CIYMS are Spanish bound this week as they play in the group stages of the European Cricket League.

The Belfast side were double All-Ireland winners in 2022, clinching the Irish Senior Cup as well as the T20 trophy, which earned them the right to represent Ireland in this year's tournament.

It's third time lucky for the Belmont side who were due to play in both 2020 and 2021, only for Covid to force both tournaments to be cancelled.

It's a much changed squad that will travel to the Cartama Oval, with Irish internationals Ross and Mark Adair missing through international commitments in Bangladesh, while Nigel Jones has moved to Lisburn.

Jacob Mulder is included though depsite switching to North Down in the close season - allowed to play as a wildcard pick.

New skipper John Matchett is relishing the competition, and is no stranger to either the venue or the format, having played there last year for Ireland Academy.

"We are really looking forward to getting out to Spain this week for the ECL." Matchett told CricketEurope.

"We have been watching the first couple of weeks quite closely to try and understand what we might be up against and how to approach it.  From watching it’s clear how good a job the tournament organisers do and there’s some really competitive cricket being played. 

"T10 is an unfamiliar format for the majority of us so it will be a case of learning on the job as quickly as possible! Carson McCullough and I played in the ECC in September so we have some experience of T10 which will hopefully help the group. 

"We have a really good mix of youth and experience going to the tournament and have all bases covered to hopefully go all the way.  It will be great for the team to spend some time together and get a few games under our belt prior to the NCU season and hopefully we can add another trophy onto last seasons haul!

Their opponents are Punjab Lions Nicosia (Cyprus), Ariana Kif (Sweden), Istanbul KSK (Turkey) and Oeiras (Portugal).

CIYMS SQUAD

Jack Beattie
Mark Best 
Allen Coulter
Chris Dougherty
Angus Farrell
Adam Heasley
Adam Kennedy
John Matchett
Carson McCullough 
Jan Mulder 
Chris Robinson
Oliver Topping 
Jason van der Merwe

Richard Heasley (Team Manager)