Josh Little, a fast bowler, was included in Ireland’s 15-man roster for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. He will synchronise with his colleagues following his IPL 2024 commitments with the Gujarat Titans.
Little has been permitted to miss the three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Pakistan at home on May 10–14 and the tri-series (May 19–24) in the Netherlands, which also includes the hosts and Scotland. On May 31, the Paul Stirling-led team will play a warm-up match against Sri Lanka before starting their World Cup campaign in North America. In the first round of the prestigious competition, they are grouped with Pakistan, India, the United States, and Canada.
Squad: Paul Stirling (captain), Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, and Barry McCarthy.
Legspinner Ben White, keeper-bat Neil Rock, and batter Mark Adair are new additions to the 2024 World Cup roster who were not in the 18 months prior in Australia. Conor Olphert, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, and Simi Singh were among those who were absent from the campaign that saw Ireland record victories over the West Indies and eventual champions England.
“The squad is one that we have gradually developed and tested out over the last 18 or so months – the skill sets we need to cover are there, albeit we have allowed Josh [Little] to continue in the IPL until his side end their campaign, so he will likely join us ahead of the big tournament,” Heinrich Malan, the head coach of Ireland’s men’s team
This month, in advance of the T20 World Cup, we have a jam-packed schedule of Twenty20 cricket matches: seven matches spread over 15 days will get us ready for the competition. Though we won’t be viewing those seven games as warm-ups, our goal is to win as many of them as we can.
“We are now entering the final stretch before the T20 World Cup begins, it will be a challenging couple of weeks, but we’re ready to tackle whatever is thrown at us.”
