of good things we did today, but it was our first game out here and it’s very hot – high-30s to early-40 degrees most days. So getting used to that – running between the wickets, dealing with fatigue and tiredness – that was a challenge. Even though I knew it was going to be hot, I didn’t expect it would be that difficult after you’d run a couple of twos, and equally in the field. Everyone will get more used to it though, and we’ll learn game by game. Come the 18th of October when we go out to play the Dutch, I’m sure we’ll hit the ground running.”
Ireland Men now play a three-match T20I series against the UAE on 7, 8 and 10 October ahead of the T20 World Cup. The first match will start at 9am (local time or 6am Irish time) tomorrow, with coverage via FreeSports TV in the UK and Ireland.
T20 WORLD CUP – THE DETAILS
Pre-T20 World Cup – preparation period
• 5 October 2021: Ireland v Scotland – warm-up match (Scorecard)
• 7 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 1st T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)
• 8 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 2nd T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)
• 10 October 2021: Ireland v UAE – 3rd T20I (ICC Academy Oval 1; start 9am local time)
Official T20 World Cup warm-up matches
• 12 October 2021: Ireland v Papua New Guinea – warm-up T20I (Abu Dhabi; start 2pm local time)
• 14 October 2021: Ireland v Bangladesh – warm-up T20I (Abu Dhabi; start 6pm local time)
T20 World Cup – Round 1
• 18 October 2021: Ireland v Netherlands (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; starts 10am GMT)
• 20 October 2021: Ireland v Sri Lanka (Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi; starts 2pm GMT)
• 22 October 2021: Ireland v Namibia (Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah; starts 10am GMT)
The top two teams from Round 1 go into the Group Stage. Details about the tournament, Group Stage fixtures and venues can be found here: https://www.t20worldcup.com/
THE SQUAD
A preliminary 18-player squad was recently announced – this will be reduced to 15 for the T20 World Cup tournament, however, the three other players will still travel to the UAE as reserves.
Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
