The squad will be captained by Trent Johnston, who led Ireland to their European Championship success in 2006, and who this week was instrumental as Ireland reached the final of the Intercontinental Cup, defeating The UAE by an innings and 170 runs, their highest ever margin of victory.That game saw a number of Irish records being set, with 20 year old Eoin Morgan achieving the highest ever individual score, a magnificent 209 not out. His partnership with Andre Botha of 360, was also both an Irish and Associates cricket record.
Ireland play two warm up games in Trinidad versus South Africa and Canada, before moving on to Jamaica, where they will play Zimbabwe on March 15, Pakistan on March 17, and the hosts West Indies on March 23.
The fifteen are as follows:
DT Johnston, captain (Clontarf)
A Botha (North County)
J Bray (Eglinton)
K Carroll (Railway Union)
P Gillespie (Strabane)
K McCallan, vice-captain (Waringstown)
J Mooney (North County)
P Mooney (North County)
E Morgan (Middlesex)
K O'Brien (Railway Union)
N O'Brien (Northants)
W Porterfield (Rush)
B Rankin (Bready)
D Langford-Smith (Phoenix)
A White (unattached)
Irish Cricket's team sponsor, Bank of Ireland, wished the squad all the best in their games in the West Indies next month.
Stephen Kirkpatrick, Head of Banking NI, said: "This year promises to be the most challenging in the history of Irish cricket, and Bank of Ireland is delighted to be part of that. 2006 has been an incredible season for cricket at all levels in Ireland, winning an amazing 6 European trophies. Hopefully the greater exposure that the World Cup will bring, will mean even more participation in cricket throughout Ireland."
