Ireland revel in victorious warm up campaign as they prepare for India and Pakistan in T20 World Cup

Ireland’s T20 cricketers have had a good warm up for the World Cup.

The boys in green won a Tri Series with European rivals Scotland and the Netherlands, but also exceled in a series with international test nation Pakistan, running them close before losing the series 2-1.

At their Fort Laudedale base, they take on another test playing nation Sri Lanka on Friday before facing hosts USA in the World Cup on June 14.

They are captained by their opening bat Ulsterman Paul Stirling who represented Middlesex in the County Championship for ten years.

Josh Little, Mark Adair, Graham Hume, Curtis Campher, Barry McCarthy and Craig Young will be the lynchpins of their pace and seam attack. Ben White and all-rounder Gareth Delany will add spin where needed.

Batsman George Dockrell could assist with that area as he is a right-handed batsman and occasional slow left-arm orthodox spinner. He spent four years at Somerset.

He told reporters in Florida:

“We’re very lucky. We’ve got quite a bit of experience with bat and ball. That means we’ve quite a few different voices within the group. It’s a fantastic thing to have that across the board.”

Looking forward to Friday’s match with Sri Lanka, he was asked what Ireland sought to get out of the final friendly.

“Getting used to the pitch. It’s a great opportunity to see how it plays. We’ve played there before but it was a while ago so understanding what works on the pitch and the best way to go about scoring. We’re trying to make sure we get a good run out and are at our absolute peak.

“We’re going to try and enjoy the whole trip as much as we can. It’s not often you get the chance to come out to the US and we never thought we’d be playing in Florida and New York a number of years ago for a World Cup.

“We’re going to try and make the absoluate most of it on and off the pitch.”

Of playing in New York in front of a large Irish crowd, he added:

“It’d be nice to get a godd turn out from the locals there. It will be a special week for us.”

Ireland share a group with India, Pakistan, USA and Canada.

Ireland Squad:

Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young

Prost International will be in Dallas for the opening game between Canada and the USA, and all the matches in Barbados, so please follow us for our coverage on Twitter @ProstInt.