Ireland have bizarrely announced a 27-man provisional squad for the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup courtesy of Ger Siggins.
Countries are allowed to announce a 30 man squad but Ireland it appears only bothered to name 27 players.
Among the players named is Reinhardt Strydom. 'Rainy' will be 33 in June and in 26 innings for Ireland has a top score of 49 and has an average of 17.21. In 23 overs he has taken one wicket.
Lee Nelson is 19. In the recent U19 World Cup when Ireland were on the brink of being humiliated by South Africa, Nelson scored 55 as Ireland recovered to post a respectable 225 from a perilous position of 30-4. He took 3-3 against the USA with his off spin. A very promising career in the making one might conclude.
What message exactly is Cricket Ireland sending to the likes of Lee Nelson? It has the opportunity to name a 30 man squad. It can only be bothered to choose 27 and then it selects a Strydom ahead of a Lee Nelson?
Some may take the view that it is a detail and neither will make the final squad. Perhaps that view may be correct but I take the view that the shambolic 27-man squad 'announcement' is symptomatic of a complacency at the top of Irish cricket. As Afghanistan threatens to steal Ireland's crown as 'Best of the Rest' no stone should be left unturned to move Irish cricket to the next level...Quite simply, everything counts.
The final squad of 15 will be announced on Monday 22nd March.
The Twenty20 World Cup provisional Ireland squad is as follows:
William Porterfield (captain)
Andrew Balbirnie
Andre Botha
Alex Cusack
Peter Connell
George Dockrell
Phillip Eaglestone
Shane Getkate
James Hall
Trent Johnston
Nigel Jones
Gary Kidd
Fintan McAllister
Rory McCann
Graham McDonnell
John Mooney
Kevin O'Brien
Niall O'Brien
Andrew Poynter
Boyd Rankin
James Shannon
Paul Stirling
Reinhardt Strydom
Albert van der Merwe
Andrew White
Gary Wilson
Craig Young
Liam Rooney
