Club proud of international Foxes
Thu 3 Mar 2016
Leicestershire CCC Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald has expressed the club’s pride in seeing four Foxes players representing their countries in the ICC World Twenty20.
Our second NatWest T20 Blast overseas player Umar Akmal has been in great form and is in Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the tournament.
Akmal was the leading scorer in the Pakistan Super League with 335 runs at a highly impressive average of 83.75 and incredible strike rate of 157.27. The batsman also recently hit an unbeaten half-century in the Asia Cup win against UAE.
Niall and Kevin O’Brien will be playing for Ireland and Rob Taylor is representing Scotland in the qualification stage of the tournament.
McDonald said: “It is a huge honour to have four Leicestershire CCC players on the world stage and the club is proud to see Umar, Niall, Kevin and Rob being named in the squads. It promises to be an entertaining tournament in India.
“All four players have demonstrated their matchwinning ability in T20 cricket with the Foxes and the competition is a great chance for them to showcase their skills in the international arena. We will all be watching keenly as to how they get on as we continue our pre-season preparations.
“It will then be great to welcome Niall and Rob back into the fold and have both Umar and Kevin as part of our NatWest T20 Blast plans. To have secured Kevin for the Royal London One-Day Cup is also a boost for the club as we look to win as many matches as we can in all competitions.”
Ireland has been drawn in Group A alongside the Netherlands, Oman and Bangladesh, and Scotland will take on Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe in Group B.
The winners of each group qualify for the Super 10 stage and if Ireland progress, they will face Akmal’s Pakistan, India, Australia and New Zealand. Taylor and Scotland could play England and will also have games against South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies if they top the table.
Squads:
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif.
Scotland: Preston Mommsen (Captain), Kyle Coetzer, Alasdair Evans, Calum MacLeod, Con de Lange, Gavin Main, George Munsey, Josh Davey, Mark Watt, Matt Machan, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Richie Berrington, Rob Taylor, Safyaan Sharif
Ireland: William Porterfield (Captain), Andrew Balbirnie, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young.
