Ireland Under-19s men's squad announced for Zimbabwe tour

A fourteen-player squad, captained by Pembroke's Oliver Riley, has been selected for an upcoming tour of Zimbabwe in what will also be a first-ever tour for the side in the southern African country.   

The five-match 50-over series against Zimbabwe Under-19s Men starting on April 3, 2025, in Harare, also marks a concentrated period of build-up as Peter Johnston's side prepare for the 2026 ICC Under-19s Men's World Cup which will be hosted in Namibia and Zimbabwe in January next year.

While reflecting on the selections, the Ireland U-19 coach added that the upcoming Zimbabwe tour will be an exciting one as the players will be back to action on the field after a long winter. Furthermore, he also revealed that his team had some productive training sessions along with vital strength and conditioning and skill training sessions across the Irish nation. Notably, these trainings began in October, last year. Besides, he also mentioned the importance of psychology and nutritional support in the overall development of young players.

"This tour will expose the players to strong competition and allow them to experience different conditions. With the next ICC U19 Men’s World Cup being co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia, we may well end up back in Harare in January 2026. So it will be a great learning experience. We have also had some good battles with Zimbabwe U19 Men over the last number of years," said Peter Johnston, Head Coach of the Ireland U19 Men’s team.

"We played each other in a four-match series in Barbados, prior to the U19 Men’s World Cup in 2022, crossing paths again in the Plate semi-final on route to the final. Prior to the 2024 U19 Men's World Cup in South Africa, we played each other three times as part of our build-up. For both teams, it is good to see players transition from those experiences up the ladder. From that 2022 World Cup Plate semi-final, it was great to see Mathew Humphreys, Tim Tector for Ireland and Brian Bennett for Zimbabwe lock horns again during the recent Senior Men's series between Zimbabwe and Ireland, while Jordan Neill from our 2024 squad was also called up to that senior tour of Zimbabwe," he continued further.

"Following on from two successive best-ever finishes by Ireland U19 Men’s Teams at the World Cups, it comes as no surprise that this is the toughest selection we’ve ever had at this level. One of the objectives is to try to build depth and competition in the squad while we will also be monitoring Provincial, Irish and club cricket opportunities as the home season progresses," Johnston concluded.

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Full Schedule of Zimbabwe U19 vs Ireland U19 matches

Ireland U19 Men's Squad:
 
Oliver Riley (Pembroke) (captain), Alex Armstrong (CIYMS), Sebastian Dijkstra (Merrion), Thomas Ford (Ireland Academy), Adam Leckey (CSNI), Peter le Roux (Railway Union), Febin Manoj (The Hills), Ethan Marshall (Clontarf), Daniel Murray (Pembroke), Robert O’Brien (Railway Union), Freddie Ogilby (Bready), James West (CSNI) (vice-captain), Reuben Wilson (Clontarf), Sebastian Yeates (CSNI).

Non-travelling reserves: Charlie Downey (Newbuildings), Brian Dunphy (North County), Samuel Haslett (Bonds Glen), & Bruce Whaley (Pembroke).

Travelling support staff: Peter Johnston (Head Coach), Nigel Jones (Assistant Coach), & Albert van der Merwe (Team Manager).