The World Cup wannabees
News Letter cricket correspondent, Alistair Bushe, looks at the competiting Nations chances.
GROUP A
IRELAND: Host country and favourites to take what will probably be one of three places in next year's World Twenty20.
There is quality and experience right through the squad with the likes of Gary Wilson, Niall O'Brien and Kyle McCallan all in prime form. The presence of former captain Trent Johnston could also be crucial.
SQUAD: William Porterfield, Niall O'Brien, Eoin Morgan, Kevin O'Brien, Andre Botha, Andrew White, Alex Cusack, Gary Wilson, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, Thinus Fourie, Peter Connell, Gary Kidd, Reinhardt Strydom.
Bermuda: Outsiders to qualify for England in 2009, the Bermudans do have a few household names.
David Hemp, the left-handed batsman, has been a long established figure in English county cricket with Glamorgan. Dwayne Leverock, the police officer, came to world attention in last year's World Cup as he belied his large frame to take an unlikely spectacular diving catch against India.
Squad: Irving Romaine, David Hemp, Rodney Trott, Oliver Pitcher Jr, Christopher Foggo, James Celestine, Oronde Bascome, Tamauri Tucker, Stefan Kelly, Geo rge O'Brien, Jekon Edness, Stephen Outerbridge, Dwayne Leverock, Kyle Hodsoll.
Scotland: Ireland's old rivals played in the inaugural World20 in South Africa last year. There is a familiar look about their squad. The likes of Gavin Hamilton, Kyle Coetzer, Navdeep Poonia and John Blain have all English county experience and they are familiar with the conditions at Stormont.
Squad: Ryan Watson, Gregor Maiden, Navdeep Poonia Colin Smith, Gavin Hamilton, Fraser Watts, Richard Berrington, Majid Haq, John Blain, Kyle Coetzer, Glenn Rogers Dewald Nel, Neil McCallum, Gordon Drummond.
GROUP B
The Netherlands: After a poor European Championships, when they were beaten easily by both Ireland and Scotland, the Dutch will be relieved to welcome back their trump card, Ryan ten Doeschate.
The Essex all-rounder is a potential match-winner with both bat and ball but he will be carrying a huge responsibility.
Squad: Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan van Bunge, Tom de Grooth, Maurits Jonkman, Alexei Kervezee, Geert Maarten Mol, Darron Reekers, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Jelte Schoonheim, Jeroen Smits, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate.
Kenya: Captained by the evergreen Steve Tikolo, who remains a batsman of formidable ability, the Kenyans are a dangerous outfit.
The foreign nature of the Belfast conditions may in theory hamper them but there remains enough talent in the squad to secure one of the three places in the finals.
Squad: Stephen Tikolo, Thomas Odoyo Migai, Kennedy Otieno Obuya, Collins Omondi Obuya, Peter Jimmy Carter Ongondo, Ondik Otieno Suji, Hiren Ashok Varaiya, Rakep Rajendrabhai Patel, Morris Ouma Amollo, James Kabatha Kamande, Nehemiah Odhiambo Ngoche, Elijah Otieno Asoyo, Alex Obanda Auma,Ragheb Gul Aga.
Canada: The Canadians will again rely greatly on John Davison, the Australian raised all-rounder. Once a first class cricketer for Victoria and South Australia, Davison is capable of winning a match on his own in the Twenty20 format. Geoff Barnett, who was born in New Zealand, was another to impress in last year's World Cup.
Squad: Ashish Bagai, Abdool Samad, Abdul Jabbar Chaudrey, Geoffrey Barnett, Henry Osinde, Harvir Singh Baidwan, Eion Katchay, Sunil Dhaniram, Sanjay Thuraisingam, John Davison, Muhammad Qazi, Zubin Surkari, Karun Jethi, Steven Welsh.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
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