Ireland to face World Cup winners England in Dublin

Angus Dunlop will lead Ireland in their inaugural over-50 international clash with England at Pembroke on Friday. The YMCA man won 114 caps between 1990 and 2000, leading the side on no fewer than 40 occasions.

He isn’t the only former captain in the 14-man squad, with Alan Lewis, capped 123 times taking the skipper’s armband 35 times.

Ted Williamson is the other Irish capped player, while there are a quintet of former first-class cricketers also in the ranks.

Michael Lax and Dan Van Zyl played in their native South Africa, while Shahid Iqbal, Saadat Gull, and Iftikhar Hussain all featured in Pakistan.

Completing the line-up for the hosts are Ger O’Brien, Roger Kear, Dave O’Riordan, Gordon Clarke, Ciaran Sharp, and Dara Armstrong.

England are the current World Cup over-50 champions, and are led by former Leicestershire and Orange Free State batsman Martyn Gidley.

Another name of note is former Somerset batsman Kevin Parsons, while Marcus Sharp was part of the ECB squad that won the European Championship in 2004.

“The Veterans Cricket Association of Ireland are delighted to be playing in their historic first over-50 game against England,” said Team Manager Greg Molins, himself a former international.

“Whilst this match is a new format for Ireland to be involved in, we see this as a great stepping stone to develop veterans’ cricket in Ireland.”

The 35-overs game at Sydney Parade, Pembroke, gets underway at 12.30pm on Friday May 24th, and the action will also be live-streamed with commentary on the Pembroke YouTube channel.

Ireland squad: Angus Dunlop (capt), Dara Armstrong, Gordon Clarke, Saadat Gull, Shahid Iqbal, Iftikhar Hussain, Roger Kear, Michael Lax, Alan Lewis, Ger O’Brien, Dave O’Riordan, Ciaran Sharp, Dan van Zyl, Ted Williamson.

England squad: Martyn Gidley (capt), Tim Western, Kevin Parsons, Jon Wileman, Roy Smith, Stuart Felsted, Nick Phillips, Liam Hickey, Jason Whittaker, Luke Jarvis, Marcus Sharp, Mohammed Irshad.