Ireland announce Under-19 squad

Ireland have announced their 15-man squad for the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia in February.

Greg Thompson leads the side in his third World Cup, following the tournaments in Bangladesh in 2004, and Sri Lanka in 2006. Three others have experience from 2006 - James Hall, Richard Keaveney and Gavin McKenna - while of the rest, seven are under 17.

Ireland have been drawn in Group D, along with England, Bangladesh and Bermuda and they will be based in Kuala Lumpur. Ireland open their campaign against England on February 17. The last time these sides met in this competition, England won by four runs.

The team will have at least two warm-up games prior to the start of the tournament, against Namibia and Nepal.

Irish coach Brian O' Rourke is happy with his squad. "The players have been working hard in training, and are eagerly awaiting the start of the World Cup," he said. "We have a very strong batting line up, with Stirling and Dougherty being particularly impressive over the past few seasons. Ben Ackland has been over at Northants, while Graham Mc Donnell, Andrew Balbirnie, James Hall, James Shannon and Shane Getkate are all very talented players.

"We have plenty of options in the bowling department, and the squad is full of allrounders. We are particularly strong in the spin department, which I feel will be crucial, given the type of pitches we are likely to encounter in Malaysia."

"With both England and Bangladesh in our group, the standard of cricket we are likely to face is very high, but it will be the experience of a lifetime for the boys."

Squad Greg Thompson (capt), Ben Ackland, Balbirnie, Andrew Britton, Christopher Dougherty, Shane Getkate, James Hall, Richard Keaveney, Theo Lawson, Graham McDonnell, Gavin McKenna, Lee Nelson, Stuart Poynter (wk), James Shannon, Paul Stirling.