Ireland Can Beat 'World Champions' England In ODI Series: Andrew Balbirnie

Ireland and England will face-off in a three-match ODI series, starting on July 30. It will be the first international series for Ireland after the hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and they are looking to make the most of it. Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie said that England will have a lot of inexperience players in the ranks and anything can happen on their day.

England had named a 24-man training squad for the ODI series against Ireland which consists of seven uncapped players. The team will be led by regular skipper Eoin Morgan with seven uncapped players included in the squad which has key players like Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid and Jason Roy in the ranks.

Balbirine knows that every game is a challenge for Ireland in the recent times. But neither England or Ireland have played a lot of cricket in the recent times. He also feels that their is no reason that they can beat England in their own backyard.

“I think every game you play for Ireland there is pressure nowadays. World Cup qualifier on top of an ODI against the world champions does bring in some pressure but I think we have shown in the last few months or pre covid that when pressure got to us we did perform,” Balbirnie told reporters in a virtual press conference on the sidelines of Cricket Ireland Jersey Sponsor E-Launch facilitated by ITW.

“Yes, it’s a team that will be inexperienced but there are also some core guys who were there last year when they won the World Cup. Neither team has played any cricket in a long time so it will be interesting to see.

“I am confident. We can compete with them when we are at our best. Leading up to the game we need to hit the ground running. Anything can happen in cricket. So there is no reason (why) we can’t go out and beat the world champions in their own backyard,” said the 29-year old Balbirnie who was appointed captain last November.

The ODI series will conclude with the final ODI on August 4.

Ireland squad: Mark Adair, Andy Balbirnie (capt), Curtis Campher, Peter Chase, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Jonathan Garth, Tyrone Kane, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, James McCollum, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Boyd Rankin, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.

England training squad: Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Sam Billings (Kent), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Phil Salt (Sussex), Reece Topley (Surrey), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire).