HARRY TECTOR will skipper Ireland Under 17's in their nine match tour of Scotland and England at the start of next month.
The YMCA all-rounder played a pivotal role as his side reached the semi-finals of the Irish Senior Cup yesterday and is at the helm of a 13-player squad which will take on traditional rivals Scotland in four games, before travelling south to face Worcestershire in a further five matches.
He's joined in the squad by his Claremont Road colleague Sam Murphy, with Waringstown the other club to have two representatives - Morgan Topping and Jonathan Waite. In total the squad is made up of players from 11 different clubs across four of the Unions.
"We feel we have selected a well-balanced side that offers a variety of options in all three disciplines," said Head Coach Nigel Jones. "With a view to an Under 19 World Cup in 2018 time our side reflects a long-term goal to develop, with no fewer than eight players available for selection in next seasons Under 17 series.
"As well as this a number of our squad have experience playing with the U19’s - three players having participated in theU19 World Cup earlier this year in Bangladesh."
Assistant coach Niall McDonnell added: "We have thoroughly enjoyed working with this talented group of young men for the past eight months. There are many dedicated and intrinsically motivated players who seek to forge a career in cricket.
"As a management team we share a philosophy to develop the person in order to develop a player. With this in mind, it is great to see that so many of our players from the winter training programme have produced performances to merit selection, whilst equally pleasing to see two players selected as reserves who were not initially part of this squad.
"As always when working with a group of young people we are mindful that some will be disappointed, we hope to continue to help these players develop and thank the players and their parents for such outstanding support over the recent months."
Ireland U17 Squad
Harry Tector (captain) (YMCA), Jamie Grassi (vice captain) (North County), Ian Anders (Phoenix), Aaron Cawley (Cork County), Varun Chopra (Coleraine), Reece Kelly (Bready), Graham Kennedy (Ballyspallen), Josh Little (Pembroke), Sam Murphy (YMCA), Max Neville (Merrion), Morgan Topping (Waringstown), Andrew Vincent (Clontarf), Jonathan Waite (Waringstown).
Fixtures
Monday 1st August 50 over Ireland v Scotland (Ayr)
Tuesday 2nd August 50 over Ireland v Scotland (Ayr)
Thursday 4th August 50 over Ireland v Scotland (Ayr)
Friday 5th August T20 Ireland v Scotland (Ayr)
Monday 8th August 50 over Ireland v Worcestershire (Stourbridge CC)
Tuesday 9th August 50 over Ireland v Worcestershire (Stourbridge CC)
Thursday 11th August 2 x T20 Ireland v Worcestershire (Bromsgrove CC)
Friday 12th August 1 x T20 Ireland v Worcestershire (Bromsgrove CC)