Heinrich Malan confirms majority of Ireland squad will be absent from Irish Senior Cup opening round

Malan’s men are preparing for a three-match ODI schedule which gets underway at Clontarf on Wednesday before facing the same opposition in three Twenty20 fixtures at Bready next month.

That means Waringstown, who have won the competition a record six times, will be without all-rounder Tom Mayes for their opening round clash against Donemana while another potential debutant, Cade Carmichael, won’t represent Instonians at home to Strabane.

Matthew Humphreys (Lisburn) and Craig Young (North Down) are the other two NCU-based representatives in Malan’s squad and he says the decision has been taken to avoid any further potential injuries ahead of an important series.

"At this point in time with the workload and injury management with a fair few of our players, we’ve got a blanket on that,” said Malan. “Not too many players are going to play to be honest.

"We have this series with three ODI matches in five days which has its own challenges and there’s been games this week as well, so at this stage, unfortunately, one or two guys who need to prove fitness will be available, but the rest of them will start prepping for the series on Sunday.”

Irish Cup fixtures: Balbriggan v Cliftonville Academy, Bready v CIYMS, Coleraine v Muckamore, Cork County v CSNI, Instonians v Strabane, Lisburn v Brigade, Pembroke v North Down, Templepatrick v Clontarf, Waringstown v Donemana, Woodvale v Malahide.